ABOUT THE AUTHOR Buildings are a part of our cultural heritage. A tangible legacy passed on by our forefathers, ARNE JACOBSEN’S Kjeld Vindum is an architect and associate professor at The School of Architecture which we have a duty to preserve. at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He is the author of a variety of articles and books on architecture and design, among others the most comprehensive Realdania Byg is a property development and OWN SUMMERHOUSE published work on Arne Jacobsen, “Arne Jacobsen” (1998), in collaboration with preservation company. The objective of the Carsten Thau (Published in English in 2001 and German in 2002). Furthermore, company is to accumulate a portfolio of good Kjeld Vindum was the editor of the Danish architectural magazines “SKALA – examples of building styles and architecture from Magasin for Arkitektur og Kunst” in 1985-94 and “Arkitekten” in 2008-2011. different periods and areas of Denmark and to ensure their preservation for future generations, as well as to invest in the development of new ARNE JACOBSEN (1902-1971) buildings that are experimental in character. 1924 Graduated from the Technical School in Copenhagen. Realdania Byg is a wholly owned subsidiary 1924-1927 Attended The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts’ School of the Realdania Foundation. of Architecture in Copenhagen. 1927-1929 Staff employee working at the office of the municipal architect Further information can be found at in Copenhagen. www.realdaniabyg.dk 1956-1965 Professor at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. 1930-1971 From 1930 up until his death Jacobsen operated his own drawing office. Arne Jacobsen distinguished himself in a vivid and personal way in Danish design and architecture for more than half a century through many different projects that ranged © June 2013 from constructing buildings to creating furniture and cutlery. An outspoken care for Arne Jacobsen’s Own Summerhouse detail is characteristic of Arne Jacobsen’s works. Many of Arne Jacobsen’s buildings were supplied and fitted with fixtures and articles of furniture designed by the architect ISBN 978-87-92230-52-2 himself. Among the central works of architecture by Arne Jacobsen, we find: Published by: Realdania Byg. Text and editing: Kjeld Vindum and Realdania Byg. Own house at Gotfred Rodes Vej (1929-31) Layout and printing: OAB-Tryk a/s, Odense. Bellavista in Klampenborg (1933-34) Translation: LanguageWire. Bellevue Theatre (1935-36) Photographs: Per Munkgård Thorsen/Lars Degnbol, page 6. Own Summerhouse in Gudmindrup (1937) Kira Krøis Ursem, all others. Aarhus Town Hall (in collaboration with Erik Møller) (1939-42) Historic Photos and drawings: Arkitektens Forlag, page 7, 9 Søllerød Town Hall (in collaboration with Flemming Lassen) (1940-42) (bottom), page 15 (left), pages 23-24. Søholm linked house-development in Klampenborg (1950-54) Det Kongelige Bibliotek, page 9 (top), page 14, page 15 (right). Rødovre Town Hall (1957) Statens centrum för arkitektur och design (Sweden) pages 20-21. Glostrup Town Hall (1958) Munkegård School in Copenhagen (1955-59) Cover photo: The summerhouse seen from the coastal side SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen (1958-1960) (Kira Krøis Ursem). Tom’s Chocolate Factory in Ballerup (1961) Backside photo: Arne Jacobsen named the house “Knarken” Denmark’s National Bank (commenced in 1965) (Kira Krøis Ursem). PUBLISHED BY REALDANIA BYG St. Catherine’s College in Oxford, England (1960-64) ABOUT THE AUTHOR Buildings are a part of our cultural heritage. A tangible legacy passed on by our forefathers, ARNE JACOBSEN’S Kjeld Vindum is an architect and associate professor at The School of Architecture which we have a duty to preserve. at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He is the author of a variety of articles and books on architecture and design, among others the most comprehensive Realdania Byg is a property development and OWN SUMMERHOUSE published work on Arne Jacobsen, “Arne Jacobsen” (1998), in collaboration with preservation company. The objective of the Carsten Thau (Published in English in 2001 and German in 2002). Furthermore, company is to accumulate a portfolio of good Kjeld Vindum was the editor of the Danish architectural magazines “SKALA – examples of building styles and architecture from Magasin for Arkitektur og Kunst” in 1985-94 and “Arkitekten” in 2008-2011. different periods and areas of Denmark and to ensure their preservation for future generations, as well as to invest in the development of new ARNE JACOBSEN (1902-1971) buildings that are experimental in character. 1924 Graduated from the Technical School in Copenhagen. Realdania Byg is a wholly owned subsidiary 1924-1927 Attended The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts’ School of the Realdania Foundation. of Architecture in Copenhagen. 1927-1929 Staff employee working at the office of the municipal architect Further information can be found at in Copenhagen. www.realdaniabyg.dk 1956-1965 Professor at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. 