20 May
Furniture

The Kinfolk Gallery

Designed by Norm Architects

Designed by Norm Architects, The Kinfolk Gallery is a collaborative, multifunctional space in the heart of Copenhagen where our friends and partners come together to share ideas and showcase their work. Co-created in partnership with some of the worldu2019s leading interiors brands, The Kinfolk Gallery is available to host a variety of events, such as art exhibitions, visiting pop-up shops, guest lectures, fashion showings, workshops, dinner gatherings and photo shoots.

To break away from the experience of regular office spaces the reception area is designed to be more like a dining or living room with a huge round table in the middle and shelving on the wall. The space become much more welcoming in this way and can also be used for gatherings and group meetings. The office part of the space is arranged with bespoke tables that we designed with inspiration from Japanese architectural construction principles.

Ouur brands

All the bespoke wooden elements in the space are made from Dinesen oak and give a natural warmth to the space. The combination of the stringent tables, the earthy walls, the original wooden moulding, soft sand colored draping and contemporary design pieces, creates a elegant, sophisticated and crisp workplace that in our opinion fits well with the Kinfolk and Ouur brands. Culture, history, Scandinavia, Japan and modernism fused in a subtle, understated way that fits the cultivated sensibility of the people working there and the young creatives that are their audience and collaborators.

The project has been a co-creation with a lot of brands, which has been both challenging and fun. Among these are are the Danish design company Paustian that produced the tables that we designed bespoke for this project with wood by Dinesen. In addition, the space also features a smoaked oak kitchen designed by Norm Architects for Reform.

20 May
Interior Design

The Azabu Residence

Minimal Space

Azabu Residence is a minimal space located in Tokyo, Japan, designed by Keiji Ashizawa and Frederik Alexander Werner of Norm Architects for Karimoku Case Study. The latest additions to the collection of fine wooden furniture pieces are created as part of this complete renovation project and have its native setting in a luxury apartment built in 1988, tucked away in the quiet Nishi-Azabu residential district of Tokyo.u00a0

u201cRegardless of the dark tones used to unify the space, the beauty of this home stands out in the morning and early afternoon, with the contrast of direct sunlight peeking into the space, and at night, when the ambiance of the space is created by an elaborate artificial light scheme.u201d

Praise of Shadows

u201cAnother main narrative in the interior design is inspired by the well-known Japanese book by Junu2019ichiru014d Tanizaki, u201cIn Praise of Shadowsu201d, that was recommended to us by Keiji Ashizawa on one of our first field trips in Japan. In Scandinavia we often work with bright white walls to enhance daylight, but through the writings of Junu2019ichiru014d Tanizaki, we understood the value of dark, dim places and chose to celebrate and enhance the nature of the site, which resulted in a dark monochrome material palette.u201d

Similar to the previous Case Study projects, the Azabu apartment combines Japanese and Scandinavian design principles and aesthetics. A shared belief in the use of natural materials and a muted color palette lies as the foundation of the project, characterized by the focus on tactile, soft-minimal and timeless qualities.

20 May
Interior Design

Japanese minimalism in Denmark

Traditional Danish country house

The house is located in the idyllic landscape of Northern Zealand, Denmark. Surrounded by meadows and forests, the house sits intimately secluded in a nook of trees that open up to a park-like garden that brings light and air to the residence. The exterior of the house is a tribute to traditional Danish country houses, featuring a matte-rendered chalky taupe coloured fau00e7ade, paned windows, thatched roof and granite stone settings.

Everything inside out is made from the finest, largely locally sourced natural materials. Inside, the house comprises warm, balanced spaces with roughly textured surfaces, thoughtfully in-built and bespoke details. The overall mood and colour scheme of the exterior is translated into the interior with a raw, tactile material palette of wood, stone, natural fibre textiles and leathers dominating the open space plan of the house, combining farmhouse appeal, exclusive refinement and elegant, sculptural features.

Royal Nubuk Leather

Designed to meet the needs of an active family that often hosts and entertains guests, the property comprises pool, tennis court and connected greenhouse. All materials chosen for the interiors are durable and easily maintained, only gaining beauty with time, wear and tear. Inspired by the familyu2019s lifestyle and frequent traveling, the home also contains elements characteristic of hospitality interiors.

The bench designed for the main entrance of the house is made from sawn smoked oak and Royal Nubuk Leather from Su00f8rensen Leather. The elegant bar cabinet is designed in lamelled dark oak and blackened iron. The sculptural dining table stands as a magnificent centrepiece in the bright and stone-floored dining room with textured walls and paned, floor-to-ceiling windows.

20 May
Lighting

High Park Residence

A place of refuge

In the chaos of life today a home needs to be a place of refuge, a solitude for the homeowners to retreat to. Built for an Italian couple, the design pays homage both to the clientsu2019 Italian heritage and that of the Toronto residential building fabric, while ensuring a sensitivity towards wellbeing, mobility, and convenience.

The design of the Pacific project is born from the homeownersu2019 values and traditions where the comforts of their past are now viscerally felt within their present-day lives. The vault, in its many permutations, is one of the most common archetypes of ancient Roman architecture, characterized by its powerful modulation of light and its sense of lightness.

Pacific project

In adopting this typology into a domestic space, the architects evolved the vault from its primary form, puncturing, cutting, and peeling it into new geometries that help to distribute light and air into key locations, respond to program organization, demarcating each with a different atmosphere, and create a sectional continuity throughout the house.u00a0

In carrying sacred content from the homeowneru2019s past into the present they are transported into another time and place, full of stories, meaning, and memories that become their refuge.