Metropolis Magazine this month tells us of Ilse Crawford’s designs for
interiors that “entrance all the senses.” To this end the London-based designer
has created a guesthouse in Stockholm, which invites guests to enjoy the dining
area and cooking area as if they were at home. Guests can go there any time,
day or night, with or without the staff. Seating is designed to be large family
style.
Ett
Hem, which means “a home” is billed as a guesthouse. The marketing
goes, “Specifically designed to feel like a home rather than a hotel, Ett Hem provides just twelve stylish rooms and suites. Guests are
treated like special friends and can help themselves to goodies in the fridge,
open a bottle of wine, take the dog out for a walk and even borrow the car.” Crawford sites the Danish value of hygge—pronounced “hu-gah” or even
“hew-ga”. The word doesn’t have an English counterpart (but it sounds like a hug to me!). The
closest you could get would be a compound noun, something like
“home-family-warmth-comfort-and-the-private-sphere.” The article goes on,
“There’s a Dutch word that doesn’t really exist in English that means
‘environmental awareness’: an awareness of the people who are here, of where I
am, and of the people around me.”
What a concept! I moved on to dream, what if the guesthouse added, not a
concierge, or a scripted docent from the local museum, but a local storyteller?
Each evening the storyteller would be there to join the family style dining and
speak the stories of Stockholm – the past, the present reality and their dreams
for the future. Wouldn’t a rich knowledge of the people of the area and their
stories be a wonderful “souvenir” to bring home from any visit?
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