Lewerentz - Divine Darkness
Sven Blume
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Sven Blume
Director Sven Blume's grandfather was the respected Swedish architect Carl Nyrén. Blume has already made a film about him before he devoted himself to the next topic. The new movie is titled Lewerentz - Divine Darkness (2024). Its main subject is the renowned architect Sigurd Lewerentz (1885-1975). Despite his fame, he was reluctant to give interviews, let alone strive for the limelight. Instead, his work, starting with the competition victory achieved at a young age with Gunnar Asplund, is among the most unique in Nordic architecture of the 20th century.
The competition win was to create the breathtakingly beautiful Skogskyrkogården cemetery (in English the Woodland Cemetery), which with its buildings and structures representing both Nordic Classicism and Modernism is an exceptional combination of stunning landscape, garden design, forest and exquisite architecture. The large area in Stockholm, near Björkhagen has partly also been transformed into a beautiful man-made landscape. The cemetery has been a pilgrimage destination for architecture lovers worldwide.
Asplund and Lewerentz, the double team, however, parted ways. After that, a moved to Eskilstuna and later to Skåne and its important university city Lund, and gradually focused on a completely different kind of work, and a different, more modern architecture, to become known also for his breathtakingly fine and completely stunning, carefully built and crafted churches. Malmö's Eastern Cemetery is also Lewerentz's creation, and its special flower kiosk was an object of both astonishment and admiration after its completion. Regarding that building, and despite his old age, the always-radical Lewerentz was way ahead of his time as well as his younger colleagues.
While the churches designed by the late Finnish architect and academician Juha Leiviskä are most known for the skilful capturing of natural light, Lewerentz's churches are most characterized by almost darkness. In the beginning of the film the Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa reminds us that darkness also can be the domain of dreams - why not devotion and exaltation?
Sven Blume has been able to bring in an architect named Bernt Nyberg, who became interested in photographing and filming Lewerentz, whose work he admired. Precious material was found for the director's use in a storage cellar in Lund. With the help of this film material, we also get a glimpse into the private life of the architect who died in 1975. Nyberg also captured the methods that Lewerentz used in his work, as well as how he dressed and much liked to smoke cigars. Without this material, we wouldn't know much about this unique architect and his work and personality, let alone his family life.
Blume's film is an exceptionally refined and peaceful portrait of an architect. It has already been shown in the repertoire of several significant international architecture film festivals. Through the film, we learn surprising things about Lewerentz: after the death of his spouse and during his last years, he worked in a windowless studio, silver-colour-coated on the inside. A full-scale copy of it was conjured up for the big Lewerentz exhibition at the Swedish Architecture and Design Museum ArkDes in 2021.
The cooperation that continued after Asplund's and Lewerentz's handsome victory in the competition had been interrupted due to the interference of other parties in a very strange and unfortunate way. As architects and individuals, they were very different but also complemented each other. In the Skogskyrkogården cemetery, Lewerentz's handwriting can be seen above all in e.g. a series of different moods and spaces between the memorial grove located on top of the beautiful small hill and at the end of the carefully thought-out natural stone stairs, and the Resurrection chapel at the other end of the axis.
The continuation of the collaboration had been jeopardized when the client considered Lewerentz's way of working to be too meticulous - this was because he constantly developed and sketched more and more, to improve the result. Despite all this, it should be remembered that Lewerentz was also strongly involved in creating the great popularity of the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition. The exhibition brought fresh and vivid modern thinking and optimism to Sweden and had more than a million visitors.
The after-effects of the breakup and Skogskyrkogården, as well as the disappointment of cooperation with the designs after Malmö City Theatre competition in 1933, resulted in Lewerentz moving to Eskilstuna for about one decade and surrendering to e.g. to produce glass and his glass designs.
Setbacks and new activities gradually inspired Sigurd Lewerentz again, to design completely new types of buildings. They have a strong sense of material and the sense of being built by hand, as well as their very own kind of sparse natural light and the sound world or acoustics, accentuated by almost darkness. In the Nordic architecture of the last century, St. Mark´s Church and St. Peter´s Church are both in a class of their own.
The film also reminds us both of how versatile but also tied to their circumstances or drawing strength from their background and experiences, architects can be - and that the best buildings are always the result of the collaboration of several different people.
