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Curtains as Softener
Meet Christian Holtegaard, Rikke Høegstrup, and AART Architects
Try not to drop your jaw when entering AART Architects’ impressive new office space at the 18th and 19th floor. Here, you are welcomed in their showroom by a stunning 8 metre tall, two-coloured curtain covering two stories. The semi-transparent fabric lets you get a feeling of the breathtaking view behind it.
AART is a holistic minded architect firm and all about positive change. Their new office is characterised by raw, concrete floors, staircases of steel, and industrial-looking installations. Therefore, AART uses curtains as a tool to create contrast, to soften edges, and to add warmth and tactility to the rooms.
Christian Holtegaard from AART describes their creative process:
“We had an idea about the types of textiles and nuances we wanted, and we deliberately chose colours from different colour palettes. Still, we managed to obtain coherence throughout the rooms and spaces, and I think that is one of the strengths about Kurage; no matter which colours you choose, they seem to match each other.
Christian and Rikke carefully picked out their different textiles. They went with both flowy, semi-transparent curtains and heavy, acoustic drapes. They made their choices by placing the textile samples up against walls, windows, and furniture to see first-hand how colours and textures would work together.
Rikke explains how they worked intuitively to make the right decisions:
“When we placed the samples against the steel staircase and the dark wood, it became clear how for example the aubergine and rosie colours we chose for the showroom draw out the warmth in the materials.”
Christian feels inspired by the bold colour collections of Kurage, and he appreciates the ability to combine responsibly produced products and recycled materials with aesthetics and high quality.
