House/Studio INAMATT
Pingjum The Netherlands, 2008
Interior design
In the middle of the wide green flatlands on the North-eastern part of The Netherlands, you find the small village of Pingjum. This is where the working and living space of INAMATT is currently located. From two vacant barns, remnants of the agricultural activities that historically took place on these planes, INAMATT designated one space for working and living, and turned the other one into an area for contemplation and creative practice. In the treatment of spaces and structure, trough the thoughtful interventions that took place here, the DNA of building by INAMATT comes forward.
In the largest building, that now is the house and work studio, INAMATT opened up the existing passageways, to optimize the light streaming through the entire space. In the main living area the sunken floor creates an optical connection between the flat green fields outside and a wider perspective on the sky outside, through this optic the experience of the space is literally widened and a seamless connection between inside and outside was made. The heavy woodwork of the supporting beams that run across the ceiling has been lightened up. Throughout the space original details were kept, and only one additional window was placed in a wall that had been irreparably destroyed. Functional spaces like kitchen, lavatory and storage have been included in the barn in a transparent way.
The small barn that lies alongside the larger construction has also been stripped to its bare essence. This space serves as studio for work and contemplation and leaves room for thought. Save the new window on the West side of the barn, placed because it is in a direct stream of wind, the building has been brought back to forms of its original 19th century state.
Photography by Morten Holtum and Mirjam Bleeker
