INTEL
FO R T H E GR AV E , AND B EYON D The enigmatic Sigurd Lewerentz (1885– 1975) rarely spoke publicly and even less frequently published his thoughts on design, and yet he is one of the most influential modernist architects to come out of Sweden. On October 1, ArkDes (Sweden’s national center for architecture and design in Stockholm) opened Sigurd Lewerentz: Architect of Death and Life, the first major exhibition of the work of Lewerentz since the 1980s. Initially trained as a mechanical engineer and architect, Lewerentz set up an independent practice in Stockholm in 1911, and four years later he won the competition to design a new cemetery in Stockholm. His proposal, submitted with Gunnar Asplund, would yield one of Lewerentz’s most famous projects: the Woodland Cemetery, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Throughout his career, Lewerentz would continue to design cemeteries, as well as churches, office buildings, products, and more. The exhibition will include photographs, drawings, sketches, and models. 26
GRAY
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Axonometric view
of an office building in Stockholm designed by Sigurd Lewerentz for Philips; Furniture for the department store NK, Stockholm Exhibition 1930; The crematorium at Eastern Cemetary in Malmö.
It’s not common to visit an art museum and think about the parts of a collection that aren’t on display, but when it came to Rotterdam’s Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen art-storage facility, the idea of full accessibility was central to the design. Opening in early November 2021, the MVRDV-designed building, located next to Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, will allow visitors to see the institution’s full collection of 151,000 artifacts. A building that opens 99 percent of its square footage to the public is rare in the art world—its in-the-round shape and crisscrossing staircases will lead visitors to exhibition rooms and curators’ studios, breaking down traditional front- and back-of-house demarcations. Artifacts will stand wrapped, hang from racks, be displayed in cabinets, or be exhibited in one of 13 gigantic glass cases suspended in the atrium. Prints, drawings, and photographs will be stored in enclosed spaces, but visitors can submit requests to view these works. The building’s striking façade comprises 71,139 square feet of glass subdivided into 1,664 mirrored panels that reflect the surrounding Museum park designed by landscape architect Yves Brunier with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. »
ARKDES COLLECTIONS; JOHAN DEHLIN; ËOSSIP VAN DUIVENBODE
FIRST LOOK
ALL-ACCESS ARCHITECTURE
