International Journal of Architecture and Design, ISSN:2051-5820, Vol.24, Issue.
2 1110
"A Thin Line Drawn Between Heaven and Earth"
The Concept of Ecology in Sverre Fehn's
Architecture
Goran Ivo Marinovic
Seoul National University
85310, Budva, Seoce b.b., Montenegro
Email: gomarink@yahoo.com,
5ebony55@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This study examines the ecological potential of the
architectural construction over and against the nature. If
we take the notion of the architectural construction as a
creation of a built environment which consumes energy,
water, and materials and emits solid, liquid, and gas
contaminants we are already in the realm of
counterbalance with the nature. From this standpoint, this
study discusses the basic idea of Sverre Fehn's
architectural thoughts on horizon. For him, the horizon
examines the relation between building and landscape
connecting both to earth and sky within human
intervention.
The horizon in this study will be used as modus operandi
for achieving more "gentle" or environmentally
appropriate design. In this process, this study analyzes the
potential of ecology in Fehn's practice concerning the idea
of horizon as the main guide for the design process.
Moreover, the horizon is interpretation of culture, in this
case architecture, which has a positive impact on the
nature. From this notion of horizon, this study will discuss
the basic premises of architectural ecology and how we
approach design problems and their impact on
environment. Examples for this idea of horizon are few
Fehn's projects such as: the Archbishopric Museum of
Hamar, Norway, Villa Busk in Bamble, Norway, and the
Mauritzberg Vacation Center in Norrköping, Sweden.
Keywords- Sverre Fehn, Notion of Horizon, Architecture
and Nature, Ecology.
1. INTRODUCTION
Sverre Fehn is a Norwegian architect who received great
international recognition in 1997, when he was awarded
both the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the Heinrich
Tessenow Gold Medal. During his carrier, which lasted
almost four decades, he designed projects of international
recognition such as the Norwegian Pavilion at the 1958
Brussels World Exhibition, the Nordic Pavilion at the
Venice Biennale (1962) and the Hedmark Museum in
Hamar, Norway (1967-79). Fehn's international
recognition attracted many scholars to concern themselves
with issues that he worked on during his whole career in
order to enrich discourse of late-modern architecture. In
this regard, Peter Cook, in his work "Trees and Horizons:
Architecture of Sverre Fehn", included Fehn's work in a
series on "unappreciated architects". For him, in "Sverre
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Jin Baek
Seoul National University
1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul,
Korea 151-742
Email: jub33@snu.ac.kr
Fehn we have a believing architect and we ignore his quiet
and lyrical approach to modern architecture at our peril."
[1] However, his achievement has been so far observed
from the modern position of design practice, different
notion of modern architecture which is more regional,
historically aware, and tied to Nordic tradition and cultural
patterns. In this regard, most scholars, among others
Christopher Norberg-Schulz and Per Olaf Fjeld, had
researched Fehn's architectural practice from a critical
regionalism position or different approach of modern ideas
implemented within Nordic conditions. From these studies
we attain the knowledge about Fehn's attitude toward
region, architectural precision, and sensibility of a
building’s implementation into the local outset. These
issues derive from Fehn's ideas of the nature of things,
natural phenomena, and properties of material from which
we can acknowledge the importance of his practice for
contemporary architectural discourse.
Further investigation into the depth of Fehn's architectural
ideas will merely lead to ecological aspects of architecture
which is the main argument of this study. Fehn's notion of
the inevitable conflict between nature and architecture is
presented within a number of topics that characterized his
design approach. This opens possibilities for an
environmental implementation of his work. Furthermore,
his thoughtful construction, structural interpretation of
culture, and attentive connection between topography and
tectonics represent the essential aspects for studying
aspects of ecological architecture. In this regard, this study
will further examine the ecological potential of Fehn's
pivotal architectural ideas which can contribute to the
contemporary discourse of architecture. It will examine
two ideas with the assumption that ecological potential for
sustainable architecture can be drawn from their essence.
The first idea is the notion of horizon which was present
during Fehn's whole carrier. This is the result of Arne
Korsmo’s influence on Fehn’s way of thinking as an
architectural student at Oslo School of Architecture and
Design. Fehn recollects Korsmo's teaching about the
interconnection between a bridge and its surroundings
with these words, "[O]n one side I want to look out, and
on the other I ask for protect. This is the essence of my
architecture: to open or to take away from the landscape."
