Medeltidskyrkan i Uppland : restaurering och rumslig förnyelse under 1900-talet

Sammanfattning: The aim of this work is to illuminate the history of restoration in 20th century Sweden by studying restorations of medieval Uppland churches, in the hope of highlighting the debate and conflicts surrounding the ideologies forming the framework of church restorations and identifying the crucial considerations. It is an attempt to depicting church restorations with the focus of attention on the function of the church interior, but also on ways of achieving a credible design appropriate to the present. Theological and liturgical issues and their connection with usability constitute an important background.The study takes as its starting point the architect’s mission as the person in charge of the restoration project. The heritage conservation aspects and issues of principle concerning preservation are present as a basic precondition of every restoration assignment.The study demonstrates the complexity of the design of the various church interiors. The 20th century restorations have been concerned with modernisation, with questions of materials and with the character of the church interiors, but they have also hinged on individual architects and their differing attitudes towards preservation and new design, and on the relation between restoration and spatial renewal.This study encompasses the whole of the 20th century, but with special emphasis on the period between about 1920 and 1980. First of all a general count was taken of all major restorations in the province of Uppland. Their time-related character prompted a division of the 20th century into four periods, and one church from each period was chosen for closer study. The four churches chosen were Tensta, Skånela, Knivsta and Orkesta. More examples were then used to illustrate the complexity of the restorations. Studies of the church buildings, in the in-depth studies and in supplementary examples from the province as a whole, were then viewed in relation to overarching issues concerning restoration tradition, values and viewpoints held by the heritage conservation authorities, parochial needs for changes to the church interiors, but also discussions concerning the functional and artistic design of new churches and how those discussions were reflected in the historic churches.