SIPPING FROM THE DEEP WELL OF HUMAN KINDNESS

If ever you doubt the implicit kindness of (most of) the human race - become an Architect!

Then you can send 'cold call letters' to the guardians of building you want or need to visit and will be welcomed with open arms. That is generosity measured in waves.

Today I met Frode, the owner of Skagestad House (Fehn 1963) who has lived in the house with his family for 18 years - a whole generation. He is a man generous of spirit and clearly a 'dweller in Fehn'.

This house is an essay in the origin, in the primal acts of dwelling; the hearth, the caves and the savanah. Here man sits high above the ground surveying the territory (or as today, enveloped in the Nordic mists of Mythology). 

However, do nor mistake primal for inarticulate. This is not a grunting home, rather it sings lyrically and poetically, every detail supporting the narrative executed with huge subtlety.

And today I heard stories. Stories of the acts of architecture.The secrets of place that will, in this blog, remain so.

I heard of little children crawling on the floor. I saw the elegant glazed slots that linked bedrooms but privacy remains. And I saw simple ideas executed with tectonic perfection - the thick wall that holds the storage is just one example. I saw the stair designed as furniture, a singular independent sculptural element that takes us from the cave to the savanah and in that transition, the world is open to us.