Summoning Scandinavia, in this month's Architectural Digest, designed by Shelton, Mindel & Associates.
While this is not what I do, I find the clarity of vision and line, like all their work, very impressive. They are one of the few architectural firms that can, and should, decorate a house. What a difference compared to the recent Venezuelan house. To my mind's eye, at least, this house and the choices made to create it, make sense.
The wife is of Swedish descent; the family summers each year in Sweden; and the children speak Swedish. Their background suggested that the architects build on the family’s roots with a Scandinavian interpretation of Modernism, which is kinder, gentler and warmer than the more dominant Teutonic versions.
...in their individuality, the furnishings never disappear into the homogeneity that Scandinavian design suffers in the watered-down forms often seen today. “The pieces celebrate democracy but break free of any homogeneity,” says Mindel.
Text by Joseph Giovannini/Photography by Michael Moran
Sunday, 6 April 2008
Now this makes sense
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8 comments:
SNOW???
I am of two minds when it comes to Shelton Mindel. On one hand, their interiors are always very beautiful but then it also seems very impersonal, like a perfect store display. Last yeat I read an article on mid century stores in Paris and the displays look exactly like a Shelton Mindel interior.
RH - I know what you mean. Oddly enough it is addressed in the article.
" The clean lines of the uncluttered apartment do not mean the occupants own nothing, just that the architects have expanded each of the walls with functions: Behind every walnut surface is a closet, bath, cabinet or desk. The expanded walls form cubic masses that anchor and shape the surrounding space."
What I like most about SM is that their houses never look fake, with irrelevant things as space filler. Also, I'm sure even Croesus himself would need a little break from spending after buying an apartment in NY and having Shelton Mindel in to do it.
I loved seeing you post this from AD -i loved this apt. when I saw it. I think though the most amazing thing about this apartment really were the amazing views and the sheer SIZE of the apt.!!! They almost overwhelmed the beautiful architecture!
BtC- only in the US could this exist: the sheer space, the resources to create it, and the desire to make it happen. That is the real magic!
I love the modern lines and design - so clean and classic.
It is nice of you to stick up A.D. considering all the bashing they get. I still enjoy the magazine immensely - no one else really shows top of the line decor anymore. Something to aspire to instead of something you can afford today.
That is wondeful, although nothing I'd personally wish to live in. The only thing I hate is the backdrop-wallpaper (or whatever it is) of the dining area. The open space layout is fascinating and "modern" in the best sense of the word as well.
What better way is there to give an apartment in a modern building soul than by "build(ing) on the family’s roots"?
As a German and a total newbie to the world of interior decoration, I wonder what "the more dominant Teutonic" interpretation of Modernism would be, as opposed to the "kinder, gentler and warmer" Scandinavian versions. Bauhaus? Frankly, Bauhaus gives me depressions.
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