Details van artikel 122 van 149 gevonden artikelen
Rohsska Museet
Titel:
Rohsska Museet
Auteur:
Wærn, Rasmus
Verschenen in:
Konsthistorisk tidskrift
Paginering:
Jaargang 61 (1992) nr. 4 pagina's 173-189
Jaar:
1992
Inhoud:
The Rohss Museum of Arts and Crafts in Gothenburg was erected in 1911-1914, and opened two years later, when the interiors and the exhibits were completed. The idea of an applied arts museum was raised in the 1980s, and an open architectural competition was held in 1901. Due to lack of funds, the plans were laid to rest until 1909, when Axel Nilsson, curator at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm, got involved in the project. He wrote the programme for a limited architectural competition. Carl Westman, a well-known architect from Stockholm, won the first prize. Westman had become famous for his solid and expressive brick architecture in the spirit of Shaw, Voysey and Baillie Scott. The proposed structure diverged from the buildings surrounding the site, and connected instead with Westman's type, the closed brick block. Westman purported the concept of the city as an entity, but the idea of architectural integrity was still stronger than the idea of overall unity. The collections were meant to serve as examples for designers. Renewal was more important the preservation. Nilsson was a friend of Westman's, and they worked on the design together. However, Westman followed Nilsson's puritan programme only where it was compatible to his ideas of concentrated mass and sensible materialism. Westman used the words powerful and male when he explained his buildings. Winter became the most Swedish of seasons, and the museum turned into a closed coffin, protecting its trasures. The facade towards Vasagatan, one of the most artistic parts of the building, is characterised by the centered fenestration, without vertical axes. Behind the principally symmetrical facade, the plan and section present another scheme. The division in uses and levels is not seen in the facade. The details are still related to a conventional facade, but Westman syntax is carefully liberated from the schematic order. This track, where the material itself took the place of ornament, was not further pursured. In 1916, The Rohss Museum and Carl Bergsten's light and neo-classical Liljevalch Art Gallery in Stockholm were both opened. The Rohss Museum marks an end of a short, but successful period in Scandinavian Art Nouveau often labelled as “National Romaticism”. This was a dynamic period, with romanticism and realism intertwined. Westman tried to create an architecture which was both contemporary, progressive and related to a domestic architectural heritage. This resulted in conflicts between form and meaning. Although Westman and his generation searched for an “honest” architecture with “genuine” materials and techniques, there was not room for “truth”. It is modernity dressed in folklore. After a post-eclectic period at the beginning of the century, the young architects tried to use tradition to form a base for a new style. Since no one had requested “Swedish” architcture before, tradition had to be constructed. Westman tried to give his building an instant dignity by adding tracks of time, as those seen in an ancient building. The craftsmen's marks in the wet clay, remain today as meassages. These contribute to a storng presence of materials and craftsmanship. This double motion, where patina and history were used to create a timeless architecture, was an invention. The museum was designed in a critical mood, Westman challenged established conceptions. He used archaic forms to break with convention. Westman's critical attitude was part of his success as an architect, something that made him a genuine modernist. Later architects abandoned his ideas, but the museum is never-theless one of the period's most interesting works.
Uitgever:
Routledge
Bronbestand:
Elektronische Wetenschappelijke Tijdschriften
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