Intrigue and Controversy: Bjarne Melgaard and Snøhetta's "A House To Die In"
- Alisha Burkman
- Jun 2, 2018
- 5 min read
An experience of architecture which yields the response "a work of art" could be considered an instance of design which has risen so far above the mundane vernaculars of the built environment that it feels more an experience of art, charmingly devoid of function, than familiar machine of architecture. To create such a reaction would take tactful designing, seamless detailing, and dazzling conceptual execution. In my experience, there is a tremendous pleasure in finding a work of architecture which has achieved the status of "art" for its ability to liberate itself and others from tradition and routine. However, few of those works have ever struck such a resonance in me as Snøhetta's residential design for Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard, intriguingly titled "A House To Die In". ArtForum calls it "visually seductive", with writer Sylwia Serafinowicz describing the design as a "translation of ideas from one medium to another", referring to Snøhetta's interpretations of Melgaard's eccentric artworks into an abstracted architectural sculpture. It is an eight-year collaborative experiment in which a "warmth-generating project of building a house meets an ambiguously domesticated vision of a place in which one could die."
Perhaps the architecture is most interesting for the wide-ranging reaction it has earned from the public in Norway. Controversy surrounds all aspects of the project, from it's location and design to it's concept and receiving artist. The project rests within (or perhaps "disrupts") a historic neighborhood nestled into a rich forest outside of Oslo. It has the whimsy of a young child's fantasy, but delivers the creation with haunting scale and ominous character. An obsidian gem, housing the artist's studio, sits on a series of concrete columns like a halcyon briquette of charcoal on the embers of a late fire. Each facet is composed of burnt oak panels with charring that will fade over time as an expression of the house's conceptual motif of death. Light pierces through indistinct digital graphics impressed in the facets of the gem, illuminating cartoons of Melgaard's spirited characters. Rendered in three dimensions, these bizarre figures are the concrete caryatids that bear the weight above of the shadowy charcoal mass.
Fortunately, Bjarne Melgaard is no stranger to controversy, and has capitalized on sensationalism as one of Norway's most divisive and popular contemporary artists. His most famous work is perhaps a sculptural chair in which the figure of a black sex worker is positioned with a seat cushion on the hind of her legs, laying on her back and shoulders with her knees against her chest. The series of furniture also included glass tabletops resting on the backs of sex workers on all fours. Supposedly intended to provoke conversations on racism and sexism and the industry of sex, the piece gained global criticism and immediately became on of the most controversial works of modern art. Similarly charged projects by the artist have earned him a reputation as Norway's "enfant terrible".
However, the site has perhaps been under the most severe scrutiny from the public. Criticized for it's proximity to the historic Norwegian estate "Ekely", it was formerly the winter atelier of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, most famous for his 1893 painting "The Scream". On the estate, in which Munch lived until his death, he painted an extensive collection of landscape works, thought to be inspired by the forest surrounding the artist's studio. As a result, many locals and art historians hope to preserve the natural character of the site as Munch would have experienced it, undisturbed by additional architecture and especially undisturbed by the provoking forms and glorification of death embodied by "A House to Die In".
In 2015, the development of the design, an unfolding of ideas between Melgaard and Snøhetta, was displayed in London at the Institute of Contemporary Arts where the project gained international attention. The captivating title showcase featured the extensive iterative process in a series of sketches and sculptures, models of the facade, and text for an ephemeral house which would both reflect Melgaard and encourage his work as an artist. Additionally, work was displayed by the Bellevue Survivors, individuals recovering from mental and emotional challenges, who were employed by Melgaard to contribute artistically to provocative interpretations of such challenges in the interior design of his home. The collaboration yielded a uniquely vivid multimedia wonderland full of canvases and sculptures that aim to express vocabularies of death, creating a space virtually void of references to traditional scenes of comfort and home. The showcase was highly reflective of the character of Melgaard's work as a painter, exhibiting extravagant color compositions and chaotic layers of cartoons and linework and text which were then translated into architectural realizations. Project Architects Martin Brunner and Jenny Osuldsen described the process as one in which traditional vocabulary was reevaluated and familiar methods of building were questioned. “All of our standard procedures and tools had to be reconsidered,” says Osuldsen, “We were basically interpreting Melgaard’s work like musicians.”
The house is currently in limbo, not yet under construction as Norway reviews preservation concerns of the Ekely estate, impact evaluations, and local response to the project. Snøhetta has endured three redesigns and a storm of backlash over the project, although it is unclear whether the site or design is the focus of the scrutiny. Nonetheless, it is under final review by the heritage council of Oslo with hopes of a verdict in 2018.
"A House To Die In" is such a departure from architecture that it defaults into classification as art, un-regimented and separate. The absence of native doorways, the refashioning of windows, and the mutation of familiar and standard structures such as columns leaves the observer with no familiar vocabulary beyond traces of human scale in which to identify the work as a product of architecture. Snøhetta claims "the architecture describes an artistic expression", rather than one of function and formality in providing a final resting place for Melgaard. Considering the unique physical and conceptual components of the house, there is hardly an architecture project to my knowledge which compares in the elicitation of controversy, emotional response, and visual lure in the same grotesque and peculiar manner. It dares to celebrate and reflect cultural taboos in ways that articulate the spectacle of death and decipher it's intriguing beauty. Snøhetta has produced one of the most important modern architectural designs of our time, if not just in form but also in process.
Resources:
Architectural Design Coverage and Information:
Snohetta: https://snohetta.com/projects/367-a-house-to-die-in
ArchDaily: https://www.archdaily.com/888472/snohettas-a-house-to-die-in
Metropolis: http://www.metropolismag.com/architecture/snohetta-house-die-design/
PEAR: http://pearmagazineuk.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-house-to-die-in.html
Op Eds and Controversy:
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/arts/design/munch-house-to-die.html?referer
Curbed: https://www.curbed.com/2018/2/12/17003188/munch-studio-ruined-by-snohetta-ufo
Bjarne Melgaard Art, Controversy, and Coverage:
Artnet (Portfolio): http://www.artnet.com/artists/bjarne-melgaard/4
HuffPost (Controversial Chair): https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/24/racist-chair-black-artists_n_4659572.html
Dis Magazine (Bellevue Survivors): http://dismagazine.com/blog/37903/bellevue-survivors/ Artnet News (Current Activity): https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/thaddaeus-ropacs-instagram-is-about-to-get-weird-thanks-to-a-takeover-by-artist-bjarne-melgaard-1228421
London ICA Exhibit:
ArtForum Exhibit Review: https://www.artforum.com/picks/institute-of-contemporary-arts-ica-36055
This is Tomorrow Exhibit Review: http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/bjarne-melgaard-a-house-to-die-in
SimaoSpaces Exhibit Photography: http://simaospaces.com/portfolio/ica-2012/
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