[2] In this regard, the notion of horizon is approached in
manner to justify architectural implementation and human
habitation "on the earth [which] already means under the
 International Journal of Architecture and Design, ISSN: 2051-5820, Vol., Issue.
sky." [3] In this phenomenological interpretation of Fehn's
work, the notion of horizon is represented "as an
instrument of orientation, movement and engagement" [4]
which extends the architectural implementation beyond
physical limits and experience of earth and sky. From this
standpoint on a line in between earth and sky, the second
part of study examines the "new environmental art" of
Fehn's "poetic modernity", and consequently the weight of
the construction process in Fehn's architecture. This stems
from his critique of the unadulterated modernist approach
of lightness and minimization of construction elements in
architecture, creating a new type of integral architecture
"that is an architecture that 'unites' the environment,
presenting it in 'open' and distinct images." [5]
1.1 Measure And Horizon
The literal definition of architecture is interpreted as a
controlled boundary of a contained void in nature. This
boundary defined by architectural elements (floor, wall,
and roof) are established in relation to the properties of
landscape (earth, horizon, and sky). [6] In other words,
there is a strong structural link between architectural and
environmental elements which influence design due to the
"extension" and "enclosure" of the nature. From this
notion of architecture and nature as interwoven elements
derives the "environmental phenomenology", which
presents design situated on the earth which is "the serving
bearer, blossoming and fruiting, spreading out in rock and
water, rising into plant and animal..." under the sky that is
"the vaulting path of the sun, the course of the changing
moon, the glitter of the stars, the year's seasons, the light
and dusk of day, the gloom and glow of night, the
clemency and inclemency of the weather, the drifting
cloud and blue depth of the ether..." [7]In this relation to
its surrounding, architectural intervention is connected to
perceptual and spatial limits. This also means, the horizon,
as architectural intervention, is "always already" present in
any architectural project which situates culture in realm of
its environment. This does not mean that every
architectural project has a horizon within itself, but that
some architects by emphasizing dramatic confrontation
between earth and sky allow design to become part of this
conflict. In this manner, the term horizon is "in accordance
with the Greek verb horizein, what limits, surrounds,
encloses" [8] an immeasurable field in space. From this
notion of horizon, measure presents one of the
fundamental tools in architecture of horizon, projects that
are situated with the right means and ends. According to
Thomas Barrie the essential task of architecture is to
"articulate a place that is between others and an essential
measure of its success is its ability to complete or unify its
large context" [9] This idea of measuring its context in
order to invent and impose architectural intervention is
crucial to the ecological aspects of architecture. In that
manner the measure of milieu is of great importance for
Fehn's work. From the notion of measure stems the
importance of horizon for architectural discourse, since the
horizon introduces many different limits which are placed
on us and our intervention on the natural environment.
This also means that the horizon with its quality, quale,
and property, proprium, creates measure for suitable
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1111
architectural invention. Hans George Gadamer commented
on the notion of measure with these words: "I do not
consider it adequate to term everything which cannot be
absolutely measured 'appropriate' (angemesen)." For the
statement that something is immeasurable only indicates a
rejection of the reductionism implied in the scientist
interpretation of phenomena, and implies its own
limitation. On the other hand, what is genuinely 'fitting' or
'appropriate' possesses a form of rightness which is wholly
independent and which does not first need to be defined in
terms of the negation of something else." [10] In this
writing, Gadamer clarifies our attitude toward the
phenomena and the scientific abuse of already established
measures. The keywords for his argument on the
measurement "appropriate" and "rightness" are strongly
routed within context and situating into one place. This
also means that the position of horizon and its presence
into architectural project creates the "clearing" for culture
to take over from nature. In so doing, the horizon directed
the "appropriate" architectural attitude toward location in
correspondence with climate and regional topography. In
this regard we can ask a question, how do we measure a
place and impose our intervention on it? In order to
answer this question we need to pose another, attitude of
answering question with another question: "Is there a
measure on earth?" which is the ethical and existential
question posed by Walter Schultz and further examined by
Werner Marx. [11] On the one hand there is the horizon,
as consequence of natural boundary, that imposes ethical
measure on human's existence, the line that poses the limit
for the human affections which are in relation with
Gadamer's distinction between "metron" and "metrion."
