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What does it take to restore a heritage protected 1950s house? Humility, patience and sheer determination brought new life to the early Philip Johnson house.
Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows might be devotees of the architecture of Philip Johnson, particularly his early Mies van der Rohe-influenced work. But when the pair behind the BassamsFellows furniture and design firm learned that an early house of Johnson’s near where they lived in New Canaan, Connecticut, was coming onto the market for the first time since it was built almost 70 years ago, they didn’t jump at the opportunity to own it. Fellows was definitely intrigued by the proposition while Bassam was unenthusiastic to say the least.
It’s a level of commitment with which most people, even if they had the resources to do it, would not persevere. But Bassam and Fellows are not most people. As they say, this isn’t the first time they’ve under taken a renovation like this, although it’s possibly their most challenging as it has taken almost 10 years to complete.
The key to successfully restoring and renovating such houses, according to Scott Fellows, is being humble. “The idea is to make it the best it can be, but also making sure your ego doesn’t get involved to the point where you feel you have to make it yours. Good design is good design. You have to be able to take something that is a great piece of architecture and have the sensibility to make it current without ruining its soul. The more we have done these kinds of projects the more we realise that there’s a fine line to walk to get it right.”
Read the full home feature in Ark Journal Vol. XIII.
WORDS DAVID MEAGHER
STYLING HELLE WALSTED
PHOTOGRAPHY Martien Mulder
MARAZZI, SHAPING INNOVATION THROUGH CERAMIC CRAFT
In the language of surfaces, few materials carry both memory and modernity as effortlessly as ceramic. For Marazzi, this duality has long defined its approach, an enduring dialogue between industrial precision and the human hand, between innovation and heritage.
THE MECHANICS OF SCENT
Previously presented in Paris, Los Angeles, and New York, FRAMA’s exhibition The Mechanics of Scent arrived in Copenhagen, inviting visitors to reconsider one of the most overlooked dimensions of design.
CLOUDLIGHT, PARIS
Bathed in shifting daylight, Amélie du Chalard’s Paris home exists as a deeply personal landscape where art and daily life merge with quiet fluidity.
MODERN MANNERS
HOME
What does it take to restore a heritage protected 1950s house? Humility, patience and sheer determination brought new life to the early Philip Johnson house.
Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows might be devotees of the architecture of Philip Johnson, particularly his early Mies van der Rohe-influenced work. But when the pair behind the BassamsFellows furniture and design firm learned that an early house of Johnson’s near where they lived in New Canaan, Connecticut, was coming onto the market for the first time since it was built almost 70 years ago, they didn’t jump at the opportunity to own it. Fellows was definitely intrigued by the proposition while Bassam was unenthusiastic to say the least.
It’s a level of commitment with which most people, even if they had the resources to do it, would not persevere. But Bassam and Fellows are not most people. As they say, this isn’t the first time they’ve under taken a renovation like this, although it’s possibly their most challenging as it has taken almost 10 years to complete.
The key to successfully restoring and renovating such houses, according to Scott Fellows, is being humble. “The idea is to make it the best it can be, but also making sure your ego doesn’t get involved to the point where you feel you have to make it yours. Good design is good design. You have to be able to take something that is a great piece of architecture and have the sensibility to make it current without ruining its soul. The more we have done these kinds of projects the more we realise that there’s a fine line to walk to get it right.”
Read the full home feature in Ark Journal Vol. XIII.
WORDS DAVID MEAGHER
STYLING HELLE WALSTED
PHOTOGRAPHY Martien Mulder