The Iconic Nordic House

SPACES

125 years of homes designed with light in mind

Dominic Bradbury's new book traces 125 years of Nordic residential architecture, from Eliel Saarinen's Hvitträsk (1903) to Tham & Videgård's contemporary work. The common thread across a century of building? An intimate relationship with light and landscape.

The ten houses Dezeen highlights include Alvar Aalto's Villa Mairea, Finn Juhl's own Ordrup residence, and Josef Frank's Villa Carlsten. What connects them is an approach to design where architects controlled every detail — from the building's orientation to catch the right light, down to the furniture and even the gardens.

It's a philosophy we recognise. When we design a pair of glasses, we think about how light passes through the lens, how the frame sits in a room, how it feels in your hand. The best Nordic design — whether a house or a pair of frames — begins with the same question: how do we want to experience the light?

Originally published by Dezeen