Modelled façade relief and design of the Skagen Glasshouse.

In connection with the decoration I have changed the positions of door and windows so that they are more harmoniously placed in terms of the façade dimensions. Furthermore, it has been important to let the façade be part of its environment, e.g. to follow the vertical line, formed by the row of windows in the houses of Skagen.

The asymmetrical divisions of the façade are - besides esthetical considerations - based on the position of the furnace in the glassworks. I have wanted this essential element of the workshop to be the deciding factor in the proportioning of the facade.

The decoration of Skagen Glasværksted is an abstract, organic relief, modelled in the bricks while they were still wet and before they were fired.

The theme of the relief is the earth, the rock - nature from which glass is made.

A series of straight cuttings run through the relief, whose sides have varying angles, so that they catch the light differently. These paths tighten up the composition and underscore the rhythm. They are also pointing to the centre formed by the furnace in the workshop, as well as in the facade.

Helle Vibeke Steffensen, architectural ceramist.

The relief is done at Tommerup Keramiske Værksted.
Building owner: Skagen Glasværksted by Torben Christensen.
Master builder: Mikael Grumstrup, Skagen.
Windows og door: Smith: Vagn Juhl, Skagen.
Inaugurated December 2000.
Photos: Helle Vibeke Steffensen and Niels Vest.

front, Skagen Glaspusteri