A PAST-PRESENT DIALOGUE

— The new and the old in architecture, design and art

Ark Journal Volume VII explores the interaction of architecture, design and art over time, and looks at history as a constant source of inspiration for creating new ideas.

We present detailed examinations of architecture from some of the greatest masters, including an early building by Frank O. Gehry and a modest Marcel Breuer house that is not only a home but, for the most recent owners, also a longstanding lesson in how to live well.

The Belgian architect Glenn Sestig discreetly transforms a radical concrete masterpiece by Ivan Van Mossevelde, while collector and designer Frederick Hooft simply leaves an avant-garde 1960s villa largely as he found it. We visit a minimalist Scandinavian house in an untamed coastal landscape and a solitary Nordic villa enveloped by nature.

In Volume VII we draw attention to the heritage of craftmanship, especially Latin American practitioners using materials from the past, and visit Mexico City-based Esrawe Studio and online platform Unno Gallery. A special insert is dedicated to designer and artist Marcin Rusak and his reworking of history, nature and craftmanship.

In our popular Case Studies, we range from the archaic to the avant-garde in the extraordinary historic home of a sculptor, and an Arne Jacobsen pavilion by the sea is the scene for design pieces with simple lines and organic forms.