[12] In other words, for Gadamer, the differentiation
between measure and what is measured serves to reveal
the degree of involvement and relation between us and the
others, community or society, within the realm of nature.
On the other hand, there is horizon as natural element
which reveals physical potential in a space. This potential
is present in the essence of the site and its content. On the
other hand, there is horizon as consequence of human
action which is a line that imposes itself on the nature.
This dualistic dimension of horizon is present in Fehn's
work within the "confrontation" which is not an act of
negation of context, but is a double-negation or a
signification in which construction and natural
environment are dialectically united. In relation to this
horizon "the poetic vision of Fehn is interconnected with
the natural environment just as much as it is with the
human environment, and the interrelation is expressed
convincingly" [13]
According to Gennaro Postiglione "Fehn attempts to
provide 'a horizon for man', so that each project might
identify a place in space between earth and sky" [14] In
this manner, Fehn works with threefold: earth, sky, and
horizon which represent the guiding force in his work. In
working with these tools, which two of them are coming
from natural surrounding (earth and sky) and third arises
as an attempt to locate architectural action in relation to
previous two, he establishes relation with the locality of
place which allows a building to emanate from its setting.
 International Journal of Architecture and Design, ISSN: 2051-5820, Vol., Issue.
In other words, Fehn is an architect deeply concerned with
"land-script" or "land-graph," who explore the site by
drawing a lines in the landscape in order to find a spot to
build. These lines are not just directions and orientations,
but they represents the whole set of parameters which
contribute to architectural design. Thus, because of the use
of horizon in all phases of design he creates more human
or easily adaptable structure in a particular location. An
example by which we may understand Fehn's treatment of
locality and topography is E. T. A. Hoffman's story
"Councilor Krespel" in which the main character Krespel
built the house by refusing the help of architects, drawings
or professional assistance. The building process is
underlined by Krespel's walks and his executrix of bodily
gestures. In a way this search to locate a body in space can
be related to ontological project of the notion of bodily
perception [15] of space. The house walls in Hoffman's
story were constructed from perfectly excavated square
foundation on the site. What was more extraordinary,
these walls were without doors or windows and Krespel
"design" facade and interior partitions as a result from his
walking around and inside of the house - cognitive
mapping of space. The construction decisions were made
according to his mapping of the site with unpredictable
walking paths and collision between his body and new
constructed walls of the house . The result was a house
"presenting a most unusual appearance from the outside -
no two windows being alike and so on - but whose interior
arrangements arouse a very special feeling of ease." [16]
As a way of overcoming modernistic individuality and
self-sufficiency Fehn's orientation of work is toward
special locality, climatology, and building tradition on the
north. In this way, Fehn is topographic architect, who like
Krespel in Hoffman's story, within architectural design try
to develop something that defines the specific landscape.
Villa Busk, Bamble (1987-1990) is one example of this
quest for situation into the landscape, situated in a disused
part of site and designed as "constructed through an
aggregation of volumes around a central spine" [17] it
seeks to exploit maximum from location's atmosphere and
topography. This project is like taking a walk through the
landscape in order to find place for picnic, place that we
require for our "being in the world". This also means that
"Villa Busk mediates between the journey to town and
work outside the front door and the journey to the pier and
fjord - nature - through the back." [18] This can be linked
with Fehn's mastery of materials and details, based on the
palette of native Norwegian materials (wood and gray
stone) and contemporary materials (concrete, copper, and
glass). From this standpoint, an idea of treating natural
environment as forces for architectural guidance has origin
from notion of horizon and its existence into human
dwelling. In this existence the architecture leaves place for
ecological aspects of inhabiting the ground and embodying
the horizon which is the measure for ecological aspects of
design. Fehn's notion of a horizon is introduction to the
topic of implantation of architectural intervention in the
space: the inevitable conflict between the corrosive effect
of a natural environment and architectural structure. For
Fehn, the space, a natural environment, represent a "room"
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1112
[19] according to which the architecture adapts its space
within scale and measurement. This notion of room is the
force that allows architectural intervention to adapt to the
natural milieu and to provide necessary difference between
design and nature. This distinction between architecture
and nature is the main "drive" for Fehn's design
represented in his obsession with architecture within a
horizon.
