Planetveien 12: The Korsmo House-A Scandinavian Icon

The Korsmo House, 1955, is an icon of moder n Scandinavian

architecture--an experimental house that has been frequently

published in magazines and architecture anthologies. A few years

ago a jury elected the house as one of the ten most significant

buildings in Norwegian twentieth century architecture. Professor Knut

Hjeltnes says in the Arkitektur-N 5/2012 review that "Planet Road, 12,

is one of the most important private houses in Norway, owing both to

the qualities of the house and the significance of the inhabitants in

Norwegian post-war culture." The original owner, Grete Prytz Kittelsen

(earlier Korsmo) lived in the house until she passed away in 2010.

The house is now listed for preservation.

Arne Korsmo (1900-1968) was a prominent Norwegian architect,

best-known for a large number of functionalist buildings and interiors

made in the 1930s. Also a renowned exhibition architect and product

designer, Korsmo was highly-esteemed as a post-war teacher of

architecture and interior design. Grete Prytz Korsmo (later Kittelsen,

1917-2010) was a goldsmith and pioneering enamel artist, a 'grand

lady' of Scandinavian design and a trusted member of the World

Craft Council. Scandinavian Design is subject to increasing interest

worldwide and with it so is the Korsmo House. The Korsmo couple

were the incarnation of post-war Scandinavian design, winning prizes

internationally for product design and exhibition architecture.

Planetveien 12 discusses the location of this architectural icon, the

house's many incarnations, the biographies of the architect and

the Korsmo couple's visit to America where they met Hugo Weber,

Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alexander Calder and,

significantly, Ray and Charles Eames. The book also details Korsmo's

other projects and his teaching careeer, alongside detailed plans

from inception and a full photographic essay about the finished

house. The author, Elisabeth Tostrup, is an architect and professor

at the Oslo School of Architecture; previous publications include

Norwegian Wood: the Thoughtful Architecture of Wenche Selmer,

2006, and Architecture and Rhetoric: Text and Design in Architectural

Competitions, 1999.