Jorn Utzon Logbook Vol I The Courtyard Houses 180pp. € 50 excl. VAT The books put their projects in context, positioning them in the wider oeuvre and throwing light on Utzon’s design philosophy. They are easier to chew on than the full Weston, even if Utzon’s career resists separation into bite-size pieces. Cumulatively, all these books will help to build the reputation of an architect who seems to have much to offer as a correction to our image-driven architectural culture.
The series documents recurring themes and preoccupations which run through all of Utzon’s work. What emerges is a rigorous yet free “process of work” rather than a style. These volumes are a must for anyone interested in Utzon which, to my view, should include anyone interested in the ability of architecture to inspire. Plan Magazine – February 2006
aj review
Jorn Utzon Logbook Vol II Bagsvaerd Church 168pp. EUR 50 excl. VAT A complete record of all stages in the construction of the church at Bagsvaerd, from Utzon’s initial idea, through sketches, construction, use and even correspondence during the production of the book, the documentation is so thorough it is nearly unbelievable. Sections on the acoustics, technical details of the organ, plans and photographs galore: there really is very little to compare with this series. If you have any interest in architects and their projects you are unlikely to spend a better GBP 35 in your life. A true labour of love. RIBA Bookshops – Monographs European architects
There is far too much literature on arcitecture published throughout the world. The critic’s desk is covered with extended monographs presenting buildings that perhaps should never have been built, academic studies whose readers see no reason for them to have been printed at all. I am therefore overjoyed when I have the chance to shoow my respect for an exceptionally important monograph. This book , which has been edited by John Pardey and written mainly in a most agreeable manner, tells the story of the buildings and Utzon’s architectural intentions so successfully that it could only have been bettered by a movie or by visiting the site. Esa Laksonen, ptah, The Alvar Aalto Academy
NUMINOUS UTZON Jørn Utzon’s buildings are at last getting the kind of publication they deserve. Bagsvaerd is the second volume in the Jørn Utzon Logbook series published by Edition Bløndal and, with great finesse, it analyses the architect’s most moving fully completed building (Sydney’s interiors never having been executed, though that may at last be in the process of correction). ...after much turning from text to drawings to images and back again, the building takes form in your mind. If only more architectural bookmaking in which the architect is involved with production could be like this – clear, unaggressive, evocative, perceptive – we might start to make a much more civilised world than that encouraged by the simplistic, flashy handling of the work of contemporary super-stars in most contemporary publication. Peter Davey, Architectural Review
Jorn Utzon Logbook Vol III Two Houses on Majorca 76pp. € 40 excl. VAT
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