Here it is important to distinguish the link between the
notion of the horizon as human intervention upon the
nature and the terrain. The term terrain comes from Greek
tersesthai meaning "to dry up" and Latin terra which not
only signifies "earth" but gives name to some earthbound
objects. Furthermore, the terra is related to tersa, which
signifies the soil baked by the sun. [20] Within this
definition of the term terrain, beside the particular material
quality, we get the notion of difference between surface
and below-surface or ground and sub-ground. In other
words, there is an important distinction between
something beneath the level of the terrain and something
on or above the surface of the earth. Moreover, this notion
of horizontal "tension between above and below" [21] is
an act of veiling and unveiling entwined in the ordinance
of the earth. In other words, the terrain is in correlation
with the natural horizon within the dividing line of the
earth's surface. This division is "the line and light from the
sky [which] 'articulated' the ground... the earth was shown
to be a livable horizon, matter having been abbreviated
into a mat." [22] For all these reasons, the terrain and
horizon have become the favorite metaphor for Fehn's
thinking on architectural intervention. He approaches these
terms within an idea of mask and cut which enclosed the
earth and the horizon. Per Olaf Fjeld wrote on this idea,
"The mask and the cut are connected. The earth is a mask
for forgotten objects; the cut discloses their hiding places.
The cut has no will, no expression except as a border
between light and dark. It is in the small opening between
these two situations that Fehn finds his most intense
expression." [23] Within the idea of mask and cut, it is
important to draw the architectural link between sky and
cultivation of earth’s surface the main aspect of Fehn's
architecture. In this regard, Fehn by designing handling of
the platforms and elevated ramps evokes the meaning for
the nature of horizon. This idea can be linked with his
former colleague Jørn Utzon's significance of platform in
Mayan temples on which he noted "that by placing the
platform at the same level as the jungle top, these people
had obtained a new dimension on life, worthy of their
devotion to their gods." [24] For Utzon, this notion of
platform has a strong sense of space and is positioned with
great sensitivity to the natural surroundings. This also
means, that all the platforms from ancient civilizations in
Mexico are positioned in a manner to acknowledge the
horizon and in devotion to natural environment. In this
respect, for Utzon there is a difference in expression
between platform which is like a mass of rock and flatness
of the roof which covers surface. In examining the
platform, Utzon confronts flatness of the Mayas structures
with the line of the horizon which is opposite strategy
from Le Corbusier's notion of the horizon. For Le
 International Journal of Architecture and Design, ISSN: 2051-5820, Vol., Issue.
Corbusier the horizon presents confrontation of the site's
principles, "Between my eyes and the horizon a
sensational event has occurred: a vertical rock, in granite
is there, upright, like a menhir; its vertical makes a right
angle with the horizon. Crystallization, fixation of the site.
This is a place to stop, because here is a complete
symphony, magnificent relationship, nobility. The vertical
gives the meaning of the horizon. One is alive because of
the other." [25] This encounter of vertical against
horizontal within the right angle was the background for
the most Le Corbusier's projects.
From this modern notion of horizon, Fehn develops his
own interpretation of the curved line of horizon which is
not just unrevealed by the platform, horizontal plate, nor
by vertical mass as a opposition to it, but is unveiling as
the result from the act of kinetic movements on it. An
example by which Fehn is constructing his interpretation
of horizon is naval objects on the sea, for him "the secret
of the boat was to fight the horizon." [26] From this
standpoint, the built structure needs to meet with the earth
and sky which means it challenges the milieu in which is
set. In this way, his buildings were designed within the
idea of the place where the horizon and our glance meet: it
is the position of the observer in the project that defines
the relation toward the horizon and its spatial properties.
