From tradition to innovation: Lewerentz's designs of ritual spaces in Sweden, 1914–1966

Abstract

Sigurd Lewerentz's architectural production throughout the twentieth century set a course for subsequent developments in Sweden, and the various monographs and analyses featuring his work to date reveal his lasting influence on international architectural discourse. Reyner Banham included Lewerentz in his book The New Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic?. While his British Brutalist counterparts explored everyday life after the 1950s, Lewerentz's connection with popular culture was strongly tied to tradition. This paper analyses how Lewerentz's study of traditional construction methods affected his design of ritual spaces from 1914 to 1966, and explores his statements about tradition as compared with his built projects. His initial years reflect his adhesion to tradition, as a reaction to some of the existing practices in Sweden. After 1940, Lewerentz sought to reassess existing models and in his last projects referred to heritage as a basis for innovation and for interpreting traditional construction elements in novel ways. Lewerentz's shifting regard for tradition defines a novel framework in which to consider his extensive production in an all-inclusive way. His use of tradition as a resource to produce novel designs provides a lens through which to examine innovation, establishing continuity with existing designs.