A Testing Ground for Objects: Inside the Copenhagen Apartment of Kasia Sznajder and Fred Aartun of aarticles

When we featured the rental of Kasia Sznajder and Fred Aartun in Liseleje, Denmark, the two were on the edge of launching their now functioning gallery project, aarticles. Their summerhouse, affectionately named The Pine House 1970, quickly became a staging ground for curated objects and rare finds as the project evolved. So too is their Copenhagen apartment, their primary residence in a city where Kasia and Fred have lived and worked for over a decade. With aarticles, Kasia, a brand strategist, and Fred, Head of Creative at Frama, have turned away from the newly designed products emerging from the Copenhagen brands they support and inward toward contemporary art and found objects, selected through a shared field of observation. They cite influences including Georgia O’Keeffe, J.B. Blunk, Lina Bo Bardi, and Isamu Noguchi, bringing a unique blend of references to a European audience.

Fred has lived in the apartment, located just near the canals of Christianshavn, for eight years—having first discovered it when friends hosted a photoshoot there and later connected him with the owners. Five years later, Kasia moved in and promptly updated the kitchen (she formerly worked with Danish kitchen company Reform). The 775-square-foot apartment is equal parts container for daily life and, since launching aarticles, a modular studio space—a testing ground for how individual pieces interact. “We see the apartment as a backdrop for the things we collect, so we love to move everything around quite often. It’s a space that easily allows for change—for us to be modular and to experiment,” Fred explains. “Now that we have started aarticles, it’s constantly filled with new art and design pieces. That constant movement and redecorating ensures we never grow tired of the space.”

Photographs by Fred Aartun, except where noted.

Above: The second-floor apartment includes two bedrooms, a living space, a small bathroom, kitchen, and balcony. A FLOS Toio Light designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. On the wall is a piece by Australian artist Anna Fielder. Above: aarticles is a distinctly modern gallery—an archival-minded project translating the quality of old museum systems, catalogs, and books into a digital marketplace. A the forefront of the displayed pieces is a found sculpture from the 1950s-70s by Swedish sculptor Sven Olsson. Above: On a bench sits the stoneware Raised Vessel III by Kasia herself, available through aarticles, and the copper and brass leaf Container 1 by Korean artist Yeodong Yun. Also shown here is a woven bamboo basket from Taiwan. Above: The couple appreciates the historic qualities that remain—original ceiling moldings and solid wood floors, where, as Fred notes, “you can really see the marks of time.” A corner display comprised of a Noguchi Akari 26N Lamp, and a found terracotta vessel from Chianti, Italy. Above: The dining table is the Frama Farmhouse Trestle Table in Oak paired with a Frama Chair 01 and the Frama Folding Flat Chair in Ash Black Birch. On the table is the Necked Vessel I by Kasia. Above: In the living area, Fred and Kasia built a shelf that extends the length of the room. “It allows us to store the ceramics and objects we don’t currently use, while also displaying them.” Hanging is the Noguchi Akari 50EN Pendant. In the corner is an Ingo Maurer Lampampe Table Lamp. Above: A collection of smaller pieces in stone, bamboo, ceramic, and wood. Both Kasia and Fred have extended their own artistic practices into the world of aarticles—Kasia with ceramics and Fred with carved wood sculpture. Above: A sculpture, the Blue Angel, by Shane Gabier, sits on a stack of reference books. Above: A vintage Thonet Bentwood Lounge Chair, a Frama AML Stool in Dark Pine, and a Frama Rivet Boxtable in Aluminum among design books and small objects. Above: A selection of works available through aarticles: Necked Vessel III by Kasia Sznajder, Untitled 2 Sculpture from Sven Olsson, Untitled 3 Sculpture from Sven Olsson, a Found Vase from Sweden, and a Found Eel Fork. Above: On the Frama Tasca Aluminum Stool stands a book on Picasso and the Campanula Candle Holder by Polish artist Agnieszka Owsiany. Above: They transformed the second bedroom—formerly the guest room—into an office and studio to support aarticles. Above: Kasia and Fred photographed by Claus Troelsgaard.

For a look at more interior spaces of Copenhagen-based creatives, see our posts:

• Down-Home in Denmark: Designer Rose Hermansen’s Copenhagen Family Apartment
• Young Architect Freja Bak Josias’s Art-Filled Family Hideaway in Copenhagen
• Built to Last: An Interior Designer’s Trend-Proof Apartment in Copenhagen
• Femte Til Venstre: A Danish Couple’s Thoughtfully Appointed 1927 Townhouse in Copenhagen