Tagwerk

This large kachelofen/pizza oven project has a number of thoughtful and personal customizations. Clients Christian and Barbara wanted to commission a Kachelofen designed in a Jugendstil style. Jugendstil is a German decorative arts movement popular in the first few decades of the 20th century. It shares many similarities with Art Nouveau. Christian is a descendant of Richard Reimerschmid; an architect, painter, designer and city planner from Munich, Germany who was a major figure and a founder of architecture in the Jugendstil style.

The Kachelofen’s display shelf has a number of thoughtful elements. The hand carved shelf brackets are inspired by the work of Richard Reimerschmid. “Tagwerk” is presented in a font originally created by Richard Reimerschmid. “Tagwerk” is a German word which has a few meanings, but can be roughly translated as “a day’s work.” For Christian, Tagwerk is more than a motto. Christian is the master brewer, co-founder, and managing partner at the Paris Beer Company. Tagwerk is a line of their beer that Christian developed on the Bruce Peninsula. It is also the name of Christian and Barbara’s farm!

 A thin raised relief “framing” line adds an organic and soft quality to each face of the oven.

Barbara has deep roots in Tegernsee, a town in the Bavarian Alps. Jessica used the entwined water lilies on the Tegernsee coat of arms as a starting point for the border motif on the Kachelofen. She played around with proportions in order to make the pattern better fit a 2:1 horizontal aspect ratio. She also accentuated the heart shape by sharpening the bottom of the lilies.

The pizza oven and the Kachelofen share a chimney, but each has its own cold air intake.