Form, rörelse, ljus : en studie över Johannes Olivegrens kyrkoarkitektur

Sammanfattning: The present study examines the church architecture of Johannes Olivegren (1926-89). Winning a contest on small-church design in 1953 proved to be the prelude to a career in architecture which by 1975 had resulted in the raising of a total of eighteen churches. His activities as a church architect coincide with an epoch displaying a quanitatively extensive and at times qualitatively impressive array of church architecture.Olivegren displayed a breadth of variation in his church architecture. He worked with more traditional forms like the basilica and hall church in brick, while simultaneously experimenting with a dynamic expressionism in concrete. Olivegren's churches express both the desire to challenge the possibilities of form and a sure hand in dealing with it. He himself insisted that his foremost building block was light, which is most literally evident in the churches he collaborated on with the visual artists Ralph Bergholtz and Randi Fisher. A salient feature of Olivegren's architecture is the manner in which he uses form and light as elements to create motion - a motion forward and through space and a motion in which he seems to set the building itself. Closely related to this second aspect of motion is the manner in which the building takes possession of its environment. In numerous instances, Olivegren succeeded in exploiting topographical conditions to the extent that his relatively small churches assume a certain monumentality.Olivegren's obsession with form was attacked by some critics as »un-Swedish«, which was seen as a negative quality in the era in which his churches were raised. And indeed, his Expressionistic concrete churches do display tendencies which were current outside of Sweden at the time.