The Architect's Universe - Jørn Utzon
Processes and Visions
Louisiana c/o is a new way of thinking about the museum in a global, mobile world. It takes the museum and the presentation traditions it stands for out into other contexts than those offered by local conditions, and serves to draw attention to the Louisiana as an international institution.
The first realization of the Louisiana c/o concept is the exhibition "The Architect's Universe - Jørn Utzon - Processes and Visions" in the Palazzo Franchetti in Venice in connection with the Architecture Biennale in 2008 "Out there: Architecture Beyond Building Vol. 2".
In 2002 Louisiana showed the first major exhibition about Jørn Utzon, and the museum is now benefiting from the knowledge gained from this by writing yet another chapter in the story of Utzon. Utzon's visionary working process is associated with crucial tendencies in current architectural practice and extends beyond the traditional horizon of architecture. He characteristically draws on knowledge and experience from many different cultures and specializations - ranging from mathematics and the
sciences to music and art.
Jørn Utzon turns 90 this year, and the exhibition is also a tribute to the forward-looking, unique work for which the Danish architect has been acclaimed. The exhibition, which is thematically structured, focuses on the processes involved in Utzon's fascinating universe.
Thematic exhibition
The exhibition is organized in a series of themes. With the focus on the experimental processes and idioms, it shows the phases of development in Utzon's work. The exhibition thus goes behind the architect's well known projects and reveals the significant reflections and sources of inspiration that underlie the architect's thinking: nature viewed as structure, form and principle of growth; daylight, which for Utzon is a material that can be worked and shaped; science as a source for the development
of geometric forms and acoustic experiments; building cultures, which are explored by Utzon across continents and time; customization and additive principles and elements that give Utzon's buildings a playful and human character; and Utzon's visions for ways of both dwelling and living.
The exhibition combines various media with original material - partly lent to us by Utzon himself - in a form created specifically for the Palazzo Franchetti, in some cases with the character of installations.
Biography
Jørn Utzon was born on 9 April 1918 in Denmark. Jørn Utzon was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale in 2000 and the Pritzker Prize in 2003.
The curatorial group consists of: Kjeld Kjeldsen, curator at the Louisiana Museum, and Michael Asgaard Andersen, curator.
