DOI issue:
No. 129 (November, 1907)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28253#0089
Studio-Talk
THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH MONUMENT (VIENNA) SCULPTURE BY HANS BITTERLICH
ARCHITECTURE BY PROF. OHMANN
CHRISTIANIA.—The people of Norway
could not very well have found a more
befitting coronation gift to their King
and Queen than the typical Norwegian
house shown in our illustration on the following page.
It was a happy idea, likely to be carried out in the
happiest manner, for there is every reason to congra-
tulate the architect, M. Kr. Biong, upon his clever
and ingenious solution of a difficult though very in-
teresting problem. M. Biong’s design was selected,
both by the committee and by the King and
Queen, from upwards of seventy competing plans.
The motif throughout is the old Norwegian
timbered house, at the same time picturesque and
singularly cosy, although it has of course been
necessary to materially enlarge and modify the
interior arrangements. The house is to be built
of heavy timber, and the roofing is to be sward,
which, with its long grass, flowering herbs, and an
occasional shrub, produces a quaintly pretty effect
against the sombre background of the surrounding
forest. A special feature of the interior will be the
large “Peisestue,” a hall with one of those huge old-
time fireplaces upon which large logs of birch are the
accepted fuel, and round which the inmates of the
house and their friends are wont to gather, often
for the purpose of relating hunting adventures and
other strange tales. There is to be no ceiling, and in
some respects the room as planned reminds one of
an Elizabethan hall. The walls of the “Peisestue”
will be covered with weavings and decorated with
a carved frieze in wood, representing scenes from
the sagas of Norway’s ancient kings. The Queen’s
drawing-room adjoins the “Peisestue,” and the
King’s study, with the adjutants’ room, is in the
centre of the building, whilst the dining-room lies
somewhat by itself, and the different apartments
will be decorated with carvings, panels, etc.,
according to their different uses. The bedrooms
and the visitors’ rooms are on the first floor. A
delightful site has been secured for King Haakon’s
and Queen Maud’s forest home close to beautiful
Voksenkollen, amidst glorious Norwegian scenery,
and conveniently near the capital, and there are
exceptional opportunities for ski-running, tobog-
ganing, and other northern sports. G. B.
BERLIN.—Lovers of those fine miniatures
in metal, medals and plaquettes, had a
good opportunity of seeing some of the
best modern German works in this
year’s Great Berlin Art Exhibition. Germany is
just now witnessing a revival of an art which
belonged to the glories of the Differ time. We
have not seen such continuity of development as
Austria and France have experienced, but artistic
73
THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH MONUMENT (VIENNA) SCULPTURE BY HANS BITTERLICH
ARCHITECTURE BY PROF. OHMANN
CHRISTIANIA.—The people of Norway
could not very well have found a more
befitting coronation gift to their King
and Queen than the typical Norwegian
house shown in our illustration on the following page.
It was a happy idea, likely to be carried out in the
happiest manner, for there is every reason to congra-
tulate the architect, M. Kr. Biong, upon his clever
and ingenious solution of a difficult though very in-
teresting problem. M. Biong’s design was selected,
both by the committee and by the King and
Queen, from upwards of seventy competing plans.
The motif throughout is the old Norwegian
timbered house, at the same time picturesque and
singularly cosy, although it has of course been
necessary to materially enlarge and modify the
interior arrangements. The house is to be built
of heavy timber, and the roofing is to be sward,
which, with its long grass, flowering herbs, and an
occasional shrub, produces a quaintly pretty effect
against the sombre background of the surrounding
forest. A special feature of the interior will be the
large “Peisestue,” a hall with one of those huge old-
time fireplaces upon which large logs of birch are the
accepted fuel, and round which the inmates of the
house and their friends are wont to gather, often
for the purpose of relating hunting adventures and
other strange tales. There is to be no ceiling, and in
some respects the room as planned reminds one of
an Elizabethan hall. The walls of the “Peisestue”
will be covered with weavings and decorated with
a carved frieze in wood, representing scenes from
the sagas of Norway’s ancient kings. The Queen’s
drawing-room adjoins the “Peisestue,” and the
King’s study, with the adjutants’ room, is in the
centre of the building, whilst the dining-room lies
somewhat by itself, and the different apartments
will be decorated with carvings, panels, etc.,
according to their different uses. The bedrooms
and the visitors’ rooms are on the first floor. A
delightful site has been secured for King Haakon’s
and Queen Maud’s forest home close to beautiful
Voksenkollen, amidst glorious Norwegian scenery,
and conveniently near the capital, and there are
exceptional opportunities for ski-running, tobog-
ganing, and other northern sports. G. B.
BERLIN.—Lovers of those fine miniatures
in metal, medals and plaquettes, had a
good opportunity of seeing some of the
best modern German works in this
year’s Great Berlin Art Exhibition. Germany is
just now witnessing a revival of an art which
belonged to the glories of the Differ time. We
have not seen such continuity of development as
Austria and France have experienced, but artistic
73