Stories
Hamburg, Germany
A bunker in peace alley
How do you transform a raw World War 2 peoples shelter into a warm family home? Creative couple, Janine and Mark Seelen's new Hamburg home offers the answer. In a buzzing neighbourhood in Hamburg, in the street of Friedensallee, which translates to Peace Alley, the couple inhabit top floor of new apartment building with outside concrete walls 1.4 m thick echoing its former purpose as a bunker. A calm, clean and reduced to the necessary interior combined with well-crafted details offers a warm brutalism - exactly what Mark and Janine wanted to obtain in their new home.
How do you transform a raw World War 2 peoples shelter into a warm family home? Creative couple, Janine and Mark Seelen's new Hamburg home offers the answer. In a buzzing neighbourhood in Hamburg, in the street of Friedensallee, which translates to Peace Alley, the couple inhabit top floor of new apartment building with outside concrete walls 1.4 m thick echoing its former purpose as a bunker. A calm, clean and reduced to the necessary interior combined with well-crafted details offers a warm brutalism - exactly what Mark and Janine wanted to obtain in their new home.
Mark and Janine met in an elevator in New York in 1992. After a decade in the States, the couple pursued their career as photographer (Mark) and graphic designer (Janine) in Hamburg. As a family of four they settled in the green suburbs, but after their two kids flew from the nest, the couple was drawn back to the city.
During a trip to Japan, Mark and Janine experienced living in a number of small apartments that are not only functional and minimalistic but also beautiful and warm due to the all natural materials and the paired down design. With this in mind they developed their new 82m2 home in downtown Hamburg. Today, Mark and Janine are the creative duo in Seelen+ where they edit fine visuals in photography and film.