NO PARKING in this garage

Architect couple Frank Maali and Gemma Lalanda have transformed a mid-century garage into a cultural catalyst for Vipp. Tucked away in a courtyard in the small Copenhagen neighborhood of Islands Brygge lies a former garage from 1948. The neighborhood that used to be a lively working-class quarter filled to the brim with heavy industry still carries the special character and pulse from the bygone era. This legacy was paramount to local architects Frank Maali and Gemma Lalanda when the couple were commissioned by Vipp to transform the old garage into ‘Vipp Garage’ - a cultural venue presenting dialogues between design, art, food, music, and architecture.

Q In the transformation, how have you preserved the legacy of a mid-century garage?

A Frank: Instead of erasing that past, we decided to honour the urban landscape’s history by letting the garage’s existing arrangement dictate our design and allowing the new structures to unfold naturally. Playfulness and intuition have been the guiding principles in unfolding a new structure of stacked blocks that pop up and vary in scale. It’s like bursting buds on a tree. While reinterpreting the old garage, we paid tribute to the quilt of mixed buildings in the surrounding area.

Q Describe your approach of ‘intuitive architecture’?

A Gemma: We didn’t finalize Vipp Garage on the drawing board but kept refining and cultivating the details during the building process. Like poetry, we believe that magic happens in the end, so we continuously refined the project. It involves patience and close involvement to follow an intuitive design philosophy, often working without plans. It means that Frank is on site with his team from start to finish.

Q Which architectural elements are worth highlighting?

A Gemma: Inside, vaulted brick ceilings by Randers Tegl are an homage to Holger Nielsen, who founded Vipp in 1939 in the city of Randers. The impressive 4.5 m height brick ceiling adds warmth and tactility to a nuanced space defined by concrete, steel, and iron. The floors are made of polished black concrete pebbles, while the walls are dressed in patinated dark steel plates that dance at different rhythms as sunlight moves through the space.

Q What is your favourite aspect of the new construction?

A Frank: We chose to pull the building towards the north to make space for a small outdoor courtyard. In that way, natural light is funneled into the space through floor to ceiling glass walls that can open towards the light court. The original southern wall is kept intact and is supported by buttresses that also act as sculptural elements, and the original chimney acts as a built-in fireplace. To complete the small outdoor haven, a red alder tree is planted to adorn the space and to emphasize the magic of Vipp Garage, since alder trees are connected to the world of the elves according to mythology.

Q What is the rationale for extended the space with a 190 m2 rooftop terrace?

A Gemma: Simply put it’s about maximizing the experience of the transformed structure and doubling the living space. The rooftop terrace seemingly floats on a ribbon of steel plates, offering a panoramic view of the Copenhagen skyline with a glimpse of the city’s harbor. A concrete staircase leads from the courtyard to the rooftop terrace where a greenhouse kitchen greets you with scenic views to the roof garden of crooked pine trees and ornamental grasses that gracefully move in the wind. And it is the ideal spot to take in a monumental mural art piece commissioned by Vipp from artist Mathias Malling Mortensen.

Q You have previously restored the adjacent buildings in the courtyard including Vipp’s headquarters (former printing factory) and the Mogens Dahl concert hall (former horse stable) Now, you were invited to transform the last building, the garage. Was it like putting the final signature on a grand oeuvre?

A Frank: Indeed, it feels like we have finished what we started 20 years ago. While the garage takes up its own identity and fulfill own functions it is part of a whole and enters a trio of buildings that share traits in both style and structure with its neighbours. You step into a holistic courtyard where an intimate and defined universe unveils itself.

ANCIENT WALLS AND MODERN SPIRITS

INTERTWINE WHEN VIPP OPENS THE GATES TO AN EPHEMERAL GUESTHOUSE IN THE HISTORIC FRAMES OF PALAZZO MONTI IN BRESCIA.

Like Stepping Into A Master Painting

The palazzo’s opulent staircase guides you into a liveable installation with a three-room suite where only one bed is available. While being the only guest at the hotel, you are in the mythical company of the frescoed figurines, nymphs, and gods that play out ancient fables on the ceiling.

The architecture is Italian baroque with frescoes from the 1750s, the curation is resolutely Danish. Copenhagen-based interior designer, Julie Cloos Mølsgaard has poetically shaped a sophisticated dialogue between new and old. “When celebrating contemporary art and design in classic frames, historic ornamentation becomes a complementing contrast to the industrial design heritage of Vipp. They say opposites attract. I call it chemistry in its purest form”, says Julie Cloos Mølsgaard.

Palazzo Monti is the 6th entry in Vipp’s guesthouse portfolio, a deconstructed hotel involving leading architects and designers in the exploration of architectural archetypes turned one-of-a kind bookable venues. For the first time, the guesthouse concept travels beyond the Scandinavian borders for a southern European debut in the heart of Brescia.

Vipp’s minimalist furnishing feels curiously at home amid the Baroque ornamentation. Julie has imagined both the rooms as well as the combined kitchen and dining area occupying the ground floor. Here, in the so-called piano nobile (hosting floor), a modular V1 kitchen island from Vipp in matte black takes centre stage in a curious juxtaposition of contemporary, industrial design under a loft of historic, Venetian frescoes over a tiled floor of locally crafted jade tiles. Repeated green detailing is a reminiscence of the region’s interior style from the 1600s.

Waking up under the frescoes in this 13th century palazzo gives plenty of room for an out of the ordinary experience. The communal space invites for an espresso and chat with the dynamic owner, Edoardo Monti and three current artists following Palazzo Monti’s residency program. Visit the artist in their workshop on the top floor of the palazzo with scenic views over Brescia’s historic neighbourhood boasting UNESCO heritage sites and endless streets of osterias full of charm and Italian delicacies.

Imagined for the Vipp Palazzo Monti pop-up hotel, a new Vipp Swivel chair is available in a limited-edition upholstery by renowned textile company Torri Lana. Synonymous with extraordinary craftsmanship and unique heritage honed since 1885, Torri Lana has brought back from its historic gems a textile of cotton Chenille and linen Frisée first woven by the company in the early eighties by Jole Gandolini. Still woven in the green textile valley of Bergamo, the organic green and beige waves echo the mountainous landscape of the Lombardy region in northern Italy.

Julie Cloos Mølsgaard With a background as movie producer and scene director, Julie Cloos Mølsgaard knows a thing or two about setting the stage. Combined with a career in interior design, working in LA with designer Kathryn Ireland in almost a decade, she creates interior universes full of stories. In a curated mix of art, design, textiles and antiques, Julie is an interior designer that prefers subtlety over the splashy resulting in a highly tactile and sophisticated space.