Sverre Fehn's fragments

Sv e r r e F e h n’s f rag ment s D i a l og ue b etw een a young Italian ar chitect a n d an o l d N orwegian m aster

S eb asti an o N espoli.

3 H ou se s.

S p ri n g 20 2 1 .

P ro f. F red ri k Lu nd.

In th e l i b ra ry I met a dr eam er . He was sta ri n g at th e w indow contem plating bir ds tw i rl i ng i n th e c lear sky.

“C an I si t he re?” I asked.

“Of c o u rse, i s your natur e.”

“E xcu se me?”

“A s w el l a s th e y belong to the sky…”. He e xp l a i ne d p o i nting at the bir ds. “…M an is rel ate d to th e e ar th.” He paused for a while.

“B i rd s tra ve l fro m tr ee to tr ee, ther e they fi nd the mee ti ng point between ear th and sky, n a tu re p ro vided this br idge, not m en.

S ometi me s th e y land on the r oof of a house, b ut th a t i s on l y the way in which bir ds tr y to p l e a se th e man ’s hum ble attem pt to im itate n a tu re.”

I w as c o n fu se d . “Isn’t the r oof just a c o ve ri n g for me n?”

“Isn ’ t thi s she l ter alr eady pr ovided by n a tu re?” h e rep lied. “Cavem en wer e fine w i th th e p ro te c tion of a hollow in the m ass o f a mou n ta i n. M oder n m an has built tower s to sc rap e th e sky. Nothing sticks to the e a rth a s a massive tower . A r oof isn’t just a sh e l ter. A b e a utiful r oof is alr eady an a rch i tec tu re i n itself. It tells the stor y about th e man ’ s yea rn for the sky and his fear of n a tu re a t th e sa m e tim e. It constitutes the sh e l l i n w hi ch e ver yone can feel pr otected.

I d re w a c h u rch in which the r oof str uctur e

rese mb l es a b oat keel. The fisher m an feels c o mfortab l e i n i t, he r ecognized the shapes h e i s fami l i a r to. As the boat is the m eeting p oi nt b etw ee n the sky and the sea, the c h u rch sta ys b etween heaven and ear th.

H ea ve n g en tl y finds his place ther e, getting th rou g h th e c e i l ing and all ar ound it. The a tmosp he re c reated is the beginning of p ra ye r.”

“D oe s i t ha ve to do with light and d arkne ss?”

“In d ee d , you sa id. That str uctur e r epr esents th i s d u p l i ci ty. Tension m akes ar chitectur e c o me a l i ve . Is a bout life and death, past a n d p rese n t.”

“T e l l me more”. I said.

“A struc tu re c o ver ing old r uins can be more p ow erful than you think. If it aim s is to man i fest th e pr esent, it can establish a d i a l og ue w i th the past, m aking it speak n o w . Th e y a p p reciated when I applied this c o n c e p t i n a museum I designed few year s a g o. T h e re, th e wooden str uctur e gently l ays o n th e fo rmer walls and the r oof in so me p oi nts l ets the light enter ing r evealing th e p ast.

Is a p ath o f kn o wledge and consciousness th a t l ea d s you i nside and outside, e xp eri e n c i ng the r uins. Hum an path is the most e l emen ta ry for m of com position. When man sta rted w a lking in the natur e he was

a l re a d y l e a vi ng a sign. An ar chitect should fi rst fo l l o w tha t path: ther e ever ything sta rts. Its d i re c tion is the floor plan.”

“Wh i ch ki nd of plan ar e you thinking about?”

“C an ’ t you se e ? I’m speaking about an i nfi ni te roo m, a r oom which star ts when n a tu re sta rts an d ends wher e natur e d oe s. A n a rch i tectur e that has no fear of th e su rro u n d i n g envir onm ent. I see an e xp eri men ta l ho use wher e the r oof lets th e sky e n te r and the vegetation com es i n th rou g h th e glass walls. Is a long and n a rro w ho u se , which just r eflect the path of men . It h a s a star ting point and an end. You c a n g o th rou g h it without being inter r upted b y servi c e s a n d facilities. Is fr eely a rti c u l ate d un d er a long shed, m ade by the rep eti ti o n o f th e sam e por tal. It could be l on g as man ’ s p ath, poetr y is alr eady given b y the roo f e mb r acing light and air .”

“D o yo u a l w a ys im agine long buildings?”

“T h e h u man b ei ng had to face the vastity of th e h o ri zo n si nc e he saw it; sailor s left in a se a rch o f th a t str aight, hor izontal line. Now th e mystery i s o ver , it is a line on a paper .

T h e rati on a l ha d conquer ed the ir r ational.

B u t w e a re sti l l an infinite m yster y and what o u r i mag i n a ti on is able to see is infinite to o . Ou r p e rce ption of a per spective which run s a l l a l on g a building r em inds this. I am i ma g i n i ng ag ai n the r epetition of a str uctur e

w hi ch su p p o rt a long canopy that opens to l et th e l i g ht i nvading the air below it.”

I i nte rru p ted hi m. “Is again light the m ain th e me?”

“L i g h t i s al w a ys the m ain them e. Without l i g ht th e re w ou l dn’t be ar chitectur e. It make s e ve ry mater ial alive. We could o b serve i t re a c hing the under gr owth in a fo rest, d an c i ng with the foliage of the h i g h e st tree s. Can you see it now, playing w i th th e w oo d en beam s of a cover ed b ri d g e? A sl i g htly oblique wall following yo u r step s, a revelation path wher e light i nc rea se a s yo u cr oss that br idge.”

“A re a l l o f th e se just ideas, ar en’t they?”

“Id ea s a re so p ur e. An uncontam inated a n d cl ea r arch i tectur e com es fr om a sim ple i d e a , a p oe ti c c onstr uction. An ar chitectur e sh o u l d a l w a ys be based on this. No m atter h o w g o o d an a rchitect you ar e, if you have n o c h a n c e o f e xpr essing your poetic idea in struc tu res, yo u lack the ver y foundation of a rch i tec tu re. T h e str uctur e is a language, a w ay o f e xp re ssing your self, and ther e sh o u l d b e a b al ance between thought and l an g ua g e. E very stor y has a constr uction.”

“I w i l l rememb e r .” I nodded.

I w atc h e d for the last tim e thr ough the w i n d ow . Th e b i rds wer e gone. And so he w as w he n I tu rned m y head towar d his c h a i r.

Sv e r r e F e h n’s f rag ment s S tud i o mod el s of five selected case studies

S eb asti an o N espoli.

3 H ou se s.

S p ri n g 20 2 1 .

P ro f. F red ri k Lu nd.

Konkurranse om en Kirke i Honningsvåg, Nordkapp, 1965

Konkurranse om en Kirke i Honningsvåg, Nordkapp, 1965

Konkurranse om en Kirke i Honningsvåg, Nordkapp, 1965

Hedmarkmuseet på Domkirkeodden, Hamar, 1967-69

Hedmarkmuseet på Domkirkeodden, Hamar, 1967-69

Hedmarkmuseet på Domkirkeodden, Hamar, 1967-69

Konkurranse om Eternit-typehus, 1963-64

Konkurranse om Eternit-typehus, 1963-64

Konkurranse om Eternit-typehus, 1963-64

Konkurranse om Læreforeningens kurssenter, Oslo, 1978

Konkurranse om Læreforeningens kurssenter, Oslo, 1978

Konkurranse om Læreforeningens kurssenter, Oslo, 1978

Utkast til Bergverkmuseeet, Røros, 1979

Utkast til Bergverkmuseeet, Røros, 1979

Utkast til Bergverkmuseeet, Røros, 1979