To know Can Lis is to uncover a love story — one that transcends the mere notion of a house and instead embodies a vision, a family, and a life lived with deep intention. Standing on the edge of Mallorca’s rugged coastline, this personal sanctuary of Jørn Utzon reveals itself gradually, as if offering its secrets only to those who truly take the time to observe.
As we embarked on the creation of our Spring Summer 2025 Collection, we were invited by the Utzon Center to immerse ourselves in the essence of Can Lis. Our journey there became more than an exploration of architectural theories and legacies; it was an act of devotion. We walked its weathered stone floors, lingered in the embrace of its courtyards, and allowed its silent rhythms to guide us: the interplay of light and shadow, the scent of sea air caught in its walls, and the imagined echoes of life that have filled its spaces over time.
Can Lis is not merely an assemblage of bricks and mortar; it is a tapestry of memory and ritual. Fragments come together to reveal a story of meals shared beneath an open sky, the soft tread of bare feet across cool stones, and the warm glow of sunsets painting golden mosaics on its walls.
Jørn Utzon (1918–2008)
Jørn Utzon was a Danish architect renowned for his design of the Sydney Opera House, an architectural icon that exemplifies his profound sensitivity to organic forms and the natural environment. His work, which includes notable projects such as the Bagsværd Church in Denmark, Can Lis in Mallorca and the Kuwait National Assembly Building, is characterised by an integration of structure, context, and cultural heritage.
Utzon’s architectural approach was deeply influenced by his appreciation for nature, culture, and tradition. His designs often embraced a sensitivity to local materials, craftsmanship, and the specific characteristics of a site, resulting in buildings that feel both grounded and poetic. Central to his philosophy was the idea that architecture should emerge from its environment, creating spaces that respond to the landscape and enrich the human experience.
“Jørn Utzon’s Can Lis is an extraordinary house, where the architect’s almost spiritual connection to nature has served as the foundation for a home that is more closely related to the temples of the past than to ordinary houses.”
Line Nørskov Davenport, Utzon Center
“For Ferm Living, engaging in this collaboration with the Utzon Center was an opportunity to introduce the legacy of Can Lis to a broader audience. In its profound humility and understated brilliance, Can Lis serves as an enduring testament to how our homes can simultaneously anchor and release us, creating spaces that hold, challenge, and comfort in equal measure.”
Phillipp Materna, Head of Design
The Ferm Living x Utzon – Can Lis Collection
The Ferm Living x Utzon – Can Lis Collection crafts a story of meditation, tactility, and quiet sophistication, perfect for contemporary living spaces that seek both function and poetry. Much like Can Lis, which balances Danish rationality with the elemental textures of Mallorcan craft, the collection interweaves material expressiveness with Scandinavian minimalism.
This season’s forms and materials take cues from Can Lis’ surroundings, where rugged coastlines, shifting light, and tactile surfaces establish a profound sense of place. Its furniture and objects reflect a sculptural quality, responding to the textures and geometries of the house’s unique architecture. Meanwhile, a material palette composed of FSC™-certified Douglas fir and oak, glass, stone, and patinated finishes grounds the designs.
The Legacy of Can Lis
Behind the grandeur of Utzon’s greatest architectural triumph, the Sydney Opera House, lies a story of conflict. Over more than a decade of construction, the Opera House faced political strife, budget controversies, and public scrutiny, culminating in Utzon’s departure from the project. He would never return to Australia to see the completed work.
This experience left him searching for renewal — not in grand public statements but in the quiet act of creating something deeply personal: a family home. Can Lis, the house Utzon built on the southern coast of Mallorca, emerged as a response to this period in his life.
Constructed in 1972, Can Lis reflects Utzon’s return to architecture’s essentials. During their first visit to Mallorca, Utzon and his wife Lis purchased several pieces of land in the hills above S’Horta, intending to build there. However, after failing to secure building permissions, they acquired a coastal plot in 1967, where Can Lis would eventually be realised. Dedicated to his wife, Lis, the house was designed as both a refuge and an intimate tribute to her and their family.
Perched on a narrow, cliffside plot overlooking the Mediterranean, Can Lis is organised as a linear sequence of pavilions along the coastline, each serving a distinct function while oriented to take in views of the sea. The layout includes a central living room, a separate kitchen and dining pavilion, and individual bedroom pavilions, all connected by open courtyards and walkways. These courtyards serve as transitional spaces, delineating the house’s functions while maintaining a strong connection to the outdoors. The design facilitates a flow between interior and exterior spaces, creating a distinct integration with its outdoor surroundings.
“Can Lis can be seen as a habitable luminaire, where architect Jørn Utzon masterfully arranges light as a material in itself. Drawing upon this, Ferm Living’s designs echo the home’s interplay of stone, timber, and light, creating a dynamic choreography of shadow, material and form.”
While the Opera House celebrated bold mid-century engineering and innovation, Can Lis embraces a more meditative expression, drawing from the island’s local traditions to create something both timeless and grounded. From a distance, Can Lis might be mistaken as an entirely Mallorcan expression, with its undulating bovedillas and sheer, unadorned exterior. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this palette is a starting point for something distinctly unique, balancing the expression of both regions, Scandinavian and Mallorcan alike.
Over time, Can Lis was passed down to Utzon’s family and became a cherished legacy of his vision and way of life. The family later entrusted the Utzon Center with its stewardship, ensuring that the story of Can Lis would continue to inspire future generations. The Utzon Center invited Ferm Living to create a collection inspired by the home: an opportunity to honour its heritage and extend its narrative to a broader audience.
By framing the collaboration as a conceptual homage rather than a direct reproduction, the Ferm Living x Utzon – Can Lis Collection explores what it means to create within and alongside legacy.
Shop the Collection here.