(DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)Lewerentz Fragments
By: Nathan Matteson, School of Design
Through new essays, recently discovered archival material, photography and drawings, "Lewerentz Fragments" explores the architect’s body of work spanning three-quarters of the 20th century. Comprising of writings from all the major scholars on Lewerentz’s work, along with several new voices, this publication offers new insight into the context surrounding this architect’s work.
Rather than focusing on a single thesis, the book offers a diversity of insight from multiple cultural and professional perspectives. Previously unpublished translations of interviews and dialogues among the architect and his contemporaries offer a voice to the "silent architect," altering the traditional interpretations of the work and digging past the surface of what might be considered his philosophy of building. Rather than serving as an introduction to the architect’s work, this volume provides detailed fragments as a deep and diverse dive into one of the most mysterious of Scandinavia’s modern masters.
(Image courtesy of Actar publishers)Who or what inspired you to write this book?My colleague, Matthew Hall, introduced me to the work of Sigurd Lewerentz many years ago. For those familiar with the work, I think it's nearly impossible not to be inspired by it. For myself, I'm amazed by its free-ranging play across myriad disciplines and bodies of knowledge. Lewerentz is so much more than merely an architect because of the challenging nature of the beauty of his work and a refusal to pander to the normative.
What's the most surprising thing you learned while writing this book?
The Stockholm city archive has artifacts that suggest Sigurd Lewerentz measured the bricks delivered for the construction of his Resurrection Chapel at Stockholm's Woodland Cemetery to ensure they were each uniform. However, these bricks are all covered with stucco. The meticulousness and precision is astounding, but also probably a reason why he was removed from the project.
About the author:
Nathan Matteson is an assistant professor in DePaul's School of Design. His practice is fiercely anti-disciplinary, ruthlessly collaborative and engaged with the spaces, moments and mistakes between things. He rejects the idea that design offers solutions to problems and insists problems are the output of any worthwhile practice. He hopes to leave behind a series of interesting ones.
Publisher, release date:
Actar publishers, September 2021
Signed by the Author allows DePaul faculty and staff to introduce their recently published or upcoming book or chapter to the university community. To submit your book or chapter for consideration, contact Newsline. |