A House for Sigurd Lewerentz

Although Diderot said that "poetry requires something enormous, barbaric and wild", this is not always the case... Giorgio Morandi, for example, in painting, achieved a very profound visual poetry without anything enormous, barbaric and wild... and in architecture there is Sigurd Lewerentz, of course.

And on December 29th, this year, there will be 50 years since he died. And we feel we have to try to pay homage to this remarkable architect, who taught us that the "unknown" can be found in the most common, almost banal ways.

Of course the extravagant gestures are still seductive, of course scandals are still irresistible, at all levels, in our attention / publicity grabbing society.

But how to differentiate between the banal and the poetic ?

Poetry does not have to scream.

Often, it does not.

And the architecture of Sigurd Lewerentz does not scream.

It whispers.

We ask you to design THE HOUSE OF WHISPERS.

A RETICENT HOUSE.

THE HOUSE OF RETICENCE.

A HOUSE FOR SIGURD LEWERENTZ.

We do not ask for a "minimalist" house, because the architecture of Sigurd Lewerentz was not a minimalist one.

But one could confound the scarce means with minimalism.

The intensity of feeling can manifest itself in many ways.

Whisper, dear architect.

Whisper a truth that is not only yours, but ours.

Res Privata has to become Res Publica, somehow, and when private contemplation is intense and altruistic, it becomes Vita Activa.

Art activates life.

Vita Contemplativa, when genuine, fuels Vita Activa.

Let's pay homage to this unique architect who taught us the lesson of discretion, but his discretion was not a placid one. From its depth the Lewerentz discretion pushes us forward, hungry of new horizons, hungry of the unknown.

Please send us your work, digitally, to info@icarch.us by December 29th, 2025, when there will be 50 years since he died. Please send us ANY WORK, ANY SIZE, ANY FORMAT that responds to the theme, in the freest and the most imaginative way. Make Lewerentz happy, from far away, both in time and space. If you have any questions please contact us.

Thank you,

I C A R C H Source: http://www.icarch.us/