Kloster

Kloster is a strip of land on the edges of the west coast of Sweden designed by Torsten Imottesjo. Years ago he selectively cut trees from the landscape to create a vision for what the rolling southern ends of the scandinavian fjords could look like. Kloster is an idea - built for a new class, a new market - It is complex, beautiful, biomorphic. It considers its environment and can house physical manifestations of online networks. It is a centre, a place where we believe that networks of people could meet during conferences, banquet dinners, residencies or summer residences, which would allow for the understanding of what a house placed within a landscape could be. The idea is that cattle would be allowed to free graze the landscape, slowly transforming the former forest floor to a grassland and with fertile gardens.

The Concept

Situated on the 62 acre landscaped property on the Swedish West Coast, Torsten Imottesjo. Christian Strömqvist, and David Relan have come up with an idea of luxury. The two houses are situated above a slope leading down to a dock and private beach, and are aligned to incorporate the ideal light conditions for the morning and scandinavian evenings respectively. The idea is to provide a shelter for networks to manifest, for conferences and classes, and generally to provide a means of inspiration to occur within groups and to the landscape they find themselves in.  The structure of the complex is the curling of a leaf - a single surface extended above itself. It is the extension of a floor into a building. Buildings which are built facing the rise and fall of the light in summer. Windows which will diffuse light in at all times of the day and the play of perspectives. Kloster can be adjusted to any needs, but maintains its place, it's context. It is an environment - landscape and housing - designed for how we move, and how we may meet and we believe that considering these factors might change the depth of the meeting. Kloster is a new opportunity for connected living.  

The Trees

To place trees, or rather to discover the place that a forest creates. How can a forest be designed as something between untouched and tamed? What perspective is needed to allow the space for weathered trees, and allow their crowns to dominate the landscape. What are the aesthetics of a forest?