At Ark Journal we explore the spaces around us, the objects we put in them and the people who make them.

Bridging architecture, design and art, we show them as interplay rather than in silos, and with a sense of enduring Scandinavian values and aesthetics. We celebrate good ideas, honest and inventive design and materials and encourage critical debate. Each issue we visit extraordinary homes around the world that are more than the sum of their parts and that express the personal narratives of the people who live in them, their philosophies and influences. By placing architecture at the core of Ark Journal, we want to consider it in the broader context of our lives, reflecting its more humanistic side and celebrating tactility and individual dimensions.

NATURE and its creative force have always been a source of inspiration and motifs in art, architecture and design. In Scandinavia the stark differences between the seasons amplify this consciousness of nature and its recurring patterns.

In ARK JOURNAL VOLUME IX we delve into the rich architectural heritage of Copenhagen with a visit to the THORVALDSEN MUSEUM, the city’s oldest, in a photo essay by architect Mathias Mentze. The rich interiors are the location of an exhibition by SEAN SCULLY who discusses his career with David Risley. A special insert showcases the work of Copenhagen-based artist ALBERT GRØNDAHL, a photographer
who explores the intersection of personal narratives and cultural and historical references. Two architecturally significant sites in Copenhagen, Prinsessegården in the Dronningegården complex and the ancient marine arsenal Kuglegården, host the superbly curated CASE STUDIES.

The wide-ranging homes in Ark Journal Volume IX, from Europe to Mexico and Los Angeles, illustrate the creativity and hard work that goes into renovation, restoration and extension, considering what is already there and what can be imagined for the future. Starting close to home, we wander through the beautiful listed Copenhagen apartment of artist couple, ANN SOPHIE VON BÜLOW AND ULRIK HELTOFT who were at pains while renovating to preserve its soul but also make it a family home.

Heading to Milan, we look at the meticulous details of the studio and the home of architects FANNY BAUER GRUNG AND DAVID LOPEZ QUINCOCES, where the past has been reconfigured but also embedded with elements of fantasy for the future.

In Mexico, we visit two projects firmly connected to the rich national heritage that blend both indoors and outdoors. In the capital, the founders of KURIMANZUTTO galleries put their faith in architect ALBERTO KALACH to transform the ruins of a former convent into an art-filled home that is as much garden as house. In Oaxaca, architects GABRIELA CARRILLO and MAURICIO ROCHA created a home open to the jungle that straddles the private and the social, using local materials and contemporary idioms to pay homage to ancient sacred sites.

TEXT IN ENGLISH, 240 PAGES ON HIGH-QUALITY PAPER SPECIAL INSERTS
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