“Photographing is a great way to understand our design” says Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen of Norm architects.

Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen, architect, photographer and co founder of Norm architects, ventured into photography around the same time as they set up Norm architects in 2008. 

“It was both out of necessity and because I felt the communication of our designs and architecture was a part of a bigger whole”, he explains. “When designing objects we always try to see them in a larger context of use, the human body and its architectural setting.”

When photographing the Domus series, originally designed in the 1950s by Alf Svensson for Dux and recently reimagined by Norm architects, Bjerre-Poulsen wanted to find a location that was designed at the same time as the original furniture. The Langelinje Pavilion in Copenhagen, designed by Eva and Niels Koppel and built in the 1950s, proved a perfect match and Pernille Vest added elements to make the space resemble a private artists space.
”It had the same simplicity and spirit as the furniture, and in the same way as we had reimagined the collection, we added a contemporary twist to the beautiful architecture of the pavilion when photographing it,” Bjerre-Poulsen explains.

DUX X NORM ARCHITECTS

Dux collaboration with Norm Architects started during Stockholm Fashion Week 2019, when they co-created the exhibition “Into the Light”. During their contribution to the curation of the exhibition, they created the minimalistic and versatile headboard Anna. Norm Architects has also revitalised some of the Dux furniture, such as the DUX Domus Chair Wood.

Norm architects started their collaboration with Dux back in 2018, and diving deep in the Dux archive, they not only adjusted and updated the armchairs by Alf Svensson but also extended the series with a stool and a side table which was launched last year. 
”It is not that I dislike how other photographers portray our products. Some photographers can bring dimensions to our work that I didn't realise was there. But more often than not, I don't feel the essence of what we do is captured in the way I had imagined it,” Bjerre Poulsen explains. ”On top of that, the process of photographing is also a study of shape, textures, light and details where I get intimately acquainted with the final result of our design and how it actually came to life.”

The Domus series, including one armchair in steel and one in wood, is available on the market now. The book The reinvention of forms, with art photographs by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen, launched in 2020.