Trip to Italy

Little is known about the time the modernist architect Sigurd Lewerentz spent traveling in Italy. A few boxes of negatives have been found among the documents he left at the Stockholm Museum of Architecture. In these photographs taken in Italy, the places where they were taken are hardly recognizable. However, they show Lewerentz’s very own way of approaching ancient remains and focusing on details, materials and textures. Trip to Italy gives the viewer the opportunity to better understand the work of the great Swedish architect.

The enigmatic framing of the photographs taken in Italy offers few clues about the places he visited, although we can recognize many shots of Pompeii, in which we can appreciate Lewerentz’s fascination with the Via Dei Sepolcri (Street of the Tombs), the patio houses, and the many murals. […]

The other photographs – some of which are poorly executed, technically speaking – are details with an apparent disregard for framing, thus avoiding the main features. Throughout this series, it does not appear that the architect was trying to take “beautiful” photographs. Rather, he sought to record the material, texture, and detail of the older works, so that he could take them home with him. These materials, textures, and details can be found in Sigurd Lewerentz’s beautiful architecture.