The Korsmo House, 1955, is an icon of moder n Scandinavian
architecture--an experimental house that has been frequently
published in magazines and architecture anthologies. A few years
ago a jury elected the house as one of the ten most significant
buildings in Norwegian twentieth century architecture. Professor Knut
Hjeltnes says in the Arkitektur-N 5/2012 review that "Planet Road, 12,
is one of the most important private houses in Norway, owing both to
the qualities of the house and the significance of the inhabitants in
Norwegian post-war culture." The original owner, Grete Prytz Kittelsen
(earlier Korsmo) lived in the house until she passed away in 2010.
The house is now listed for preservation.
Arne Korsmo (1900-1968) was a prominent Norwegian architect,
best-known for a large number of functionalist buildings and interiors
made in the 1930s. Also a renowned exhibition architect and product
designer, Korsmo was highly-esteemed as a post-war teacher of
architecture and interior design. Grete Prytz Korsmo (later Kittelsen,
1917-2010) was a goldsmith and pioneering enamel artist, a 'grand
lady' of Scandinavian design and a trusted member of the World
Craft Council. Scandinavian Design is subject to increasing interest
worldwide and with it so is the Korsmo House. The Korsmo couple
were the incarnation of post-war Scandinavian design, winning prizes
internationally for product design and exhibition architecture.
Planetveien 12 discusses the location of this architectural icon, the
house's many incarnations, the biographies of the architect and
the Korsmo couple's visit to America where they met Hugo Weber,
Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alexander Calder and,
significantly, Ray and Charles Eames. The book also details Korsmo's
other projects and his teaching careeer, alongside detailed plans
from inception and a full photographic essay about the finished
house. The author, Elisabeth Tostrup, is an architect and professor
at the Oslo School of Architecture; previous publications include
Norwegian Wood: the Thoughtful Architecture of Wenche Selmer,
2006, and Architecture and Rhetoric: Text and Design in Architectural
Competitions, 1999.
