Ark Journal IX

Ark Journal volume IX uses the question "What already exists?" to examine the creativity and hard work that go into new projects and those involving renovation, restoration and expansion.
We delve into Copenhagen's rich architectural heritage and visit the renovated, listed apartment of an artist couple who strove to preserve its soul, but also to make it a family home. A photo report by architect Mathias Mentze captures the rich colours, mosaic floors and frescoes of Copenhagen's oldest museum, the Thorvaldsen Museum, and a special insert showcases the work of Copenhagen-based artist Albert Grøndahl, a photographer who explores the intersection of personal narratives and cultural and historical references.
A couple of Mexican gallery owners have transformed a series of ruins into an art-filled house that mixes indoor and outdoor spaces, keeping the existing structures and incorporating them into a harmonious blend of old and new.
The architecture and design studio of Fanny Bauer Grung and David López Quincoces believes in the idea that the old and the new can do more than just coexist, but can illuminate the past and the present, and we see this philosophy in action in his home and his new studio in Milan.
Deep down, good design and good architecture have the power to evoke emotions and elevate our experiences within a space. Volume IX collects residences and spaces in which design has a profound physical and emotional impact: the studio and home of the Finnish design master Yrjö Kukkapuro, a house in Oaxaca open to the jungle, a transparent penthouse in Antwerp, a modest but soulful mid-century Los Angeles home, and many more.