Nordic Architecture

La Cappella della Resurrezione, disegnata e costruita da Sigurd Lewerentz tra il 1921 e il 1925 nell’ambito del progetto per il Cimitero Sud di Stoccolma – divenuto noto come Woodland Cemetery, o Skogskyrkogården in lingua svedese – rappresenta una figura chiave nell’esperienza del Classicismo Nordico. Nelle espressioni più originali, la ripresa del linguaggio classico, cui si assiste in Scandinavia nei primi decenni del Novecento, non prende il ruolo di tema dominante, ma è sintetizzata nel carattere di singole parti autonome. Attraverso un procedimento di isolamento, il “pezzo”, rinvenuto nell’Antico e trasportato nel paesaggio nordico, dilata il suo valore evocativo e la sua tensione verso un universo ideale. In tal modo il progetto mette a punto lo strumento per decodificare la realtà, incorporando il passato entro un nuovo disegno. Si tratta di una discesa alle origini che conduce inaspettatamente alla modernità.
La cultura nordica, divisa tra la coscienza di un disegno superiore e la presenza di una natura inospitale, si rivolge ciclicamente al Mediterraneo. Lo sguardo trasversale di chi, da una condizione periferica, osserva il centro, produce un punto di vista privilegiato, in grado di costruire il sottile equilibrio tra immaginazione e appropriatezza. I frammenti del passato costruiscono una “mappa della memoria” dove parole e segni, appartenuti a un linguaggio codificato, sono rimontati in contrapposizione dialettica. Questo “sguardo archeologico” è radicato nella cultura svedese e riaffiora in epoche lontane nel tempo, manifestandosi secondo un atteggiamento ricorrente, che intende il progetto di architettura come atto fondativo, capace di radicarsi all’individualità del luogo e rimandare al contempo a valori assoluti.
A ogni figura della composizione degli edifici corrisponde un elemento nel paesaggio. Sintesi estrema di tale processo è il dialogo a distanza tra la Collina della Meditazione e la Cappella della Resurrezione: un tumulo pagano si contrappone alla figura bianca del tempio, collocato nella massa scura della foresta.
Il riconoscimento di quest’attitudine, di questo “classicismo di frontiera”, evidenzia la continuità di un metodo compositivo in cui la riflessione sul linguaggio e sulla rappresentatività degli elementi è tesa a costruire architetture nuove, dal carattere riconoscibile. Le molteplici allusioni creano una sequenza non lineare in cui storia, memoria e paesaggio convergono nella composizione. Sono questi, in sintesi, i motivi per cui il progetto della Cappella della Resurrezione nel Cimitero Sud di Stoccolma mantiene la sua forza e la sua attualità: figura urbana di grande chiarezza in cui la collettività si incontra, riconosce il monumento e condivide il senso della memoria.

Resultado científico en el marco del Proyecto I+D+I "Pest-OE/EAT/4041/2011 - Projecto Estratégico – UI 4041 – 2011-2012 com prolongamento a 2013", del Centro de Estudos Arnaldo Araújo (CEAA), financiado por la Fundaçao para a Ciència e a Tecnologia (FCT). Ministério da Educaçao e Ciência, Portugal

The focus of this study in the history of architecture and the built environment is the Stockholm City Hall and its practical functions and symbolic programme. The study also centres on the City Hall’s inauguration festival on the Midsummer’s Eve in 1923 as a manifestation of the building’s functions and symbols at the intersection of ancient times and current times as well as of the Swedish capital Stockholm and the Kingdom of Sweden. In the City Hall, the practical function of the building coincided with some of the theoretical ideals of society at the turn of the century. In this building, which was erected for the Stockholm City Council as well as for its administration and entertainment, socio-political and socio-aesthetic ideas met. In the creative act of the architect Ragnar Östberg, the consensus politics and the aesthetic milieu taken as a whole became an indivisible unity and a programmatic part. As a result, the Stockholm City Hall was shaped into a symbol of the ancient town and its rulers, but also into a manifestation of contemporary society and its new-born democracy.

