Almost three years ago we gladly noticed that “Kayak House” , the work of the architects Katarina Lundeberg and Fredric Benesch (founders of InPraiseofShadows) had been nominated for the Swedish Wood’s Award.
The charming building made with no screws has been assembled 5 times (and disassembled 4 times), for exhibitions in Italy (Milan, Venice) and Austria. “Like a building-kit!” as Katarina likes to call it: designed as a large-scale wooden puzzle where the pieces were fitted into each other without any screws or metal connections.
For a detailed history of the house trip check the description from Dinesen, the company that provided and manufactured its timber. It was only during the last assembling in the Stockholm archipelago that a few screws were used.
So what happened during the past 3 years? The house had been used for the purposes it was created for: kayaks, teenagers, guests, enjoying the nature during summer holidays. The façade got a silver-gray patina (thanks to SIOO).
We got the chance to meet Katarina (on the right in the picture) when she visited Skellefteå together with her colleague Björk Tryggvadóttir (middle in the picture) for the Knowledge day conference (Kunskapsdagen). The coincidence makes that it will be exactly these two architects and their team that will work together with Karin (on the left in the picture), and other researchers and industrial partners in the project Design for the Future – Reuse of Timber Buildings in a Circular Economy.
Träpriset is one of the most important architectural contests in Sweden and it takes place every four years. Although one of the favourites, the “Kayak House” was not the winner in 2020, nevertheless…
This versatile summer house, designed for disassembly and reuse, will be one of the subjects in “Grand Designs” show on Swedish TV tonight!
