Bra konst i bra arkitektur

Lecture by Sivert Lindblom at the KRO District 17 and SAR MSA symposium, 1986.

The relationship between art and architecture is not a relationship between decoration and function. It is a relationship between two ways of shaping space — one (architecture) primarily functional, the other (sculpture) primarily perceptual.

Good art in good architecture arises when these two perspectives meet in a way that reinforces both. The worst that can happen is that art is treated as embellishment, as a furnishing addition at the end of the building process. The artist must be involved early — in the brief stage, not the interior design stage. My experiences at Blasieholmstorg, Stockholm University (Frescati) and Västra skogen metro station confirm this: the successful projects are those where dialogue happened early and continuously.