1930-1971 From 1930 up until his death Jacobsen operated his own drawing office. Arne Jacobsen distinguished himself in a vivid and personal way in Danish design and architecture for more than half a century through many different projects that ranged © June 2013 from constructing buildings to creating furniture and cutlery. An outspoken care for Arne Jacobsen’s Own Summerhouse detail is characteristic of Arne Jacobsen’s works. Many of Arne Jacobsen’s buildings were supplied and fitted with fixtures and articles of furniture designed by the architect ISBN 978-87-92230-52-2 himself. Among the central works of architecture by Arne Jacobsen, we find: Published by: Realdania Byg. Text and editing: Kjeld Vindum and Realdania Byg. Own house at Gotfred Rodes Vej (1929-31) Layout and printing: OAB-Tryk a/s, Odense. Bellavista in Klampenborg (1933-34) Translation: LanguageWire. Bellevue Theatre (1935-36) Photographs: Per Munkgård Thorsen/Lars Degnbol, page 6. Own Summerhouse in Gudmindrup (1937) Kira Krøis Ursem, all others. Aarhus Town Hall (in collaboration with Erik Møller) (1939-42) Historic Photos and drawings: Arkitektens Forlag, page 7, 9 Søllerød Town Hall (in collaboration with Flemming Lassen) (1940-42) (bottom), page 15 (left), pages 23-24. Søholm linked house-development in Klampenborg (1950-54) Det Kongelige Bibliotek, page 9 (top), page 14, page 15 (right). Rødovre Town Hall (1957) Statens centrum för arkitektur och design (Sweden) pages 20-21. Glostrup Town Hall (1958) Munkegård School in Copenhagen (1955-59) Cover photo: The summerhouse seen from the coastal side SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen (1958-1960) (Kira Krøis Ursem). Tom’s Chocolate Factory in Ballerup (1961) Backside photo: Arne Jacobsen named the house “Knarken” Denmark’s National Bank (commenced in 1965) (Kira Krøis Ursem). PUBLISHED BY REALDANIA BYG St. Catherine’s College in Oxford, England (1960-64) FOREWORD Sejrø Bay, below Sjællands Odde, is home to the summerhouse that Arne Jacobsen built for himself and his family in 1937. On the edge of the pine forest, a three-metre high sand dune covered in heather rises up to unveil views across the beach and bay. This is where you will find Jacobsen’s summerhouse. The living room rests on the plateau, with its windows positioned to make the most of the pretty views. The architecture blends in perfectly with the surrounding landscape and reflects many of the values for which the Nordic interpretation of Modernism has since become famous. Among these is the belief that having sympathetic insight into and caring for the life lived within the architecture is equally as important as the functional aspects of the building, for example. The distinctive sweeping summerhouse features the white, cubic characteristics found in Arne Jacobsen’s own house on Gotfred Rodes Vej 2 (from 1928), while at the same time alluding to the new, future trends in Modernism. The functions of the living room, dining room and square of the house blend together in the central double volume space featuring an elegant staircase leading up to the open-plan room on the first floor. Sixteen years later, Arne Jacobsen replicates the shape of this room in his own home on Strandvejen 413, which, along with the Søholm Row Houses, sparks Arne Jacobsen’s international breakthrough. The summerhouse is culturally and historically significant as a leading example of a new architectural trend which has greatly influ- enced the 20th-century approach to building homes. It also exempli- fies an ambitious Arne Jacobsen who is doing well in his career. With his summerhouse in Gudmindrup Lyng, he creates a comprehensive architectural work of international standing – an icon. Through the acquisition and restoration of this one-of-a-kind sum- merhouse designed by Arne Jacobsen, Realdania Byg wants to con- serve, manage and bring this important contribution to Denmark’s cultural and architectural heritage into a new era. Realdania Byg June 2013 1 ARNE JAcobsen’s own summerhouse AT SEJRØ BAY By Kjeld Vindum “At Sejrø Bay, between Høve and Tengslemark Lyng, lies a large heath and plantation area known as Gudmindrup Lyng. Here the sea has formed a lake surrounded by meadows. The lake, which links to the sea, has little depth and is restricted by two rows of sand dunes towards the beach and three rows of pine trees towards land. The lake is rich in bird-life and the meadows’ plant-life, and it is large and peculiar. Within this area, on the edge of a little forest, lies an old sand dune cov- ered in heather, which stretches three metres above the otherwise flat land- scape and from the top of which there is a phenomenal view across the entire Sejrø Bay. On this plateau, I have placed the living room of the house – posi- tioned to face the two most beautiful views across Lumbsaas and Sjællands Odde to the north-west and across Ordrup Næs to the south-west.” Arne Jacobsen describing his summerhouse in the magazine Arkitekten.* Finding the summerhouse is not an easy task today, and various other summerhouses have since appeared.