Sverre Fehn: The Pattern of Thoughts

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If you are Severre Fehn's fan, this book will be an extremely rewarding read. Author of the book worked with Fehn, wrote a book with Fehn, and taught with Fehn. The book is an insider's story. It covers many anecdotes and casual conversations about Fehn. The book is divided into chapters, more or less chronologically, covering similar themes and issues that occupied Fehn. In between author's extremely well crafted paragraphs, Fehn's own words and speakings are inserted (bold text) with his sketches. Pritzker Receipient, fans of Fehn remember his famous chalkboard talkings. He tells a story about his thoughts and buildings in Norwegian sense of place and poetry. Succint and terse, yet, deep and mythical. His storytelling of the site and his architectural response to it are charged with almost primitive metaphors. Norwegian Pavilion in Venice and Glacier Museum in Fjaerland are best examples that shows Fehn's oratory structure manifested in material structure. Semantics of Fehn is like that of a blade of sword, constantly cutting and reflecting. It cuts earth and reflects light. Readers of the book will be chilled by the sound of his words and thrilled by the essence of his contents. The book is tantalizing in other matters as well. Fehn's relationship and friendship with other famous architects in Scandinavia, Italy, and the US is well documented. His stay and influence in Venice (Scarpa), Paris (Prouve), and New York (Hejduk) is also well told. His international networking with Team X and his personal retreating with School of Oslo also bi-polarizes Fehn's communal relationship and artistic solitude. If a prospect reader likes Kahn, Lewerentz, and Zumthor. Here is another great book with many poetic surprises.