Learning from the summer house

Research project as part of the project ‘Sommerhuskvarterer og deres beboere’ and is developed in collaboration with Peder Duelund Mortensen, Claus Bech-Danielsen and Kirsten Gram-Hanssen
This study points at the architectural characteristics and liveability found in small summer houses: Low complexity in space program, reduced or avoided transition zones, architecture expressed in a low voice opening for individual interpretations and a conscious handling of the relation between the concept of house and context. The icon of the study is the house of Anton Rosen, a small house only for use in the summer season. Like a sundial it materializes the turnings of the earth from dawn to dusk giving the guests of the house something to talk about and share. The octagonal form, high volume and layered interior extending the experience of the little space are mementos of the Borominian baroque.
The findings of the study can be interpreted also in urban housing types, and could inspire to alternative scenarios for a seasonal settling: Living from April to September in a minimal summer house of light constructions folding out into living spaces in the open, and from October to March in a compact and layered urban winter dwelling.