Unique solutions for urban balconies and terraces. Even in an apartment block in the middle of a dense city, it is possible through careful design to feel connected to nature. Recently I have noticed that there is an astonishing number of boring balconies in the city. I live and work in Oslo, but this observation applies to pretty much all modern cities. Such balconies can be found everywhere: uninteresting concrete plates that protrude from the sides of apartment blocks like ruffled pages from a notebook, usually without any plants and without any real spatial qualities or character. In the best of cases the inhabitants have set out a couple of patio chairs and a small table on them, but most often these balconies are empty spaces exposed to noise and wind that have been hung onto the side of buildings as an afterthought, and they become completely unpleasant whenever the sun disappears. I have always considered it somewhat insulting that this type of standard balcony is considered to

Various pages from my sketchbooks, July-August 2025. Over the summer I always look forward to having more time on average to draw. I have been drawing a lot of interiors lately, inspired by the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi. Also some environment studies. ***

Juniper, Andrew. (2003). Wabi sabi - The Japanese art of impermanence. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. This short book by Andrew Juniper offers fantastic and concise insight into Japanese aesthetics, zen philosophy and the concept of wabi sabi. The book offers a history of the concept, demonstrates how it is indelible from Japanese culture as a whole, and describes how wabi sabi has both influenced art through the ages and found expression in design. Juniper gives an excellent description of wabi sabi (page 1): «Wabi sabi embodies the Zen nihilist cosmic view and seeks beauty in the imperfections found as all things, in a constant state of flux, evolve from nothing and devolve back to nothing. Within this perpetual movement nature leaves arbitrary tracks for us to contemplate, and it is these random flaws and irregularities that offer a model for the modest and humble wabi sabi expression of beauty. Rooted firmly in Zen thought, wabi sabi art uses the evanescence of life to convey the sense

A study of row houses in Frostaskjól, Vesturbær, Reykjavík. Designed by Teiknistofan Óðinstorgi and built in 1980. Vesturbær is a district on the peninsula in the west of Reykjavík, which through the years was the cradle of fishing activity in the city. It demonstrates beautifully the underrated urban potential of the house typology that the Norwegians call "småhus", where small dwellings both free-standing and connected achieve a density of 30-50 dwellings per hectare with a delightful variation of spatial and architectonic qualities. The row houses in Frostaskjól (together with the area in its entirety) are an excellent example of my favourite building type "low and dense" (Nor. tett lav): an attempt to combine the connection to the earth of the single-detached house with the density of the apartment building. When properly designed, low and dense construction can offer inhabitants great freedom to form and expand their own home, as well as new possibilities for social interaction. E

Among many other necessities, to move forward and prosper it is essential to have a place to structure a life. ______________________________________________ Here in a thatched hut hidden among mountain peaks, with barely room for one, I’m suddenly invaded by wandering white clouds. Kōhō Kennichi (1241-1316) ______________________________________________ A home is our corner of the world, which we can form according to our own nature. In the best of cases it will be a distinguishable built space in relation to others, where we are presented with the opportunity to create both an external expression that reflects ourselves and our personal tastes in addition to an internal environment which does the same. The spaces of everyday life should comfort, protect, calm and inspire. I have always described a good home as a positive emotional connection to a place. At its best, conscious design of our home places can attune us to the subtleties and depth of the world. It can make us aware of whe

Certain places seem to express a unique serenity and peace. ______________________________________________ To each thing, its own true deepest inner nature: water does not think of itself as consort of the bright moonlight it hosts. Sōgi (1421-1502) ______________________________________________ It is always whimsical to try to describe what zen is “from within”, as though one can momentarily choose to remove oneself from the flow, suspend one’s judgment and view a situation in completely objective terms. It can though be said that zen offers immediate insight into the true nature of the world. A central concept to zen thought is the Tao: the holistic, harmonic, universal process from which it is impossible to deviate, and from which one cannot escape. This process is what we commonly refer to as “the course of nature”. Even when attempting to name the Tao, one is only acting as a part of the continual play of nature. In a sense one becomes an avatar through which the universe is discu