Ark Journal | Vol. XIII

ARK JOURNAL VOLUME  XIII contemplates the quiet force of obsession, a power that fuels creation and transformation, that drives to protect, preserve, and perfect.

Obsession can be a love that nourishes, that pushes boundaries, and brings ideas to fruition. In those who embrace it, obsession becomes a bridge to understanding, elevating the creator and the creation to something timeless, profound, and beautifully enduring.

In this issue, Ark Journal celebrates the journeys of individuals across music, design, interiors, art, and architecture whose passion and authenticity are united by the force of obsession.

HOMES. A country home in southern Jutland rewilded to instill a sense of history, a Philip Johnson house restored with patience, determination, and humility, a joyous experimental loft in New York, and obsessive nuance in a 1930s Danish beach house.

INTERVIEW. Across seven decades of practice, the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza has framed a language of his own, elemental and deeply moving, drawing on memories, the subconscious, and a close reading of context and place.

INSERT. For five years, the independent and non-commercial music platform Brodie Sessions has created and hosted music in unique architectural spaces and captured them on analogue film. A tribute to lovingly crafted musical moments.

LIVING ARCHITECTURE. A high point of French late modernism, Villa Weil is a pure expression of architecture, an abstract object that lies elemental in its rural landscape, preserved and shared as a cultural project.

DESIGN. Bent, folded, and curved, the metal sculptural forms of Umberto Bellardi Ricci staged in a landmark New York penthouse, echo the angular matrix of the interior and the cityscape that inspired their shapes.

ART. In a poetic and transient tribute to the Manitoga estate of American pioneer designer Russel Wright, an artist and a photographer capture the soul of the location with a fleeting gesture.

CASE STUDY. In a quiescent and calm interior, deceptively simple lines and nuanced tones of wood invite a contemplation of form and balance, and the rewarding paradox of rich austerity.

PHOTO ESSAY. Photographer Jan Gleie discusses the process of capturing the dreamy images of his photo essay, the personal, almost random choices driven by atmosphere and memories of childhood.

Ark Journal is more than just a publication; it’s a celebration of the beauty and simplicity that defines
Scandinavian design and architecture.