Blume also travels with his film to Turku, where Divine Darkness will have its second screening on the 22th of November, in collaboration between Ark Rex, the Bryggman Foundation and the City of Turku. The Embassy of Sweden in Helsinki supports the Ark Rex screening of the film in the presence of the director.
Sigurd Lewerentz - Divine Darkness
Director: Sven Blume, 2024
Duration: 70 minutes
The competition win was to create the breathtakingly beautiful Skogskyrkogården cemetery (in English the Woodland Cemetery), which with its buildings and structures representing both Nordic Classicism and Modernism is an exceptional combination of stunning landscape, garden design, forest and exquisite architecture. The large area in Stockholm, near Björkhagen has partly also been transformed into a beautiful man-made landscape. The cemetery has been a pilgrimage destination for architecture lovers worldwide.
Asplund and Lewerentz, the double team, however, parted ways. After that, a moved to Eskilstuna and later to Skåne and its important university city Lund, and gradually focused on a completely different kind of work, and a different, more modern architecture, to become known also for his breathtakingly fine and completely stunning, carefully built and crafted churches. Malmö's Eastern Cemetery is also Lewerentz's creation, and its special flower kiosk was an object of both astonishment and admiration after its completion. Regarding that building, and despite his old age, the always-radical Lewerentz was way ahead of his time as well as his younger colleagues.
While the churches designed by the late Finnish architect and academician Juha Leiviskä are most known for the skilful capturing of natural light, Lewerentz's churches are most characterized by almost darkness. In the beginning of the film the Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa reminds us that darkness also can be the domain of dreams - why not devotion and exaltation?
Sven Blume has been able to bring in an architect named Bernt Nyberg, who became interested in photographing and filming Lewerentz, whose work he admired. Precious material was found for the director's use in a storage cellar in Lund. With the help of this film material, we also get a glimpse into the private life of the architect who died in 1975. Nyberg also captured the methods that Lewerentz used in his work, as well as how he dressed and much liked to smoke cigars. Without this material, we wouldn't know much about this unique architect and his work and personality, let alone his family life.
Blume's film is an exceptionally refined and peaceful portrait of an architect. It has already been shown in the repertoire of several significant international architecture film festivals. Through the film, we learn surprising things about Lewerentz: after the death of his spouse and during his last years, he worked in a windowless studio, silver-colour-coated on the inside. A full-scale copy of it was conjured up for the big Lewerentz exhibition at the Swedish Architecture and Design Museum ArkDes in 2021.
The cooperation that continued after Asplund's and Lewerentz's handsome victory in the competition had been interrupted due to the interference of other parties in a very strange and unfortunate way. As architects and individuals, they were very different but also complemented each other. In the Skogskyrkogården cemetery, Lewerentz's handwriting can be seen above all in e.g. a series of different moods and spaces between the memorial grove located on top of the beautiful small hill and at the end of the carefully thought-out natural stone stairs, and the Resurrection chapel at the other end of the axis.
The continuation of the collaboration had been jeopardized when the client considered Lewerentz's way of working to be too meticulous - this was because he constantly developed and sketched more and more, to improve the result. Despite all this, it should be remembered that Lewerentz was also strongly involved in creating the great popularity of the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition. The exhibition brought fresh and vivid modern thinking and optimism to Sweden and had more than a million visitors.
The after-effects of the breakup and Skogskyrkogården, as well as the disappointment of cooperation with the designs after Malmö City Theatre competition in 1933, resulted in Lewerentz moving to Eskilstuna for about one decade and surrendering to e.g. to produce glass and his glass designs.
Setbacks and new activities gradually inspired Sigurd Lewerentz again, to design completely new types of buildings. They have a strong sense of material and the sense of being built by hand, as well as their very own kind of sparse natural light and the sound world or acoustics, accentuated by almost darkness. In the Nordic architecture of the last century, St. Mark´s Church and St. Peter´s Church are both in a class of their own.
The film also reminds us both of how versatile but also tied to their circumstances or drawing strength from their background and experiences, architects can be - and that the best buildings are always the result of the collaboration of several different people.
Blume also travels with his film to Turku, where Divine Darkness will have its second screening on the 22th of November, in collaboration between Ark Rex, the Bryggman Foundation and the City of Turku. The Embassy of Sweden in Helsinki supports the Ark Rex screening of the film in the presence of the director.