There is nothing fixed and stable in Fehn's projects, on the
contrary there is always presence of some hidden line of
horizon that needs to be unveiled. The project that pictures
this notion of hidden horizon is the Hedmark Museum in
Hamar, Norway (1967–79). At Hamar, he organizes a
museum in the U-shape building above an important
archaeological site. This position of above is not the
modern - Corbusian notion of lightness and negating the
ground by lifting the volume of the building, but presents
unity within the location and acknowledges existence of
archaeological remains which allows Fehn to create "the
promenade architectural". This promenade is achieved
with "a Semperian conjoining of light and heavy weight
materials" [27] that allows past and present, old and new,
inside and out to be unified in single composition. This
Semperian derivation of project is based on the design
strategy; framing of the new roof which is articulated as an
element separated from the masonry walls preserved from
the remains of old barn building, and the second separate
element is concrete ramp which metamorphoses into the
floor that appears to flout within the space and contains
visitor movement allowing him/her to experience the place
with their movement through the building. A long ramp
bent like boomerang invents space which reveals a view of
the wider surrounding. From entrance the line of the ramp
unveils the wider territory that surrounds the building: it
allows visitor to perceive the locality and setting of the
building; and from the interior, where the ramp continues
in the floor, it negates the boundary between inside and
out, in other words it overlaps spaces from inside and out
within the unity of movement. From this notion of path,
Fehn "moves" the horizon within the spatial and material
display, on this issue he wrote with these words, "the
simplest form of architecture is to cultivate the surface of
the earth... then the horizon becomes the only direction
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1113
one has, and the moment a dialogue between the earth and
the horizon is established... In the museum of Hamar, the
physical horizon disappeared. Here the objects are
displaced above and below the horizon; you might say the
horizon is everywhere." [28]
With this surgical precise employed at Hamar he develops
a method which touches the archaeological site lightly
which means it preserves or protects the ancient locality
and creates the space for human interaction with it.
In that manner the design method of museum of Hamar is
not just innovative conservation strategy, but possesses the
ecological capacity for better sustainable architecture.
With the strategy of a "suspended museum" [29] which
lightly touches the surface of the earth Fehn develops
strong ecological design method. One reason why this
architecture achieves the link with nature is his
architectural language which is derived from Norwegian
vernacular traditions of building. Thus the vernacular
tradition is never taken for granted or mindlessly copied,
but is interrelated in various creations of Fehn's projects.
Since the vernacular is always already in the realm of
ecological, the idea of horizon represent a line that
connects existing environment, in this case some
vernacular qualities of inhabitation of a space, and new
implemented structure.
1.2 Ecology of Fehn’s Horizon
When a structure is located accordingly to the horizon
which means appreciating the earth on which it is located
and absorbs different spaces into unity defined by the path,
flow in Fehn's projects, there is specific effect toward
surrounding which can lead to ecological design. It is
undisputed that this integrity of design is present in Fehn's
work and in his ideas about opposition of structure against
nature. In other words, within his architectural vocabulary
there is a notion of "deep ecology" [30] in which "nature is
to be appreciated and respected, not explored, the built
space must experience an ability to reinforce nature's
spatial potential. Fehn's evaluation of the work depends on
the project's capacity to paraphrase nature." [31]
An example of ecological capacity in Fehn's work is so
called "ecological house", a large scale project for
Mauritzberg Vacation center in Norrköping, Sweden
(1991). In this project Fehn was aware of "the limitations
of a singular ecological improvement if the basic of the
overall project functioned within a framework that was
without ecological merit." [32] For this reason he carefully
implements a plan for units in the location, by which the
project seeks to contribute to the unevenness of terrain.
Each volume of unit is cut with terrace which creates
extension of inner space of the unit and extents into the
garden that separate units which soften the boundary
between buildings and natural environment. Besides the
relationship between the units and terrain project is
dealing with the capacity of materials and build techniques.
Although only one prototype house was built by student as
a summer workshop, the project reveal the ecological
impact from Fehn's thoughts and design methods. In this
house he implies the unity of spaces and environment with
appropriate materials and design strategies. For him,
 International Journal of Architecture and Design, ISSN: 2051-5820, Vol., Issue.
