DWELLING, LANDSCAPE, PLACE AND MAKING Jørn Utzon Anthology Lars Botin, Adrian Carter and Roger Tyrrell Copyright © 2013 by Adrian Carter, Lars Botion and Roger Tyrrell / Jørn Utzon Research Network / Utzon Research Center, Aalborg University Title: Dwelling, Landscape, Place and Making Print: Aalborg University Press Graphics and Layout: Line Nørskov Eriksen ISBN: xxx-xx-xxxx-xxx-x 1st Edition, Printed in Denmark 2013 Published with the kind support of Department of Architectural Design and Mediatechnology, Aalborg University Portsmouth School of Architecture, University of Portsmouth FORMTEXT FORMTEXT FORMTEXT CONTENTS xx Introduction Part 1 Foundation xx The Utzon Paradigm – Tyrrell, R. and Carter, A. xx Jørn Utzon: Influences and Reinterpretation – Carter, A. xx Thrills, Wiews and Shelter at Majorca – Roberts, J. xx Architecture and Camping – Taylor, P. and Hinds, M. Part 2 Influence xx Jan Utzon’s Symposium Presentation xx Rick Leplastrier’s Symposium Presentation Part 3 Reflection xx Making the World: Space, Place and Time in Architecture – Pallasmaa, J. xx Landscape and Dwelling – Botin, L. xx The Nature of Dwelling – Tyrrell, R. INTRODUCTION Background and acknowledgments This anthology is based on the Proceedings of the Third International Utzon Symposium held on 1st April 2012 in the Dar el Bacha palace, Marrakech, Morocco. The Symposium was a further development of the previous two Symposia held by the Utzon Research Center in Aalborg, Denmark and represents a collaboration between the Jørn Utzon Research Network (JURN), The Utzon Research Center and L’ Ecole Nationale d’Architecture (ENA) of Morocco. Morocco was chosen as the location for the event in recognition of the significant influence it had upon Utzon’s canon after his visit in 1949. He hiked through the Atlas Mountains drawing inspiration from the anonymous yet poetic hill villages still evident today. The impact of this experience was to resonate consistently in his work. The objective of the Symposium was to expose and discuss the paradigmatic framework that underpinned Utzon’s design methodology using the thematic frames of Dwelling, Landscape. Place and Making as foci for this discourse. Each contribution has been positioned within these frames that form distinct yet inter- related chapters with this text. The event was attended by some seventy academics, students and practitioners from such diverse locations as South Africa, Tasmania and mainland Australia, France, Finland, Denmark, the UK and Morocco. The Symposium was led by Juhani Pallasmaa, Richard Leplastrier and Jan Utzon, Jørn Utzon’s son and collaborator. Additional contributors from Australia, Denmark and the United Kingdom developed the discussions through presentation of formal academic papers. These papers were published in occasion of the symposium, 13 and the current anthology is a furthering and elaboration of the original papers. The presentations of Richard Leplastrier and Jan Utzon have been transcribed from audio recordings made at the Symposium. These verbatim recordings edited in collaboration with the respective authors. All texts have been peer reviewed and then edited by members of the JURN Steering Group and by Aalborg University Press reviewers. The Symposium Proceedings have thus been collected within this volume with the ambition of providing the reader with a coherent perspective of Utzon’s unique and humane approach to architecture and his wider contribution to contemporary academic debate. Contents The volume is divided into three parts, where the 1st part ‘Foundation’ presents and discuss the background and content of the Utzon paradigm. Tyrrell and Carter (chapter 1) are concerned with the cornerstones of architecture, being: techné, arche and the poetic synthesis as constituent for the paradigm. They find that Utzon masters to bridge the technical and artistic, hence creating a synthesis, or hybrid, which they mean is of great inspiration for contemporary and future architecture – hence the paradigm. Carter (chapter 2) moves on in addressing the hermenutical, historical and cultural heritage in the work of Utzon. We are told that the essence in the work of Utzon is an artistic vein of high sensitivity coined with an in-depth knowledge of the quality and capacity of materials (techtonics). Roberts (chapter 3) brings us to the island of Mallorca where Utzon designed two houses for his family. One of those are Can Lis and Roberts theoretically enframes the villa in the British geographer Jay Appleton’s concepts on landscapes: prospect-refuge. Appleton’s concepts are used to explain and discuss how the villa relates to the surrounding landscape in both a literal and symbolic way, where it in many ways reflects how humans always have 14 considered the quality