The Trunk Hotel Yoyogi Park boasts an exposed raw concrete facade, a collaborative creation of Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design and Danish firm Norm Architects. This boutique hotel, the third installment in the Tokyo-based Trunk hotel trio, embraces the concept of “urban recharge,” seeking harmony between tradition and modernity, nature and the city, and the fusion of Japanese and European craftsmanship.

Norm Architects explore their influence on Scandinavian design

Guided by the purpose of wellbeing, the essence of Norm Architects’ style is balance: richness focused by restraint, simplicity imbued with warmth, complexity heightened by order. Be it architecture, interiors, or furniture, Norm’s unique brand of soft minimalism speaks to the mind as much as the body, creating and curating spaces for all. The first self-curated monograph by Norm Architects, ‘Soft Minimal’ showcases a range of works which facilitated their establishment as key figures within Nordic design.

Just north of the bustling city center of Copenhagen, Norm Architects has carried out a full renovation of a private family home overlooking the water and a grand marina. With a focus on bringing out the house’s inherent modernist qualities and putting it on display, the home is now a calm refuge of clean lines and natural materials to retreat to in a busy everyday life.

With its newly designed flagship store in the heart of central Copenhagen, Scandinavian distributor of coffee table books, New Mags, opens its doors to a world of unique and carefully curated lifestyle books, collectables, and magazines. Norm Architects has created a space comprising several functionalities within a calm and tranquil setting, allowing the products to stand out and invite exploration.

Elegantly set in the beautiful East Anglian landscape, on the border of a working farm in Suffolk (UK), the Pavilion House is a real inside-out construction. The shapes and materials of the interior all carry a certain tranquillity and simplicity, while every room offers a different glimpse of the outside. There is a certain humility within the architecture, acknowledging that the big-ticket item in the setting is indeed the countryside; it doesn’t try to compete with it, but frames it instead.

Situated deep in the Swedish forests, close to a tiny winter sport area, a small traditional wooden retreat sits on top of a ridge formed millions of years ago. Besides the pine forest covering the fault, the surrounding landscape is a low undulating region of heaths and ridges that rise above gently sloping sandy beaches and small beach towns. Now completely remodeled, the space feels entirely intertwined with nature – both in terms of materiality and outlook …

Querkraft architects from vienna are the creative minds behind the austrian pavilion at the expo in dubai. We spoke to owner and partner Gerd Erhartt about what makes a life successful expo appearance, the climate concepts of the future and the importance of emotional connection in designing a more sustainable future.