A new architectural design competition titled "The House of Death and Life" has been announced to commemorate the 50th anniversary of renowned Swedish architect Sigurd Lewerentz's death on December 29th. The competition, organized by I C A R C H, invites architects worldwide to design a conceptual house that explores the profound themes of mortality and existence that characterized Lewerentz's influential body of work.
The competition draws inspiration from a recently published book about Lewerentz titled "Sigurd Lewerentz Architect of Death and Life." The organizers noted that while most discussions typically mention life before death, in Lewerentz's case, death must be considered first due to his deep engagement with themes of finality and the afterlife. His mourning lamps at Sankt Petri church in Klippan, Sweden, exemplify his profound awareness of life's finite nature and his ability to translate these concepts into architectural poetry.
The competition brief emphasizes that true artistic expression requires active engagement with death rather than its avoidance. Organizers explain that only through deep involvement with meanings associated with mortality can artists cross the threshold between death and life, making art a transgression of death itself. They reference the "cosmic hourglass of existence" where life and death nourish each other endlessly, creating a philosophical framework for the design challenge.
Participants are asked to design "The House of Death and Life" as a tribute to Lewerentz, with the word "house" interpreted in the most generic and metaphorical sense possible. Submissions can take any form - including anti-house, post-house, or pre-house concepts. The organizers stress that this represents a unique opportunity since contemporary architecture often overlooks death in favor of life alone, despite the necessity of both elements.
The competition references French poet Charles Baudelaire's observation that art has two halves: one addressing the ephemeral, transitory, and circumstantial, and another speaking to permanence, the eternal, and the immutable. Participants are encouraged to embrace their role as poets, creating designs that bridge these dual aspects of human existence through architectural expression.
Submissions of any work, size, or format must be sent digitally to the organizers by December 29th of this year, marking exactly 50 years since Lewerentz's death. The competition is free to enter, with organizers planning both a physical exhibition and online display of all received works. This commemorative competition offers architects a rare chance to explore profound philosophical themes while honoring one of Sweden's most important architectural figures, whose discrete yet piercing approach taught generations that architecture, like all art, must encompass both the temporal and the eternal.
