Ark Journal vol. XI

SPRING/SUMMER 2024

Ark Journal Volume 11 reflects on how history shapes the understanding of art, design, and architecture, celebrating the fluidity of interpretations that evolve over time and the enduring importance of context. The issue explores how architects navigate the dialogue between tradition and innovation—drawing on historical precedents while envisioning the future—how adaptive reuse breathes new life into existing structures, and how architectural interventions can honour a site’s cultural heritage.

Among the highlights are two iconic mid-century modernist houses, in Mexico City and Cincinnati, each transformed with deep respect for its rich history and significance. The Southern Californian language of architect Ray Kappe is reinterpreted in a contemporary home in Berlin, while a house on an island in the Baltic Sea is designed to immerse its inhabitants in untamed nature.

South African–born architect and curator Sumayya Vally, a leading voice of the new generation, speaks about the power of identity, belonging, and cultural hybridity in shaping architecture beyond conventional norms. The issue also visits Hvitträsk, the early Finnish home of Eliel and Loja Saarinen, where creativity and community remain deeply intertwined.

In the Case Studies, stylist Pernille Vest explores furniture as objets d’art, crafted from noble woods and shaped by the marks of time and expert hands. In Basel, two generations of the von Bartha gallerist family offer a lesson in how to live and work with art. In Design Metaphors, Ettore Sottsass uses photography to investigate the origins of architecture.

Further perspectives include writer and editor Dung Ngo in conversation with Ana Elena Mallet, curator of a landmark exhibition at MoMA on the design histories of Latin America, where craft and industry forged hybrid identities. The Portfolio delves into how new ideas of utopia in architecture, design, and art gave rise to a distinct Latin American interpretation of modernity.