Sigurd Lewerentz - Divine Darkness
Director: Sven Blume, 2024
Duration: 70 minutes
Sven Blume
Director Sven Blume's grandfather was the respected Swedish architect Carl Nyrén. Blume has already made a film about him before he devoted himself to the next topic. The new movie is titled Lewerentz - Divine Darkness (2024). Its main subject is the renowned architect Sigurd Lewerentz (1885-1975). Despite his fame, he was reluctant to give interviews, let alone strive for the limelight. Instead, his work, starting with the competition victory achieved at a young age with Gunnar Asplund, is among the most unique in Nordic architecture of the 20th century.
The competition win was to create the breathtakingly beautiful Skogskyrkogården cemetery (in English the Woodland Cemetery), which with its buildings and structures representing both Nordic Classicism and Modernism is an exceptional combination of stunning landscape, garden design, forest and exquisite architecture. The large area in Stockholm, near Björkhagen has partly also been transformed into a beautiful man-made landscape. The cemetery has been a pilgrimage destination for architecture lovers worldwide.
Asplund and Lewerentz, the double team, however, parted ways. After that, a moved to Eskilstuna and later to Skåne and its important university city Lund, and gradually focused on a completely different kind of work, and a different, more modern architecture, to become known also for his breathtakingly fine and completely stunning, carefully built and crafted churches. Malmö's Eastern Cemetery is also Lewerentz's creation, and its special flower kiosk was an object of both astonishment and admiration after its completion. Regarding that building, and despite his old age, the always-radical Lewerentz was way ahead of his time as well as his younger colleagues.
While the churches designed by the late Finnish architect and academician Juha Leiviskä are most known for the skilful capturing of natural light, Lewerentz's churches are most characterized by almost darkness. In the beginning of the film the Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa reminds us that darkness also can be the domain of dreams - why not devotion and exaltation?
Sven Blume has been able to bring in an architect named Bernt Nyberg, who became interested in photographing and filming Lewerentz, whose work he admired. Precious material was found for the director's use in a storage cellar in Lund. With the help of this film material, we also get a glimpse into the private life of the architect who died in 1975. Nyberg also captured the methods that Lewerentz used in his work, as well as how he dressed and much liked to smoke cigars. Without this material, we wouldn't know much about this unique architect and his work and personality, let alone his family life.
Blume's film is an exceptionally refined and peaceful portrait of an architect. It has already been shown in the repertoire of several significant international architecture film festivals. Through the film, we learn surprising things about Lewerentz: after the death of his spouse and during his last years, he worked in a windowless studio, silver-colour-coated on the inside. A full-scale copy of it was conjured up for the big Lewerentz exhibition at the Swedish Architecture and Design Museum ArkDes in 2021.
The cooperation that continued after Asplund's and Lewerentz's handsome victory in the competition had been interrupted due to the interference of other parties in a very strange and unfortunate way. As architects and individuals, they were very different but also complemented each other. In the Skogskyrkogården cemetery, Lewerentz's handwriting can be seen above all in e.g. a series of different moods and spaces between the memorial grove located on top of the beautiful small hill and at the end of the carefully thought-out natural stone stairs, and the Resurrection chapel at the other end of the axis.
The continuation of the collaboration had been jeopardized when the client considered Lewerentz's way of working to be too meticulous - this was because he constantly developed and sketched more and more, to improve the result. Despite all this, it should be remembered that Lewerentz was also strongly involved in creating the great popularity of the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition. The exhibition brought fresh and vivid modern thinking and optimism to Sweden and had more than a million visitors.
The after-effects of the breakup and Skogskyrkogården, as well as the disappointment of cooperation with the designs after Malmö City Theatre competition in 1933, resulted in Lewerentz moving to Eskilstuna for about one decade and surrendering to e.g. to produce glass and his glass designs.
Setbacks and new activities gradually inspired Sigurd Lewerentz again, to design completely new types of buildings. They have a strong sense of material and the sense of being built by hand, as well as their very own kind of sparse natural light and the sound world or acoustics, accentuated by almost darkness. In the Nordic architecture of the last century, St. Mark´s Church and St. Peter´s Church are both in a class of their own.
The film also reminds us both of how versatile but also tied to their circumstances or drawing strength from their background and experiences, architects can be - and that the best buildings are always the result of the collaboration of several different people.