These aspects of the building are essential in the present Master’s thesis: ‘Stockholm City Hall. Ancient times and current times’. The main aim is to describe the process before and under the construction and, when completed, to analyse the building in relation to the cultural-historical context in answering such questions as: Why was the Stockholm City Hall built? Why did the Stockholm City Hall get specifically this form? In the chapter ‘Society’, 50 years of committees, political regulations and resolutions are introduced – all in relation to the Stockholm Law Courts and the Stockholm City Hall. In the chapter entitled ‘The architect’, Ragnar Östberg (1866–1945) is introduced. The chapter deals with his progress as a student, with his scholarship travels in Sweden, USA and Europe, and with his period in assisting the architect Isak Gustaf Clason with the designs for the Nordic Museum in Stockholm (opened in 1907). In the chapter ‘The building’, the competition entries for the Stockholm Law Court and, when changing over around 1908, the Stockholm City Hall are presented, as well as the final fabric by Östberg. The ideas in contemporary society and impressions of the architect are discussed as sources of inspiration, which are reflected in the building: the Stockholm City Hall.

During the last years, this Master’s thesis in the History of Architecture and the Built Environment has, for instance, been quoted in an extensive monograph in Art History about the Stockholm City Hall (published in 2011). Most recently, it has been referred to in a PhD thesis in Architecture at the University of Bologna, Italy, about the architect Ragnar Östberg (published in 2015).

Research experiences and methods. Halldor Gunnløgsson´s house (1959). A look from the Sound towards the East. Text about research experiences and methods,  published,  conference proceeding volume of the I Congreso Internacional Iberoamericano Redfundamentos: Experiencias y métodos de investigación, (First International Iberoamerican Congress Redfundamentos: Research experiences and methods)

Organic Design in Twentieth-Century Nordic Architecture presents a communicable and useful definition of organic architecture that reaches beyond constraints. The book focuses on the works and writings of architects in Nordic countries, such as Sigurd Lewerentz, Jørn Utzon, Sverre Fehn and the Aaltos (Aino, Elissa and Alvar), among others. It is structured around the ideas of organic design principles that influenced them and allowed their work to evolve from one building to another.
Erik Champion argues organic architecture can be viewed as a concerted attempt to thematically unify the built environment through the allegorical expression of ongoing interaction between designer, architectural brief and building-as process. With over 140 black and white images, this book is an intriguing read for architecture students and professionals alike.

Comparing to other forms of human creation, architecture is often slow and passive. It takes years, if not decades to complete a public building. From the initial competition entry by Asplund to the actual building, the Gothenburg Law Courts took 24 years to complete. During this time, the shift of aesthetic culture in Sweden from Neoclassicism to National Romanticism and finally to Functionalism has influenced the building’s architectural style. Besides stylistic influences, the paradigm of existing political and social structure in Sweden is undergoing tremendous change. With the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) winning the general election and the majority of parliament in 1932, the country’s policy has become more liberal. A great number of bold economic stimulus schemes were launched to develop better infrastructure for the country. The Gothenburg Law Courts was finally conceived under this stimulus scheme led by the Swedish Social Democratic Party. This essay took interest in the most significant and controversial work of Gunnar Asplund, the Gothenburg Law Courts (1937). The following analysis will focus on different parties’ reactions and interpretation of a Gothenburg Law Courts in an attempt to understand the influence of the building socially and politically.

This research explores a design approach for biophilic experiences applied to children's learning environments in cold climates. The primary research gaps addressed are the confusion among principles, experiences and architectural characteristics in biophilic design literature; the lack of common terminology for referencing spatial patterns that induce biophilic responses; and limited design methods and generative approaches for designers due to the focus on empirical validation and broad theoretical generalisations. A visual biophilic design vocabulary, including spatial enclosure and adjacencies, is developed for experiences of abiotic and biotic nature. A framework is proposed for biophilic design schemas. In the context of renovating primary schools in Quebec, Canada, 38 schemas for cold climates are developed within this framework. Using these tools in an architectural design studio course showed that this common graphic language integrates experiences of nature in design processes, enabling researchers and architects to describe biophilic spaces with shared terms and logic.

