November, 2013

Architecture and Design

Axel Vervoordt, Richard Neutra and Finn Juhl have left a significant imprint on both architecture and design. We admire their ideas of the beauty, simplification, and comfort with which they infuse home life and offer constant inspiration.

A native of Holland, Axel Vervoordt was exposed to Eastern art and philosophy years ago and today the concept of Wabi is the guiding principle of his work. Wabi was developed in the twelfth century, advocating simplicity and humility and rejection of the superfluous and artificial. These principles Vervoordt has carried into his interior design by utilizing natural materials and time-worn objects.

Richard Neutra completed the iconic Kaufman House in Palm Springs, California in 1947. The house design is simple; the center of the house is the living room with the dining room as the corresponding heart of family activity. The rest of the house branches out like a pinwheel in each of the cardinal directions. The glass and steel make the house light, airy and open with the use of stone solidifying the house's relation to the landscape of stones, mountains and trees.

Finn Juhl built his house near Copenhagen in 1942. Juhl constructed the house into two building blocks with rooms having clear functions. All rooms have a view to the gardens outside. Rooms were of much more importance than exteriors. Also, there had to be a balance between walls and windows in each room, generating luminous light. Within these rooms of specific function, Finn Juhl placed all furniture of his own design along with art and objects of his contemporaries.