ORTRAUM Designed a Minimalist House in a Finnish Forest
The MK5 House focuses on wood and metal.
Finland’s ORTRAUM Architects has completed its latest project — a living space created for one of the design firm’s partners. It’s called the MK5 House and it takes cues from its environment and evokes both Finnish tradition and progressive design.
Located in Helsinki, MK5’s slanting roof and dynamic base allow it to flow with the surrounding landscape but has another purpose. The central kink inplan was designed in line with Finnish customs that state that homes should avoid a direct view of neighbors, while the main spaces open up towards the west, where the ocean lies. Replete with a basement-housed sauna, the open-ended structure features bedrooms structured around a mezzanine. Highly personalized, the building includes unusual elements like a shallow rock climbing wall and an indoors acrobatic swing.
The MK5 House is one of ORTRAUM Architects’ highest profile undertakings of the year. In related design topics, a Portuguese design firm took cues from children’s drawings for a new, forward-thinking structure.