Resultado científico en el marco del Proyecto I+D+I "Pest-OE/EAT/4041/2011 - Projecto Estratégico – UI 4041 – 2011-2012 com prolongamento a 2013", del Centro de Estudos Arnaldo Araújo (CEAA), financiado por la Fundaçao para a Ciència e a Tecnologia (FCT). Ministério da Educaçao e Ciência, Portugal.
Publicación revisada, previa aceptación, por el Comité Científico del Congreso Internacional "Encontros do CEAA/7. Apropriaçoes do Movimiento Moderno – Apropriaciones del Movimiento Moderno ", celebrado entre los días 23 y 26 de Junio de 2011.

The end of the nineteen century -besides many transformations- saw the birth of what we call today mass media, with its modern way of communicating ideas and all the sudden changes of society. 
Magazines, and especially those ones interested in arts and architecture, played a central role in this revolution. Since the beginning, the Italian journals wanted to publish foreign artists, in order to favour the constitution of a truly “modern” conscience, and finally go beyond an Italian tradition, still bounded to classicism and eclectism. One of the main reason for its cultural lag was related to the absence –central in other European countries- of a tradition such as the Grand Tour, that, from the late Renaissance, permitted to each generation to travel and compare ideas, lifestyle, artistic believes.
If we speak of these last two centuries, the main influences in Italian culture came from countries like Germany, Austria and France, first for their physical connections with Italy. However, as soon as the modern transportation and communications permit it, Italian magazines tried to keep up with the many artistic revolutions that where starting all over Europe, like in the Nordic countries.
This essay focuses on a period between 1895 and 1950. The 1895 is the birth of the first modern art magazine: «Emporium», in Bergamo (Milan). On the other end, in 1950 Bruno Zevi publishes the first Italian History of Architecture , which presented Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar Aalto as two great masters for the new generations.
Between these two moments, there are the Fascist decades, with his economical but also cultural autarchia , which apparently wanted to contain this growing interest for foreign architecture. Actually, as we can see from a selected bibliography, most of the publications connected to Nordic architecture, comes from that period, especially after the 1928 and the birth of a famous architectural Italian journal: «Casabella».
For these reasons, in order to understand the path of dissemination of Nordic architecture in Italy is crucial to follow the flow of publications on this topic in our architectural magazines.

El Premio Pritzker de Arquitectura de 1997 fue a parar a las manos de un dibujante enmascarado bajo la piel de un arquitecto, Sverre Fehn. La presente investigación analiza las acuarelas originales que realiza durante décadas en la isla de Hvasser. Desentraña el acervo cultural plasmado en ellas, así como el proceso de abstracción que representan. Las ideas y referencias culturales que emanan de ellas van del Romanticismo al Expresionismo Abstracto, subrayan su importancia como parte consustancial del proceso creativo que deviene en la arquitectura de Sverre Fehn. Este proceso está íntimamente ligado a la figura inspiradora del barco como referente fundamental de su arquitectura.

