Swedish architecture firm In Praise Of Shadows likes experimentation. Ever since we featured the small, dynamic studio in our Architects Directory in 2013, the Stockholm based firm, founded by Katarina Lundeberg and Fredric Benesch, has been exploring ways of creating architecture, focused on sustainable materials and wooden constructions as an intelligent way to build.
‘[In this context] our aim and interest is to create clean, easily legible spaces and clear forms, while being practical and meeting the needs and dreams of our clients,' says Lundeberg. ‘We also hope to create twists on what is considered normal, or the ordinary, but without going too far towards the impossible.'
Their Wallpaper* Handmade pavilion Passage of Wood, created with Danish wood specialist Dinesen and Carpenter Oliver Beer, a cabinetmaker from Bregenzerwald, in 2014 was a key example of their investigative nature – the pair not only truly enjoyed the process of discovery and collaboration, but they even ensured their design got a new lease of life as a kayak house a few years ago (see the May 2018 issue of Wallpaper*). Now, the studio has just completed a new project that allowed them to test materials and ideas; welcome to Atelier Grytnäs.
The compact holiday cabin was created as a small retreat for Lundberg and her family, and as such it contains just one main living space and three modest bedrooms and a bathroom. It was also a chance to try out the potential of CLT (cross-laminated solid timber) in a small scale structure – the project spans just 44 sq m.
RELATED STORY
A simple volume with a clean, pitched roof outline features large openings that frames sea views, as the cabin is perched on rocks and orientated towards the water. Creating this using CLT wooden boards from KLH in Austria, the architects were able to achieve a comfortable 4m x 10m span, which allows a column-free interior. The bathroom and a concrete chimney create an anchoring core for the structure.
The project also includes sustainable, wood fibre insulation from Steico, a copper roof, and Swedish wood facade. Interiors are warm and similarly minimalist, featuring Dinesen Ash wood flooring and linseed oil treated walls.
Sat in its beautiful natural setting, on Lisö Island, an hour's drive south of Stockholm, Atelier Grytnäs is in good company; the Gunnar Asplund-designed Summer House, and Blueberry house by British architect Ralph Erskine can also be found nearby.
‘We feel that our ten year old office is still in the beginning,' says Benesch. ‘Our aim is to do interesting architecture while maintaining a relatively small scale (we now have a staff of five-six employees), in order to be able to be personally involved in the design process, from initial idea to the last detail.'
MORE FROM WALLPAPER* ARCHITECTS DIRECTORY 2020
INFORMATION
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practicesIn the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
-
St. Vincent on designing her Klaus Nomi-inspired guitar lineSt. Vincent is a Wallpaper* guest editor for 2024. Here, she unpacks her long-standing relationship with the guitar. It started with wearing one in front of a mirror. Who knows how it ends. But somewhere in the middle, there is fun and freedom and a well-tailored instrument
-
Artist Jonathan Baldock plays hide and seek with the windows of Hermès' London flagshipA series of fantastical, brightly coloured hedges, dotted with peepholes, transform Hermès' New Bond Street store, offering an interactive experience for the passerby
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
-
Sun-drenched Los Angeles houses: modernism to minimalismFrom modernist residences to riveting renovations and new-build contemporary homes, we tour some of the finest Los Angeles houses under the Californian sun
-
Cabin Kiladalen in Sweden takes architectural reuse to the next levelCabin Kiladalen by Vardehaugen started its life in an Oslo exhibition, but has now found a second life as a Swedish lakeside retreat
-
Vemdalen Villas brings contemporary minimalism to the skiing experienceThe family of dwellings at Vemdalen Villas, designed by architecture studio Hesselbrand, creates a contemporary skiing experience in the Swedish countryside
-
Tour Hallen, architect Åsa Hjort’s minimalist Swedish homeHallen by Åsa Hjort is a minimalist home in the Swedish countryside, making the most of its serene, leafy location
-
Studio He, Sweden: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023Studio He, a young architecture practice in Sweden, joins the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
-
Dalarö House by Olson Kundig is a rock starDalarö House, US practice Olson Kundig’s first build in Sweden, takes centre stage in the Stockholm archipelago
-
Extraordinary escapes: where would you like to be?Peruse and lose yourself in these extraordinary escapes; there's nothing better to get the creative juices flowing than a healthy dose of daydreaming
