Nightlands

Translated by Thomas McQuillan Architecture is a manifestation of the environment inwhich it is placed, observes distinguished architect and theoretician Christian Norberg-Schulz. Asimple enough observation, but one that becomes subtle and nuanced in this landmark book whichattempts to define, for the first time, what Nordic building really is.Norberg-Schulz begins bycontrasting the natural world of the North with that of the Mediterranean, the Nordic unendingnessagainst the sun-saturated and homogeneous South. Using themes such as "natural," "domestic,""universal," and "foreign," he finds the architecture of both regions sensibly related to theirenvironments; but whereas the South lends itself to abstraction, the North is marked by variation,openness, and dynamism -- by low light, forests, and space.Exploring the ways built experience"takes place," Norberg-Schulz charts the distinctive character of land and climate thatdistinguishes Denmark's, Sweden's, Finland's, and Norway's architectural traditions from each otherand from those to the South. While each of these countries might be said to share regional traits,Norberg-Schulz identifies differences (the cultivated and closely detailed landscape andarchitecture of Denmark, the dramatic, structured forms of Norway) that allow him to account for theway individual Nordic architectures evolved.