Finn Juhl was a Danish architect, interior and industrial designer from the 20^th century. He is most known for his furniture design. He was one of the leading figures in Danish design and during the 1940’s he played an important role in making this kind of design known in America.

The Danish design, created by Juhl, is a modernistic design but is different from the mainstream of that time because it is more organic. He sculpts a piece of furniture and asks constructively the most of its materials and joints. Movement and life are 2 keywords in his idea behind every piece of furniture. Further he was known for his ability to separate the carrying part from the part that has to be carried. In this way he creates furniture that sometimes looks like it is floating.

This house is a summerhouse built by Finn Juhl for Anders Hostrup-Pedersen in  Rågeleje, Denmark. The whole plan of the building is not really an open plan because besides the open kitchen to the dining area, every function has its own room. The doors between the living area and the dining area and between the dining area and the hall, are however pivot doors in glass which provides a connection between the different rooms. Although a summerhouse is most of the time not that big, this one is not small. Besides a living area and a kitchen with dining place, it counts 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Nevertheless it really looks like a summerhouse in Scandinavia because of the chosen materials. All the walls are made out of wood and in the living area there is chosen for a light wooden floor with a fireplace. In the kitchen and dining area however are the same red tiles used as outside, for the terrace. The connection inside and out is in this way more clear because in the wall between the terrace and the dining area is a very big window from the floor to the ceiling and from wall to wall, like there is no separation at all. So besides the very enclosed rooms, there is chosen for a very clear relation between the different rooms and the outside terrace.

References :
– http://finnjuhl.com/
– Finn Juhl : furniture, architecture, applied art / a biography by Esbjorn Hiort, Hiort, Esbjørn

Authors : Armand Perrot, Louise Daugas, Sara De Boeck