ON A RESIDENTIAL ROAD NORTH OF COPENHAGEN, LIES THIS NEW HOME, WHICH IS AN APT TRIBUTE TO 50S’ MODERNISTIC ARCHITECTURE.
Fifties architect Richard Neutra designed the house number FONT, which he himself used on other houses he designed. A LOOK INTO THE LIVING ROOM reveals the couple’s fascination with the 50s. The Bubble Lamp pendant hanging from the ceiling is designed by George Nelson and epitomises California Mid-century Modern. The CH25 chairs by Wegner have been produced since 1950, and the table is Noguchi’s Coffee Table from 1947. The sofa is carpenter-made and designed by the architect of the house; the upholstery is Re-wool from Kvadrat. The pictures on the wall are by Hannah Heilmann, Associate Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art.
CAMILLA can here be seen in her new home, which opens up toward the garden, where she loves to spend time. THE LIGHT was one of the first things the couple fell in love with when they visited architect Erik Christian Sørensen’s house. Something they wanted to recreate in their own home. This is why they opted for both large window sections toward the garden and skylights that allow light to flood in. The ceiling is made of pitch pinewood, to give the space warmth and to regulate the acoustics. In the large open-plan kitchen, a combined shelf unit and sofa serve as a natural room divider.
Camilla, Kasper and their three children live on a residential road north of Copenhagen. It looks like it could have been built in the 50s, and that is not by chance. The couple has a longstanding interest in architecture from this era, an interest that started in earnest when they saw a portrait series about great mid-century architects like Charles and Ray Eames, Frank Lloyd Wright and not least John Lautner. When Camilla and Kasper found the plot of land they wanted to build on, they also began researching Danish 50s architecture to find inspiration for their coming house. Besides reading books like Michael Sheridan’s Landmarks: The Modern House in Denmark and Eget hus: om danske arkitekters egne huse i 1950’erne (Own home: Danish architect’s own homes in the 1950s) by Christoffer Harlang and Finn Monies, they stumbled on the Danish architect Erik Christian Sørensen’s own house, which they were allowed to visit.
– It was a feast for the senses! The light in the house brought everything in it to life, and it had a transparency that appealed to us. We were enthralled by the beautiful carpentry in the house – particularly in the hall. The basic concept really spoke to us. That is, the notion of building your house as a framework for the good life, not as an edifice for show. We took this to heart with our own house, which, for instance, is closed toward the road and opens fully toward the garden and the private areas, explains Camilla.
And because Erik Christian Sørensen’s house had made such an impression on them, they contacted one of his students – renowned Danish architect Lene Tranberg. She recommended that they contact one of her employees, Peter Kjaer, who had just started his own studio. Camilla and Kasper discovered that Peter was the absolutely right choice. He listened closely during the process and was extremely detail-oriented. He made 90 pages of drawings and remained in close contact with the contractor throughout the process.
The couple focused not only on the details of the house’s actual construction, but also on the colours to paint the walls. Inspired by Le Corbusier and his colour palette, the couple discovered what colours can do for a room and knew that colours should play a centra role in the design of their new home. As Le Corbusier said of his Polychromy, colour is as powerful an architectural tool as the plan and section. A motto the couple has adopted. Accordingly, the colours have clearly become an integral and crucial part of the whole.
– It’s about creating variation through the colours and materials chosen for all the surfaces – and also being acutely aware of how daylight affects those colour choices. In a way, the colours in this house seem less strong because we have no white in the house. Instead, the selected colours rest on the black and the pale green colours, which are the primary colours in the hall, kitchen, living room and dining room. I’d never thought that I would use orange in my kitchen. But after 2 years, I love it even more, says Camilla.
With colours and materials as an integral part of the architecture, with the house’s modular structure done so rooms can be easily redistributed as the children grow older, with the seamless indoor-outdoor transitions and with integrated furniture in several places, it is clear how this home has been envisaged as a whole – just as people did in the mid-century modern era. The house stands as a fitting tribute to a type of architecture and design that remains very much in vogue even today.
THE INFLUX OF LIGHT interacts with the geometrical shapes of the house, which has a huge impact on the family’s mood and well-being. THE PLANTS are intrinsic to the style of the home. Together with the large window section, they help erase the boundary between the indoors and outdoors.
THE ORGANIC ELEMENT is evident in the sanded concrete floor, for which the couple and the architect spent immense time finding the right colour and stone mix – not too perfect, so that it mimics the imperfection of nature. This makes for yet another element that dissolves the line between indoors and outdoors. THE FRONTS OF THE KITCHEN are from &Shufl and the drawers are carpenter-made in Germany. The lamp above the kitchen island is from Danish company Anour in the colour Blue Steel. The bar stools are from Frama. They have leather seats as a soft contrast to the cold steel tabletop.
THE INDOORS AND THE OUTDOORS merge because the large window sections can be pulled completely aside to turn the living room and terrace spaces into one. The effect is further underpinned by indoor and outdoor seating arrangements that are almost mirror reflections of each other. Above the dining table hang George Nelson’s pendants. Around the table stand the classic Y Chairs by Wegner made by Risskov Møbelsnedkeri.
IN THE OFFICE are an Eames office chair and a desk from Hay. The lamp suspended from the ceiling is the Yamagiwa Mayuhana II pendant, which was bought because it suits the house by virtue of the Japanese reference also lying in the Californian mid-century style. The same style inspires the bamboo blinds. In support of the whole, THE BEDROOM is kept in the same colour and material combinations as the rest of the house. MUCH OF THE HOUSE’S architecture has been about dissolving the boundary between the indoors and outdoors, as clearly evinced on the terrace where the two spaces seem to melt into one. The garden is landscaped according to a sketch from Mette Rønne, who is part of the Danish non-profit garden association Haveselskabet. The front garden is more clearly Japanese inspired, whereas the back garden is more playful, with lots of insect-friendly plants that bring a wealth of buzzing bees, butterflies, birds and life there to greet you.