and capacity of the landscape before settling for shorter or longer periods. In the last chapter of Part 1 Taylor and Hinds takes us to the windy coasts of Tasmania (chapter 4). Taylor and Hinds are practicing architects and they discuss the practice of architecture in relation to being-out-there, i.e. Architecture and Camping. They argue that architecture is, or should be, in close relationship with the actual nature in which it is embedded. This can be made by doing the enquiries, analyses and studies in nature. The study of the architect should, as we design in the landscape/ nature, be placed in the actual context and the drawings/models reflect the weight of the context. Taylor and Hinds tells us that this focus on the relationship between humans and nature mediated through architecture and architectural practice is deeply inspired by the practices of Jørn Utzon. Part 2 of the volume titled ‘Legacy’ is transcriptions of presentations made at the symposium by Jan Utzon and Rick Leplastrier. Utzon and Leplastrier takes us down memory lane, introducing the importance of family and friendship, but first of all kinship. Jan Utzon (chapter 5) besides discussing how he participated in a number of projects by his father, also introduces to own projects where he elaborates on themes that were crucial to Jørn Utzon: people and context, might that be geographical, social, economical or and/cultural. Jan Utzon takes us around the world visiting projects in Africa, Australia, Mexico and Denmark, which shows us that the general and universal qualities in the work of Jørn Utzon has been carried on by his son. The Australian architect Rick Leplastrier (chapter 6) has been teaching and holding Master classes for decades and the enthusiasm and engagement of the experienced architect is clearly reflected in the presentation. Leplastrier talks about the importance of physical movement: travelling, sailing, biking etc. in order to get an in-depth cultural understanding. All of this in order to build. The highly personal account of Leplastrier of his friendship with Jørn Utzon and how this inspired him in his own work tells us about the intimacy we should have with our co- travellers, independent if this is a human or a thing (boat, motorbike or whatever). The translation of the experiences made through our 15 movements and observations could lead to ’beautiful ideas’, which according to Leplastrier was an expression that often escaped Utzon as he commented on collaborators drawings and models. Part 3 of the volume titled ‘Reflections’ is characterized by philosophical and theoretical reflections on the concepts of landscape, dwelling, place and making. None of the chapters are specifically concerned with the work of Utzon, but nevertheless written in the spirit of Utzon. The Finnish architect and philosopher of architecture Juhani Pallasmaa (chapter 7) focus critically on contemporary placelessness and hyper-mobility in a world of globalization. We are creatures of territoriality and place, as any other biological creature. How are we to deal with that in a reality that is becoming increasingly rootless and nomadic? And how can architecture as mediating technology address this problem? One possible way out is, according to Pallasmaa, to re-introduce the notion of home by ’re-enchantment, re-mythification and re- eroticization’. Botin (chapter 8) addresses the notions of landscape and dwelling from an overly phenomenological stance, where the writings and thoughts of Martin Heidegger are central. Botin looks into the etymology and meaning of the concepts in a historical and cultural perspective. He is overly concerned with the intrinsic relationship in between landscape and dwelling, mediated by the human body in all its complexity. What remains crucial as we deal with this complexity is that we do it in order to concern, nurture, care and sustain. The final chapter (chapter 9) by Tyrrell is an intense and personal enquiry on the ’Nature of Dwelling’ through the eyes of a child. The child, Anthony, constructs and builds by means of what is at hand and is deeply involved in the process of building and to a lesser degree on the actual product of his endeavors, hence the ’generative verb’ in relation to the ’degenerate noun’. Tyrrell finds in the practice of Anthony exemplified the ideas of Heidegger, Pallasmaa and Zumthor. The intent of this book is to add futher knowledge on the architecture 16 and work of Jørn Utzon, and to initiate research and enquiry on what we have coined as the ’Utzon Paradigm’. We are convinced that the work and practices of Utzon in relation to landscape, dwelling, place and making are of exemplary, iconic and general character, which means that the contours of a paradigm is there to be found. Our future