Blume also travels with his film to Turku, where Divine Darkness will have its second screening on the 22th of November, in collaboration between Ark Rex, the Bryggman Foundation and the City of Turku. The Embassy of Sweden in Helsinki supports the Ark Rex screening of the film in the presence of the director.
Sigurd Lewerentz - Divine Darkness
Director: Sven Blume, 2024
Duration: 70 minutes
The competition win was to create the breathtakingly beautiful Skogskyrkogården cemetery (in English the Woodland Cemetery), which with its buildings and structures representing both Nordic Classicism and Modernism is an exceptional combination of stunning landscape, garden design, forest and exquisite architecture. The large area in Stockholm, near Björkhagen has partly also been transformed into a beautiful man-made landscape. The cemetery has been a pilgrimage destination for architecture lovers worldwide.
Asplund and Lewerentz, the double team, however, parted ways. After that, a moved to Eskilstuna and later to Skåne and its important university city Lund, and gradually focused on a completely different kind of work, and a different, more modern architecture, to become known also for his breathtakingly fine and completely stunning, carefully built and crafted churches. Malmö's Eastern Cemetery is also Lewerentz's creation, and its special flower kiosk was an object of both astonishment and admiration after its completion. Regarding that building, and despite his old age, the always-radical Lewerentz was way ahead of his time as well as his younger colleagues.
While the churches designed by the late Finnish architect and academician Juha Leiviskä are most known for the skilful capturing of natural light, Lewerentz's churches are most characterized by almost darkness. In the beginning of the film the Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa reminds us that darkness also can be the domain of dreams - why not devotion and exaltation?
Sven Blume has been able to bring in an architect named Bernt Nyberg, who became interested in photographing and filming Lewerentz, whose work he admired. Precious material was found for the director's use in a storage cellar in Lund. With the help of this film material, we also get a glimpse into the private life of the architect who died in 1975. Nyberg also captured the methods that Lewerentz used in his work, as well as how he dressed and much liked to smoke cigars. Without this material, we wouldn't know much about this unique architect and his work and personality, let alone his family life.
Blume's film is an exceptionally refined and peaceful portrait of an architect. It has already been shown in the repertoire of several significant international architecture film festivals. Through the film, we learn surprising things about Lewerentz: after the death of his spouse and during his last years, he worked in a windowless studio, silver-colour-coated on the inside. A full-scale copy of it was conjured up for the big Lewerentz exhibition at the Swedish Architecture and Design Museum ArkDes in 2021.
The cooperation that continued after Asplund's and Lewerentz's handsome victory in the competition had been interrupted due to the interference of other parties in a very strange and unfortunate way. As architects and individuals, they were very different but also complemented each other. In the Skogskyrkogården cemetery, Lewerentz's handwriting can be seen above all in e.g. a series of different moods and spaces between the memorial grove located on top of the beautiful small hill and at the end of the carefully thought-out natural stone stairs, and the Resurrection chapel at the other end of the axis.
The continuation of the collaboration had been jeopardized when the client considered Lewerentz's way of working to be too meticulous - this was because he constantly developed and sketched more and more, to improve the result. Despite all this, it should be remembered that Lewerentz was also strongly involved in creating the great popularity of the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition. The exhibition brought fresh and vivid modern thinking and optimism to Sweden and had more than a million visitors.
The after-effects of the breakup and Skogskyrkogården, as well as the disappointment of cooperation with the designs after Malmö City Theatre competition in 1933, resulted in Lewerentz moving to Eskilstuna for about one decade and surrendering to e.g. to produce glass and his glass designs.
Setbacks and new activities gradually inspired Sigurd Lewerentz again, to design completely new types of buildings. They have a strong sense of material and the sense of being built by hand, as well as their very own kind of sparse natural light and the sound world or acoustics, accentuated by almost darkness. In the Nordic architecture of the last century, St. Mark´s Church and St. Peter´s Church are both in a class of their own.
The film also reminds us both of how versatile but also tied to their circumstances or drawing strength from their background and experiences, architects can be - and that the best buildings are always the result of the collaboration of several different people.
Blume also travels with his film to Turku, where Divine Darkness will have its second screening on the 22th of November, in collaboration between Ark Rex, the Bryggman Foundation and the City of Turku. The Embassy of Sweden in Helsinki supports the Ark Rex screening of the film in the presence of the director.
Sigurd Lewerentz - Divine Darkness
Director: Sven Blume, 2024
Duration: 70 minutes
