BUT IS IT ART?
Bringing Back Minimalism in Waterfront House
Just north of the bustling city center of Copenhagen, Norm Architects has carried out a full renovation of a private family home overlooking the water and a grand marina. With a focus on bringing out the house’s inherent modernist qualities and putting it on display, the home is now a calm refuge of clean lines and natural materials to retreat to in a busy everyday life.
The new Cask collection designed for Expormim is a clear example of the harmony and elegance that arises when stripping down objects to their very core.
The Cask collection consist of an armchair, a sofa and a seating island. We have collaborated with Expormim to scrutinize the various ways that natural rattan can be used to strike a balance between creative ideas and technical realization, creating a look that reflects the familiarity of past wicker design, but with a modern and streamlined allure. Versatile, comfortable and elegant, the furniture has everything one would expect of a classic.
Design Norm Architects
Designers Nicolaj Friis Nøddesbo, Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen, Kasper Rønn von Lotzbeck
Furniture Manufacturer Expormim
Photography Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen
Blue Bottle Coffee — Minatomirai Café, Yokohama, Japan
Interior design by Keiji Ashizawa Design
Furniture design by Norm Architects
Emerged from shared design values, the collaboration between Tokyo-native design studio, Keiji Ashizawa and Copenhagen- based Norm Architects takes its root in mutual admiration and a love for material richness and timeless appeal evident in both the Japanese and Danish design traditions.
A complete refurbishment and dynamic reconceptualizing of the Menswear Department in the iconic Alsterhaus, Hamburg, part of the KaDeWe Group.
In order to compete in today’s world of online shopping, a physical space must nurture and engage the user. The architecture, furniture and materiality all work to create a sensible experience which you can’t experience from a tablet or smartphone.
Today, Alsterhaus in Hamburg covers 24,000 square metres in an exclusive atmosphere comprising a historic structure and modern interior design. Norm Architects has completed a reconzeptualizing and total renovation of the menswear department.
By adopting a tectonic approach to space, the menswear department of Alsterhaus provides a unity of different universes, each with its own expressions and materials.
“We had a dynamic, tailored approach to each space. For example there is a notably domestic scale and sensibility to the fitting rooms; an embracing warmth. This con- trasts to the other areas in the store and in turn adds to the experiential quality of each user’s visit.”
Sofie Thorning, Senior Architect and Associate Partner
Kinuta Terrace
Interior design by Norm Architects and Keiji Ashizawa Design
Emerged from shared design values, the collaboration between Tokyo-native design studio, Keiji Ashizawa and Copenhagen based Norm Architects takes its root in mutual admiration and a love for material richness and timeless appeal evident in both design traditions.
In the spring of 2018, Ashizawa onboarded Norm Architects to collaborate on the renovation of two apartments in the Kinuta Terrace apartments complex comprising a total of 36 units. Kinuta Terrace was originally built back in the 1980s and features an integrated courtyard that gives residents the advantages of a single-family home.
The two design studios partnered with Japan’s leading manufacturer of wooden furniture, Karimoku, on carrying out the renovation, during which the idea of a
furniture series arose.
The Kinuta Collection is a series of 12 tailormade furniture pieces that make up the inaugural collection of Karimoku Case Study.
PH House
Norm Architects
Norm Architects have restored and rebuilt a historic villa in Copenhagen after a devastating fire. The story goes that the house used to be inhabited by the renowned Danish architect, designer and cultural critic, Poul Henningsen.
The villa, located in Copenhagen, is said to have been the home of the famous, danish design-icon, Poul Henningsen. Today, a family of three resides in the historic house – a modern home that holds references to its original state – with beautiful high panels, parquet flooring, low, paned windows, teak furniture and – of course – retro PH lamps hanging over the kitchen island.
“The house being a former home – or summerhouse – of Poul Henningsen wasn’t my initial motivation to buy the house, but coincidentally I’ve been collecting his lamps for quite some time, so you’ll find them around the house.” says the owner.
Unfortunately not much of the original building was left after the fire in 2014, but while rebuilding the house it was possible, by increasing the height of the facades, to extend the top floor from approximately 40m2 to 100m2, which has made the house more suitable as a modern family home.
With a clean and minimal approach, the classic elements of the house have been restored and elegantly combined with contemporary details, making for timeless interiors and generally warm aesthetics. The dark mid-century teak furniture and minimal marble plinths create beautiful contrasts, boasting a clean and subtle elegance against the plain, white walls and dark inbuilt kitchen elements in sawcut smoaked oak.
With light coming in from different angles, every room of the house is bright, filled with daylight and comfortable to be in.
The ground floor of the house has been changed from small divided rooms into one big living area with windows on all sides, only subdivided centrally by bespoke elements; a large kitchen cabinet covered in dark stained oak separating the kitchen and the living room, and a central staircase, creating a dynamic, semi-open space with soft transitions.
The floating steps in solid oak create a flow between the basement, ground floor and top floor, connecting the house vertically in a harmonious and contemporary way with skylights flooding the staircase in natural daylight and increasing the sense of height in the house.
The minimal kitchen in smoked oak with bronzed brass handles, designed by Norm Architects for Danish kitchen manufacturer Reform is complimented by a sculptural kitchen island in a light grey ceramic stone, and both the kitchen and bathroom of the house sports slim brass faucets.