Architects Håkan Widjedal and Natasha Racki first started their architect studio in year 2000. Between 2004 and 2011 the company was run in the constallation of ”Arkitektstudio Widjedal Racki Bergerhoff” (WRB). Founders and co-workers work together as a creative team expanding and contracting depending on the needs of the project. Involving architects with different nationalities and experiences, a project always becomes a creative and intense process, in which clients and external consultants also play an important role.
The studio’s back catalogue, which consists predominantely of private houses, bears witness to the main focus of the office: to utilize the initial ideas and concepts, making them present in every aspect of the project, often down to the smallest detail. The ambition is always to identify the unique potentials in the assignment and make use of them. With careful attention to details, the projects are executed in close relation to client and builders. Concept, design and construction are seen as inseparable aspects to ensure an optimal final outcome.
Issues that seem to recour in almost every project are questions about how buildings relate to their context in terms of functional-, visual-, and thematic aspects. Often, this results in studies exploring ways to integrate the building with the surrounding environment. Many of the houses have been set in scenic landscapes and as a result the interaction between landscape and building has been central. In larger projects, social and cultural aspects tend to get more focus, as seen in Naturum Eklandskapet. Here the architecture, a tool for integration of nature and city, also acts as a tool for integrating people of different ages and interests; an urban stage attracting students as well as older people.
The studio has taken part in several exhibitions and received numerous awards, including the Swedish Wood Award, first prize. It has continuously being published in national as well as international architecture press and literature. Håkan and Natasha have been teaching at the Architecture Faculty of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and held lectures at various architecture schools.