material selection and construction techniques identify the
basic spatial distribution in order to achieve design which
sustains itself into the landscape. In other words, this
notion of sustain itself is embodied into the attitude toward
nature of material and methods of construction. Here the
aim is not to explore materials and techniques only for
aesthetic sake, but to explore the nature of materials in
order to develop precision in the design process. This
precision in process of constructing the place is the main
ecological aspect of Fehn's work and is the main topic that
is different implemented in all of his projects. For him, if
construction manages to realize a dialogue with the earth
then it can establish precision in which human action is in
correlation to the natural environment. Examination within
the line of precision is one way of dealing with ecological
crisis. For Fehn, "materials can enter into dialog only
through opposition without mediation, so that the different
meanings and qualities are dramatically emphasized." [33]
In a prototype house for Mauritzberg project, Fehn
develops this precision within the choice and treatment of
materials. He is aware of limited possibilities in
minimization of architectural design promoted by modern
architects and its restricted contribution to the ecological
aspects of design. As a critique to modern attitude toward
materialization Fehn wrote on the correspondence between
construction and minimization with these words "With the
advent of glue the tree's tectonic size is totally transformed
and wood itself becomes a substance. Its color remains
naturally determined, but its dimension becomes artificial
and unlimited - mystery no longer resides." [34] Without
the mystery which is absent in limitlessness dimension of
materials, construction loses its capability to envelope the
resistance between natural and artificial within immediate
locality. In this regard, he used wooden supporting
framework for walls on rectangular base unit. This light
wooden structure is filled with natural based materials, hay
bales, dried earth, and plaster. These natural materials do
not contain the ecological significance because they create
an allusion of dwelling from the past, barn or black forest
house, but on contrary it is their contemporary
implementation into the construction and their technique
of aggregation which enable them to achieve ecological
aspects of architecture. In case of Hay bales and white
plaster, they are left, for the specific period of time, to the
influence of the summer sun in order to be able to perform
their use for in construction. In this manner, the Nordic
climate and atmospheric influences are taking in
consideration during the process of construction which
enables the building to be in relation to its natural
surroundings. This collision between the nature and the
chosen materials utilizes the importance of construction
which embodied the horizon and allows human dwelling
on the earth. The juxtaposition of soft, tangible, and
natural based materials with rigid wooden structure and
barrel-vaulted roof made from laminated wood reveals
architectural attitude which tries to find place where the
dimensions in nature are in productive relation with
building. This productive relation between architecture
and nature means that construction process consumes less
energy, water, and harmful chemicals; at the same time,
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1114
since materials preserved their basic properties and
possibility to be up-cycled they emit less solid, liquid, and
gas contaminations. For this standpoint it is clear that
constricting this prototype house Fehn took for
consideration all the aspects of "life circle of the building:
planning, design, construction, operation, and on the end-
of-life fate of materials." [35] In this manner, Fehn
achieves the "eco-effective design [which] demands a
coherent set of principles based on nature's laws and the
opportunity for constant diversity of expression... [method
in which] form follows evolution." [36]
2. CONCLUSIONS
Fehn's work positions him as a modern non-modernist.
From his mature stage onward, after the Norwegian
Pavilion at the Brussels World Exhibition (1958) and the
Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1962), he
develops the projects that negated modern notion of
neglecting structure, lightness of construction and
materials, and anti-regionalism. In that regard, he pushed
modern project to its limits and thus, in a revealing way,
beyond its limits. His later work is concentrated on the
tradition of construction in Norway, topography of fiords,
and richness of the natural environment. His work on
horizon in architecture, achieved with precision in
materiality and architectural structure, can be recognized
as the true capacity for sustainable design. Fehn's
realization and struggle with essential tension between
architecture and nature poses the great capability for
contemporary ecological topics and their problematization.
Within this tension of nature and structure Fehn's
"architecture has the ability to make this [unhurried]
natural time visible." [37] This means that his design does
not negate nature nor it mimicry it, but confronts the
natural setting in order to bring human space closer to
nature. In that manner, Fehn's non-modernist work is more
contemporary and remains of more importance than work
of some so called post-modern or contemporary architects.
According to French architect Laurent Beaudouin,
"Architecture takes form in the rigorous framework of the
laws of nature. It is inscribed in space and time... Man and
nature do not move at the same speed. Architecture is a
machine for slowing time down." i [38] Architecture of
Fehn is an example of this kind of "slow architecture" with
ecological lessons for self-sufficient design.
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[3] Heidegger, M. (1971). 'Building Dwelling
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York: Harper Colophon Books.
[4] Ewing, S. (2012). 'Reading the Site at Sverre Fehn's
Hamar Museum.' Reading Architecture and
Culture: Researching Buildings, Spaces and
Documents. London: Routledge.
 International Journal of Architecture and Design, ISSN: 2051-5820, Vol., Issue. 1115

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