Sverre Fehn
Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate
1997

 

Sverre Fehn Is Named the
1997 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate 

Los Angeles, CA -- Sverre Fehn, a 72 year old architect who lives and works in Oslo, Norway has been named the 1997 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. In making the announcement, Jay A. Pritzker, president of The Hyatt Foundation, which established the award in 1979, quoted from the jury's citation which describes Fehn's architecture as "...a fascinating and exciting combination of modern forms tempered by the Scandinavian tradition..." Fehn is the twentieth architect in the world to be selected for his profession's highest honor which bestows a $100,000 grant when the formal presentation is made on May 31 in Bilbao, Spain. 

Pritzker Prize jury chairman, J. Carter Brown, commented that Fehn's work "...embodies the Pritzker Prize ideal of architecture as art." And from fellow juror, author Ada Louise Huxtable, "Sverre Fehn represents the best of twentieth-century modernism...this is a unique life's work of extraordinary richness, perception and quality." From juror Charles Correa, a much honored architect from Bombay, India, comes the praise, "...a wonderfully lyrical and inventive architectonic language which, like all true art, is both rigorous and deeply humane." Juror Toshio Nakamura, editor and architectural writer from Japan called Fehn's work "...remarkably specific in his approach to design in terms of its regional inflection, material, imagination, and implied geometry..."

Most of Fehn's work is in his native Norway, with Sweden and Denmark taking a close second. In 1958, he gained international attention for his Norwegian Pavilion at the Brussels World Exhibition, and again in 1962 for his Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

In recent years, two of his museum projects have captured widespread attention: one completed in 1991 is the Glacier Museum built on the plain carved out by the Jostedal Glacier at the mouth of the Fjaerland Fjord. The museum is the center of a panorama formed by the steep mountainsides and the fjord with the glacier on top. A second project, the Aukrust Museum, celebrates the work of a famous Norwegian painter/writer, named Kjell Aukrust. Both of these projects were preceded by another project called the Hedmark Cathedral Museum in Hamar, Norway, which was completed in 1979. The latter is the site of an early fourteenth century manor house and bishopric. Fehn built in and around the ruins to preserve this historic site. 

He has designed numerous private residences, a home for the elderly, the inspiration for which he credits Mies van der Rohe, and many other types of buildings. One of the more controversial is the enlargement of the National Theatre of Copenhagen, where critics have hailed the design as having "...the magnificent spaciousness of cathedral-like character." 

Bill Lacy, executive director of the Pritzker Prize, quoted further from the formal citation which states, "Eschewing the clever, the novel and the sensational, Fehn has pursued his version of twentieth century modernism steadily and patiently for the past fifty years. With one carefully designed project after another, he has displayed a virtuosity and creativity that now ranks him among the leading architects of the world."

Lacy, who is an architect himself and president of the State University of New York at Purchase, added his own comment, "Fehn's architecture is poetic, thoughtful, even sentimental -- bold and at the same time humble. Not since Louis Kahn has an architect been so enthralled with materials and their architectural consequences." 

Fehn was one of the post World War II generation of architects who emerged from the Architectural School of Oslo, receiving his diploma in 1949. At that time, Finnish architect Alvar Aalto was a strong influence on European architecture, and in particular, Arne Korsmo, one of Norway's leading architects. Korsmo became a great friend and mentor to Sverre Fehn now lives in a house designed by Korsmo. 

The prize presentation ceremony moves to different locations around the world each year, paying homage to historic and contemporary architecture. This year, the award will be given in the nearly completed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in the Basque Country of northern Spain on Saturday, May 31. Designed by 1989 Pritzker Laureate Frank Gehry, the building is scheduled to be completed for a formal opening in October. It has already been hailed by King Juan Carlos of Spain as, "...the best building of the twentieth century." This is the second consecutive year that the prize ceremony has been held in a construction site. Last year, it was presented to Spanish architect José Rafael Moneo at the unfinished Getty Center, designed by yet another Pritzker Laureate who received the award in 1984, Richard Meier. 

The purpose of the Pritzker Architecture Prize is to honor annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture. 

The distinguished jury that selected Sverre Fehn as the 1997 Laureate consists of its founding chairman, J. Carter Brown, director emeritus of the National Gallery of Art, and chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts; and alphabetically, Giovanni Agnelli, chairman of Fiat from Torino, Italy; Charles Correa, architect of Bombay, India; Ada Louise Huxtable, author and architectural critic of New York; Toshio Nakamura, architectural writer/editor of Tokyo, Japan; Jorge Silvetti, chairman, department of architecture, Harvard University graduate school of design; and juror emeritus, Lord Rothschild, chairman of the National Heritage Memorial Fund of Great Britain and formerly the chairman of that country's National Gallery of Art.

