Galleri Sonja
On the northern tip of Bornholm, in the small coastal town of Allinge, lies Galleri Sonja – a café, shop, and gallery shaped by the island’s rugged coastline and deeply rooted craft traditions.
Location
Bornholm, Denmark
Photography
Karl Tranberg Knudsen
Nefeli Have
Category
Commercial
Year
2025
Designed by Norm Architects, Galleri Sonja grew from a shared ambition: to create an environment that celebrates simplicity, tactility, and the quiet beauty of natural materials. The result is a place where art, design, and everyday rituals merge. A sanctuary for calm reflection and sensory connection.
Every detail within is guided by intention. The interior unfolds as a composition of subtle contrasts; light and shadow, smooth and textured, refined, and raw. Soft tones of sand, ash, and stone mirror the landscape outside – the granite cliffs, the sea grass, and the pale northern light that filters through the windows
The craftsmanship of local collaborators, including Bornholms Møbelsnedkeri and Bornholms Møbelpolstrer, ensures that every join, seam, and curve carries the subtle marks of the hand
The furniture and fittings were created bespoke to form a seamless dialogue between architecture and craftsmanship. Sculptural stools, benches, and tables connect traditional joinery techniques with Scandinavian architectural restraint, their forms simple yet expressive, designed not to dominate the space but to support the activities and encounters that unfold within it.
Tables and stools can be rearranged to accommodate both intimate gatherings and larger events, while the bar counter, crafted with removable lamellas that slide like Japanese shoji screens, transforms effortlessly to reveal or conceal displays.
The philosophy behind Galleri Sonja reflects Soft Minimalism, a central principle of our practice at Norm Architects, where Japanese simplicity meets Scandinavian functionality, and restraint becomes a form of richness. Here, minimalism is not an aesthetic of absence but of essence; a way of allowing materials, light, and form to speak with quiet confidence.
Throughout the café and gallery, curated details extend the sensory experience. The ceramics, hand-thrown especially for Galleri Sonja, accompany daily rituals – a quiet reminder of how design and craft intertwine in everyday life. Displayed alongside works by local artists and Japanese craftspeople, they form part of a broader narrative about connection, patience, and presence.
As the day passes, light moves slowly across surfaces of oak, linen, and paper, revealing the quiet poetry in their textures. This tactile honesty lies at the heart of the project.
Outside, an intimate garden, framed by old fruit trees and the soft sounds of the sea, becomes a natural extension of the interior.
The connection between Japan and Bornholm forms the conceptual thread throughout. Though distant in geography, the two islands share a deep kinship; both shaped by isolation, defined by craft, and sustained by an enduring respect for nature and time.
Within the gallery, this relationship unfolds through carefully curated objects and artworks, bringing together makers from both places who share a devotion to slow, skilled work. The result is not a static exhibition but a living dialogue between cultures and disciplines.
In an age defined by speed and excess, the gallery stands as a rare offering. An invitation to slow down, to observe, and to reconnect with the tactile world around us. It reminds us that beauty can be found in the simplest gestures: the warmth of wood beneath the hand, the sound of light rain against a window, the quiet company of crafted objects made with care.
A place to pause, to share a conversation, or to simply be. The atmosphere feels at once familiar and timeless, as though the space has always belonged to its surroundings.
