Villa Stenersen, Functionalist house with gallery in Vinderen, Norway.
Villa Stenersen is a residence and private art gallery built in 1937-1939 in Vinderen, distinguished by white concrete surfaces, glass brick walls, and multiple levels. The interior is arranged to weave an art collection throughout the daily living spaces rather than separate it.
Architect Arne Korsmo designed the house in 1937-1939 for financier Rolf Stenersen as a space that merged living and art collecting. The building passed to state ownership in 1974 after Stenerson's death and opened to the public as a museum.
The residence embodies a philosophy where living and displaying art are woven together as one experience. The spaces show how Norwegian collectors of the time integrated modern works into their everyday surroundings.
The house opens during summer months, mainly on Sundays with guided tours available. Metro lines 2 and 3 reach Borgen station, from where it is a pleasant walk of about 10 minutes through the residential area to reach the building.
The stairwell acts as a vertical art gallery, naturally lit by hundreds of glass cylinders that create shifting light on the artworks displayed along its walls. This unusual design was the architect's bold idea to transform the act of climbing into an artistic experience.
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