In addition to the Laureates already mentioned, Philip Johnson was the first in 1979. The late Luis Barragan of Mexico was named in 1980. The late James Stirling of Great Britain was elected in 1981, Kevin Roche in 1982, Ieoh Ming Pei in 1983. Hans Hollein of Austria was the 1985 Laureate. Gottfried Boehm of Germany received the prize in 1986. Kenzo Tange was the first Japanese architect to receive the prize in 1987; Fumihiko Maki was the second from Japan in 1993; and Tadao Ando the third in 1995. Aldo Rossi of Italy was honored in 1990. Robert Venturi received the honor in 1991, and Alvaro Siza of Portugal in 1992. Christian de Portzamparc of France was elected Pritzker Laureate in 1994. Two were named to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the prize in 1988: the late Gordon Bunshaft of the United States and Oscar Niemeyer of Brazil. 

The field of architecture was chosen by the Pritzker family because of their keen interest in building due to their involvement with developing the Hyatt Hotels around the world. Architecture was also a creative endeavor not included in the Nobel Prizes. The procedures were modeled after the Nobels, with the final selection being made by the international jury with all deliberations and voting in secret. Nominations are continuous from year to year with over 500 nominees from more than forty countries being considered each year.

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Pritzker Architecture Prize Ceremony
Was Held at the Construction Site of
The Guggenheim Museum 
Bilbao, Spain

On May 31, 1997, the construction site of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of northern Spain, was the venue for the presentation of the 1997 Pritzker Architecture Prize to Sverre Fehn of Norway. The prize has been presented annually to a living architect each year since 1979 when it was established by The Hyatt Foundation of Chicago.

The location for the honor was appropriate, not only as an homage to Spain, the native country of last year's Laureate, Rafael Moneo, but also because, for the second consecutive year, the ceremony is being held in "work-in-progress" by a previous Pritzker Laureate. This year, it is a building designed by Frank Gehry, who received the award in 1989. The 1996 presentation to Rafael Moneo was made in the unfinished Getty Center in Los Angeles, a complex designed by 1984 Pritzker Laureate Richard Meier.

"We are delighted that the Guggenheim invited us to their exciting new museum site, not only because it was designed by a Pritzker Laureate," explained Jay A. Pritzker, president of The Hyatt Foundation, "but because the Guggenheim Museum name is so closely associated with important architecture -- the famous New York landmark by Frank Lloyd Wright. We are in effect paying homage to his accomplishments as well. " 

According to J. Carter Brown, the jury chairman of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, "By moving the ceremony around the world to sites of architectural significance each year, the aims of the Pritzker Prize are served above and beyond the primary purpose of singling out one architect each year for the honor. Last year and this year, by using works that are still under construction, we are looking to the future of architecture. In other years at other locations such as Versailles, Prague Castle and the Todai-ji Buddhist Temple in Japan , we were paying homage to architects and builders from history. All of this attention helps focus the public's awareness on great architecture and what it can mean to people's lives."

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened officially later in the year.  Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation which oversees three other museums as well: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Guggenheim Museum SoHo in New York, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy, said:  "The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is the result of a unique collaboration between our foundation and the Basque Government. It will be devoted to American and European 20th century art, extending the Guggenheim's efforts to bring its collections and programming to audiences around the world."

According to the Basque Government Minister of Culture, M. Karmen Garmendia, "This new museum symbolizes our commitment to enhancing Bilbao's economic standing and visibility as a cultural center. It will be a major element in a comprehensive urban redevelopment program and architectural renaissance underway in Bilbao." The $100 million project has been fully funded by the Basque Government which will make annual contributions to the operating budget. Some of the many other projects in progress are as follows: Sir Norman Foster designed a new subway system; the late James Stirling, another Pritzker Laureate of 1981, designed a railway station; Cesar Pelli has proposed a waterfront redevelopment; and Santiago Calatrava designed a new bridge over the river next to the Guggenheim, and is working on a new airport. 

Never losing the focus of honoring the living Laureates of the Pritzker Prize, each of the ceremony locations has provided its own unique significance. Versailles is world famous as Frances most lavish palace and gardens, possibly the greatest monument to absolute monarchy and the culmination of French classicism; Columbus, Indiana boasts the greatest concentration of buildings by architects of world renown of any other community of comparable size. Todai-ji Buddhist Temple is the world's oldest and largest wooden structure.

In Prague, the 18th century "castle-in-air" that has served as the Czech seat of government is the crowning glory of a city that has preserved its architectural heritage over many centuries. In Fort Worth, Texas, the late Louis Kahn, architect of the Kimbell Art Museum was praised posthumously. All of the previous sites have similar attributes.

The words of the late Lord Clark of Saltwood, perhaps best known for his television series and book Civilisation, when he was one of founding jurors of the Pritzker Prize, said, "A great historical episode can exist in our imaginations almost entirely in the form of architecture. Very few of us have read the texts of early Egyptian literature. Yet we feel we know those infinitely remote people almost as well as our immediate ancestors, chiefly because of their sculpture and architecture."