ALVAR AALTO ACADEMY’S LECTURE SERIES CONTINUES

The Modern House in Denmark: Meaning and Inspiration for Today

Michael Sheridan

During the 1950s, Danish architects constructed an extraordinary series of small, single-family houses whose beauty and cultural importance have withstood the passage of time and the tides of fashion. Working with limited budgets and local materials, architects such as Jørn Utzon, Arne Jacobsen and Knud Peter Harboe created compact dwellings that satisfy the ageless human desires for texture, pattern and variation, and can serve as prototypes for future development.

Michael Sheridan, American architect and leading scholar of modern Danish architecture, will present an overview of this important chapter in Nordic architectural history, describing the evolution of the modern Danish house, the origins of the domestic masterworks and their meaning for contemporary life.

Michael Sheridan was educated at the University of Minnesota and Columbia University. He is a registered building architect in New York City, and the principal of Sheridan Architect, which focuses on residential and art-related projects. In addition to his practical work, he is an internationally-recognized authority on modern Danish architecture and furniture. His major works on these subjects include the books Room 606 – The SAS House and The Work of Arne Jacobsen (Phaidon, 2003), Poul Kjærholm – Møbelarkitekt (Louisiana, 2006) and Mesterværker – enfamiliehuset i dansk arkitekturs guldalder. He also curated and designed the 2006 Poul Kjærholm exhibition at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, and was the co-host of the television series Enestående huse i Norden, shown on DR and SVT during 2013.

Lecture is on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 5 p.m.
Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum Hall, Kaivokatu 2, Helsinki
Lecture is in English / Free entrance

More information:
Merja Vainio merja.h.vainio@alvaraalto.fi, tel +358 400 772 636