Fehn, Sverre

▪ 1998

      In 1997 the Pritzker Architecture Prize was awarded by the Hyatt Foundation to Norwegian architect Sverre Fehn, who for nearly half a century toiled both in the shadows of the great modern architects and, especially, in the long shadows, low light, and regional vernacular of Scandinavia, outside of which he remained little known. His corpus of completed works, largely museums and private houses, numbered about a dozen and seemed to meld elements of international influence—Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, and Frank Lloyd Wright—with decidedly Scandinavian materials and designs. The design of his Glacier Museum (1991) in Fjaerland, Nor.—a long, low-lying, white-and-gray concrete structure with sloping ends—echoed the steep glaciers that surrounded it. Broad panels of green glass in the centre and two towering staircases at one end afforded views of the rocky, snow-covered mountain and bathed the museum in low, dusky light. The Hedmark Cathedral Museum (1979) in Hamar, Nor., was built astride the historic ruins of a 14th-century cathedral and manor house. The ancient building's rough fieldstone walls were juxtaposed with sleek, molded concrete ramps, pillars, and bridges.

      Fehn was born on Aug. 14, 1924, in Kongsberg, Nor. Graduating from the Oslo School of Architecture in 1948, he became associated with the school's post-World War II graduates, which included architecture theorist Christian Norberg-Schulz. He received mentoring from Arne Korsmo, who designed the house in which Fehn lived and who introduced him to another mentor, French engineer Jean Prouvé. One of Fehn's first ongoing projects was the Handicraft Museum in Lillehammer, Nor. (1949-56). He first gained international acclaim in 1958 at the World Exhibition in Brussels, where his Norwegian Pavilion captured first prize in the design competition. Built in the International style, the low wooden building made a horizontal statement with its wide, overhanging, segmented eves. Fehn again received widespread notice with his Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1962, which also won first prize. The spaced rectangular forms—concrete inlaid with marble—were built around large, leafy trees, which created the effect of Venetian blinds by diffusing the strong Mediterranean light that entered the building through the latticed roof.

      With Per Olaf Fjeld, Fehn wrote Sverre Fehn: The Thought of Construction (1983). From 1971 to 1993 he was a professor at the Oslo School of Architecture, and he lectured elsewhere in Europe and in the U.S. In 1997 he was working on an expansion for the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen.

TOM MICHAEL

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▪ Norwegian architect

born Aug. 14, 1924, Kongsberg, Nor.

      Norwegian architect known for his designs of private houses and museums that integrated modernism with traditional vernacular architecture. He considered the process of building “an attack by our culture on nature” and stated that it was his goal “to make a building that will make people more aware of the beauty of the setting, and when looking at the building in the setting, a hope for a new consciousness to see the beauty there as well.” He won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1997.

      Fehn, who graduated from the Oslo School of Architecture (now the Oslo School of Architecture and Design) in 1948, was one of the renowned international group of post-World War II architects and designers that included architectural historian and theorist Christian Norberg-Schulz. Fehn was much influenced by Arne Korsmo, who introduced him to another mentor, French engineer Jean Prouvé (Prouvé, Jean). One of Fehn's first ongoing projects was the Handicraft Museum in Lillehammer, Nor. (1949–56). He first gained international acclaim in 1958 at the World Exhibition in Brussels, where his Norwegian Pavilion captured first prize in the design competition. Built in the International Style, the low wooden building embodied horizontality with its wide, overhanging, segmented eaves. Fehn again received widespread notice with his Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1962; it won the Biennale's Golden Lion Award for national pavilions.

      Fehn's corpus of completed works reflects the influence of such modernists as Mies van der Rohe (Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig), Le Corbusier (Corbusier, Le), Louis I. Kahn (Kahn, Louis I.), and Frank Lloyd Wright (Wright, Frank Lloyd) but also particularizes the Scandinavian setting. Fehn's Norwegian Glacier Museum (completed 1991) in Fjærland, Nor.—a long, low-lying, white-and-gray concrete structure with sloping ends—echoed the steep glaciers that surrounded it. His Hedmark Cathedral Museum (1979) in Hamar, Nor., was built astride the historic ruins of a 14th-century cathedral and manor house. Some of Fehn's other notable museum designs include the Aukrust Center (completed 1996) in Alvdal, Nor., and the Norwegian Museum of Photography (completed 2001) in Horten, Nor. He also designed an exhibition pavilion and adapted a 19th-century Neoclassical bank building in Oslo for the Norwegian Museum of Architecture (completed 2007).

      With Per Olaf Fjeld, Fehn wrote Sverre Fehn: The Thought of Construction (1983). From 1971 to 1993 he was a professor at the Oslo School of Architecture, and he lectured widely in Europe and in the United States.

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