Recently I have produced some drawings to be used to change the use classification of the basement level in a large house on Ullernåsen in Oslo. The basement is actually quite spacious (and was thankfully originally built with 2,1 meter ceiling height internally), but through the years it has never been considered to be a part of the house's permanent living area. The basement is exposed over the ground to its full height on the west facade, and a rental apartment with its own entrance has been created on this side with a larger window. The owner wishes now to apply to change the use of the basement to a room for permanent living formally. The plan of this basement is quite unusual. There are concrete walls almost 400 mm thick in some places, and in the centre of the plan is a large iron safe! On the south side are garden terraces on several levels, and the garden features several large apple trees. This house was built on the ridge Ullernåsen in 1936, and it has been maintained very w

A look back through some old sketchbooks. Sketching is visual thinking, and these sketchbooks become a sort of personal repository of thinking from the past.

Recently I have been working on a concept for the total renovation of a small house in Haugesund, Norway. The site lies at the edge of an existing residential area, just south of the lake Urdadalsvatnet. At the moment there is a beautiful unbuilt forest patch right to the east. The brief was to improve both the house and the garden, and turn the site as a whole into a fantastic new home for a young family with small children. The existing house is relatively small (140 m2), with some awkward rooms and a tiny, enclosed kitchen on the first floor. A few years ago the previous owner built out a very large terrace on the south and west side, which seems to tower over the garden on a generous system of point supports. We attempted to find a way to accommodate all of the owners’ wishes within the footprint of the existing house and terrace, without the need for new additions. It worked out quite well. All bedrooms are moved down to the lower level, such that everyone can sleep on the same fl

Recently I have finished a concept for a small Japan-inspired tea house as a fun little personal project. I thought that it would be interesting to share some of the process behind how I create concept art in a post, especially images of inspiring environments both in the real and the digital world. The final exterior image is created by rendering a scene from a 3d-model in Blender first, and then painting over it digitally to add the final details, lighting and atmosphere (which I do in Photoshop or Procreate app on an iPad): The final interior image is made the same way (this was initially not going to be part of the project, but I realised along the way that I just had to create some kind of cool image that draws attention to this unique window!). On the wall to the left is the low entrance, where you are forced to bow your head in humility to enter into the serene interior space. Floors are simple tatami mats, walls are white plaster, and the roof over this part is made of straw. T

Some early images/sketches of a concept for the renovation of a small café and bar in Split, Croatia.

A series of posts about the primary elements used to design gardens in Japanese style, recently created for my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/adamic_studio/). For me, the Japanese garden represents the result of a stunning combination of human intention and natural qualities. These are spaces of extreme serenity and visual peace, which can provide a meaningful respite in our age of anxiety. All these elements can be combined to create an endless variety of rich experiences in a garden. ***