2G Essays: Sigurd Lewerentz and Bernt Nyberg. In Dialogue (Book)

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This publication takes a contemporary look at Bernt Nyberg ́s biography project on Sigurd Lewerentz, which shows the great Swedish architect from a new perspective in film, still images and sound recordings. The prevailing image of Sigurd Lewerentz is that of the silent architect : opaque, reclusive, and reluctant to reveal the motivations behind his work. Through still images, film and hours of recorded interviews, the architect Bernt Nyberg presents us with a differ- ent view – that of an architect on site, captured in a dialogue among the workers, the materials and the contingencies of a design as it unfolds in space and time. Through the curious and experimental lens of a younger contemporary – an architect obsessed with film, and operating at the cutting edge of its technol- ogy – Lewerentz ́s discourse is shown to be one of praxis rather than theory, intensely interested in the consequences of construction. Nyberg was Lewer- entz ́s first biographer, and he was aiming to make

a documentary film and book. However, these plans were cut short by Nyberg ́s untimely death in 1978. The book initiates a contemporary dialogue with these images, suggesting new lenses for interpretation and discussion.