Cuando en 1921, la Autoridad del Cementerio encargó a Sigurd Lewerentz (1885-1975) la tarea de crear la segunda capilla del Nuevo Cementerio Sur de Estocolmo (conocido también como Woodland Cemetery, diseñado por E.G. Asplund y S. Lewerentz en 1914) decidió colocar un templo clásico al final de un largo sendero recto que cortaba la frondosidad del bosque. Tal declaración fue suficiente: en un cementerio donde todas las tumbas son iguales y están esparcidas entre los troncos de los árboles, la situación del rito debe expresar un lenguaje universal que todo el mundo pueda reconocer en el paisaje. El arquitecto, enseñando algo completamente diferente del contexto, crea una revelación de la divinidad. El pronàon clásico situado en el bosque de coníferas es la síntesis del espíritu antiguo de la divinidad y permite a las personas reconocer a primera vista, el monumento.
Este documento deja lugar a la interpretación del famoso Woodland Cemetery (en particular de la Capilla de la Resurrección) como una obra basada en una dimensión simbólica del lugar sagrado capaz de unir los valores absolutos con el espíritu del lugar. Atravesando épocas, fronteras y posturas ideológicas, la memoria colectiva, expresada por el diseño, reconstruye identidades humanas usando signos pertenecientes a la conciencia universal.
En esta portentosa visión urbana la búsqueda de los orígenes lleva al uso de arquetipos que aluden a la relación entre lo humano y lo divino. Desde que el hombre moderno ha perdido la capacidad de comprender esta dimensión divina directamente y ha necesitado sobreimponer sobre la realidad un sistema de signos que lo hagan más reconocible una vez más, el diseño arquitectónico es como una acta fundacional capaz de lidiar con la tensión entre naturaleza y artefacto. Un sentido mítico se encuentra en la naturaleza y la construcción del paisaje por lo que asume una dimensión épica.

When, in 1921, the Cemetery Authority entrusted Sigurd Lewerentz (1885-1975) with the task of creating the second chapel of the new South Cemetery of Stockholm (subsequently known as the Woodland Cemetery, designed by E.G. Asplund and S. Lewerentz starting from 1914) he decided to place a classical temple at the end of a long straight path cut out of the dark mass of forest. Such a declaration was clear enough: in a cemetery where all the tombs are equal and spread among the trees trunks, the location of the rite has to speak a universal language that everybody can recognise within the landscape. The architect by showing something that was completely different from the context creates a hierophany. The classical pronàon located in the coniferous wood is the synthesis of the ancient spirit of the divinity and it enables the viewer to recognise, in merely a glance, the monument.
This paper makes space for an interpretation of the celebrated Woodland Cemetery (particularly of the Chapel of the Resurrection) as a work based on a symbolic dimension of the sacred space able to link absolute values with the spirit of the place. Crossing times, boundaries and ideological positions, the collective memory, expressed by the design, re-builds human identities using signs belonging to the universal consciousness.
In this powerful urban vision the pursuit of the origins leads to the use of archetypes that alluded to the relationship between the human and the divine. Since Modern Man has lost the ability to read this divine dimension directly and has needed to superimpose upon reality a system of signs which makes it recognisable once more, the architectural design is intended as a founding act capable of working with the tension between nature and artefact. A myth-like significance resides in the nature and the construction of the landscape thus assumes an epic dimension.

Designing memorial places involves a reflection about the Origin. Starting from this premise, the paper illustrates some small cemeteries designed by Sigurd Lewerentz in the same years when he was working at the two celebrated sacred spaces of Enskede (Stockholm) and East-Malmö. The work developed by the Swedish architect in Forsbacka, Valdemarsvik, Rud
and Kvarnsveden shows a peculiar approach aiming to reveal the character of the place. Lewerentz, through
the landscape design, gives the ground – seen as a factor of origin – an evocative value. Using signs that allude to archetypes of the relationship between man and the divine, Lewerentz deploys natural features along with artificial and abstract elements. The pursuit of a sense of origin settles the project into the place, and in this we can recognize a founding principle able to orient contemporary urban projects.

In 1915 E.G. Asplund and S. Lewerentz won the Competition for the Enlargement of the South Cemetery in Stockholm. The long and complex series of events leading to the creation of the cemetery in phases began at that point and continued for the whole period of the two architects’ professional activity. When, in 1921, the cemetery authority entrusted Lewerentz with the task of creating the second of the minor chapels - later called the Chapel of Resurrection - the young architect decided to place a classical temple, built of white stone, at the end of the Way of the Seven Wells, the long straight path cut out of the high, dark mass of forest and coming from the Meditation Grove. Lewerentz envisioned a so-called chapel of passage, meaning that the death is not an end but rather a gateway toward a new dimension.

