Enriched Simplicity; Japanese influx on Danish Architecture 1950-2020: The Royal Danish Embassy in Japan Tokyo

Enriched simplification and clarification of ideas, well-cultivated details and mastery of material aesthetics are Japanese values that yet again are seen in the works of the best contemporary Danish designers. The exhibition shows twenty-five examples of how Danish architects and designers in the period 1950-2020 have been inspired by the impulses from Japan, and how they in both the city, the garden, the house and the objects have worked with the inspiration from Japan.

Victor Boye Julebæk contributes with a visualisation from a competition project. The competition project constitutes an attempt of bringing together both the material and non-material heritage of the Norwegian Forest Finns in a contemporary museum. The museum consists of four straight forward timber buildings that are organised around a courtyard on an elevated stone plinth that can cope with the swelling of the neighbouring river. The building materials are sourced locally and joined together in a simple and robust structure which is equally informed by traditional timber construction as by modern technology and Japanese influences.

The visualised, cavelike space, is built on three experiential qualities that draw on the archeological remains of the Forest Finn building culture: the deep blackish-brown tar pigmenting of the timber which is present in the interiors of traditional houses, the balanced raking light that draws the texture of the materials and gives an impression of being filtered through smoke, and the expressive load bearing structure that acts as a focal point, gesturing towards the sky alongside the smokehole (tag-lyre).