Ark Journal Volume 11 ponders how history shapes our understanding of art, design and architecture, and celebrates the fluidity of interpretations that evolve over time and the importance of context.
We explore how architects navigate the interplay between tradition and innovation, drawing upon historical precedents while thinking about the future, how adaptive reuse breathes new life into old structures and how architectural interventions honour a site’s cultural heritage. We feature two iconic mid-century modernist houses, in Mexico City and Cincinnati, that have undergone transformations, but with a deep respect for each house’s rich history and significance. The Southern Californian language of architect Ray Kappe is translated into a contemporary home in Berlin, while a house on an island in the Baltic Sea is built to experience untamed nature. South African-born architect and curator Sumayya Vally is a voice of the latest generation, and in this interview she emphasises the power of identity, belonging and cultural hybridity in shaping architecture outside conventional norms. We visit Hvitträsk, the early Finnish home of Eliel and Loja Saarinen, where creativity and community are radically entangled. In our Case Studies, Pernille Vest explores furniture as objets d’art, crafted from rare noble wood, marked by time and expert hands. In Basel, a lesson in how to live and work with art delivered by two generations of the von Bartha family of gallerists. In Design Metaphors, Ettore Sottsass used photography to explore the origins of architecture. Dung Ngo talks to Ana Elena Mallet, curator of an exhibition at MoMA on the design histories of Latin America, where craft and industry shaped hybrid identities. And in our Portfolio we delve into how new ideas of utopia in architecture, design and art shaped a distinct Latin American version of modernity.