La condizione urbana come fenomeno pervasivo 1 1-1 4 s e t t e m b r e 2 0 1 9 | B O LO G N A IX CONGRESSO AISU PROGRAMMA / PROGRAM The global city The urban condition as a pervasive phenomenon S e p t e m b e r 1 1 t h-1 4 t h , 2 0 1 9 | B O LO G N A

This is a preview only: In this essay, the two key terms coined by Ellen Key, »celebration habits« (›festvanor‹) and »everyday beauty« (›vardagsskönhet«) – the programmatic core of the nordic life reform movement – are analysed and illustrated in various typical manifestations, such as the artists’ banquet or the celebration ritual. It also examined to what extent the nordic life reform movement with these two core terms finds an expression in painting, arts & crafts and architecture in the late 19th and early 20th century and fulfills its promise of social and cultural renewal.

It is part of an anthology edited by Sandra Rühr and Eva Wattolik that reflects from the perspective of media science on the different variations of the celebratory as well as their perception.
It includes contributions from history, literature studies, art history, theater as well as media studies and opens up interdisciplinary and multiperspective possibilities for further research.

Forty years after inaugurating their now eminently successful architectural practice, John and Patricia Patkau are “beginning again.” So they happily declare in their new book Material Operations. This unique survey features eleven experimental works, from their 2010-11 Skating Shelters for Winnipeg’s frozen Red River, to the nearly complete Temple of Light overlooking BC’s Kootenay Bay. Each work is presented more as...

This lecture about the architect Ragnar Östberg consists of three parts. It starts with an overview of Östberg’s personal history as well as his architectural education in Sweden and abroad. Using the Scharin House (1905) in Umeå, Sweden, as an example, I then discuss some central themes in Östberg’s architectural oeuvre. Finally, I show how Östberg wrote – or built – himself into the Stockholm City Hall (1923), that is, how he built a persona in and by means of masonry and stucco, manifesting himself as national architect, first citizen and family father. When designing his buildings, how did he use historical forms and concepts as well as physical remnants as building elements? How did Östberg include both yesterday’s and today’s political and bureaucratic positions in the Stockholm City Hall, as well as fine art, applied arts and industrial products, the surrounding cityscape and landscape, and the architectural history of southern and northern Europe? This lecture is part of the series ‘Three famous architects in Umeå in older times’ (Tre berömda arkitekter i Umeå i äldre tid) that took place in the spring of 2007.

Plantear la cuestión del "sur" en relación con Finlandia suscita el tema recurrente del centro contra la periferia o el norte contra el sur. Con el avance de la globalización, la identidad se ve cada vez más como una cuestión de explotar la diferencia, pero en un pais geográficamente periférico ésta se sigue interpretando mediante ideas "esencialistas" relacionadas con la identidad nacional.

To pose the question of the "south" in relation to Finland in the "north" raises the oft asked question of centre versus periphery or south versus north. In architecture history the "south" has often been a synonym for classicism. With increased globalization, identity has increasingly been seen as a question of the exploitation of difference, but which in a geographically peripheral nation still gets interpreted through "essentialist" ideas connected to national identy or locality.

The term genius loci—“the prevailing character or atmosphere of a place,” as the Oxford English Dictionary defines it—has long been used to interpret landscape characteristics. Lately, however, it is being used, and abused, as a justification in just about any discourse. For spatial, aesthetic, and ecological discussions and social, cultural, and political issues, the genius loci gets invoked, in the process being stretched, diluted, and hollowed out into an empty shell. One reason it is so often used lies in the gradual dismantling of the belief that the landscape holds an intrinsic value. Instead of extracting meaning from a place, we seem to generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between experiences and ideas. Thus the value we project on landscape can only be different for each and every one of us. Also, the loss of the term’s ability to convey real meaning seems to be closely related to the sense of loss of identity, spatial definition, and orientation that for many...