The complete work of the great Swedish architect, a master of religious architecture.
This volume presents the complete work of the Swedish architect Sigurd Lewerentz (1885-1975). In the early years of his career, the work reflects full mastery of the classical language. After 1930, Lewerentz made a substantial breakthrough in the direction of rationalism, which he was later to abandon, in the last part of his career, in favor of a poetic, individualistic language based on refined use of traditional materials, on the complexity of forms and accuracy of crafted details.
He was a master of religious architecture. His works include the chapels of St. Knut and St. Gertrud in the cemetery of Malmö (from 1916 on), the restoration of the cathedral of Uppsala, on which he worked for nearly ten years (1947-55), and the church of St. Peter’s in Klippan (1962-66).
Colin St. John Wilson, in the introduction to the volume, writes that “the position of this man is undoubtedly authoritative, and the reasons behind his rejection of the classical language deserve further study, because his work contains a deeply polemical vein”.
The book also contains a chapter on the photographs taken by Lewerentz during his time in Italy, visiting Florence, Rome, Tivoli and Pompeii, and a critical anthology.