Kay Fisker: Appraisals and Reappraisals

Date
29.11.2023 - 30.11.2023
Time
09.00
Price
Free but registration is needed - use link at bottom of page

Until recent years, when naming internationally the Danish modern architect Kay Fisker (1893–1965), only a few connoisseurs would have responded. The aim of this symposium is to create an international platform for scholars exploring and examining through interpretive, analytical, critical, and didactic takes the work of Kay Fisker.

Since his passing in 1965, the Danish specialized audience in architecture have received several publications about Fisker’s production, while on the international scene, the representative role of Danish modernism – with a wide disciplinary take – was rather canonized around a few other names such as Arne Jacobson and Jørn Utzon. 

Recently, Fisker’s work is nevertheless gaining an increasing international recognition. This includes his built work, in particular his subdued large-scale housing estates such as Hornbækhus (1920–22) and Vestersøhus (1935–39) and his public buildings for education and healthcare programmes, relating to the establishment of the Danish welfare state during the interwar and post-WWII periods such as the Aarhus University (1931–46). Moreover, not only his architectural production but also Fisker’s academic work as a professor and writer has become the topic of contemporary research projects and critical assessments, exploring his investigations into matters of typology, housing, and architectural history. Additionally, the international investigation in Fisker has matured quickly within little more than a decade, yet processes of de-canonization, specifically for a few architectural projects such as the Danish Academy in Rome (1960–67), are already emerging.  

The aim of this symposium is to create an international platform for scholars exploring and examining through interpretive, analytical, critical, and didactic takes the work of Kay Fisker. We particularly seek scholarly and didactic contributions which will contribute to mapping the international state of the art of interpretations, investigations, and insights into Fisker’s production. The symposium programme comprises presentations by invited international researchers as well researchers/papers selected through an international call for papers. 

The symposium is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation and hosted by the Institute of Architecture and Culture at the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation in Copenhagen, in partnership with Det Danske Institut i Rom – Accademia di Danimarca in Rome.

Programme - Wednesday 29 November 2023
  • 09:00-09:30: Registration and coffee 
  • 09:30-09:45: Welcome, Arne Høi 
  • 09:45-10:00: Introduction, Angela Gigliotti and Martin Søberg


Session 1: Fisker and the Others 

  • 10:00-10:30: Historicism in the Danish Post-war Era: Svenn Eske Kristensen and the Continuity Project, Peter Thule Kristensen 
  • 10:30-11:00: Kay Fisker’s Vestersøhus: Massive Kunstform versus Lightness and Flexibility Interlacing with a Modern Repertoire, Guia Baratelli 
  • 11:00-11:30: Learning from Kay Fisker: Reflections on the Legacy of Kay Fisker and Its Impact on Contemporary Danish Architecture, Christoffer Harlang 
  • 11:30-11:50: Discussion                          
  • 11:50-13:00: Lunch break 

 

Session 2: Fisker Reloaded 

  • 13:00-13:30: An Ecological Building Culture Should Draw Inspiration from the Existing Structures, Rosalina Foroughipour
  • 13:30-14:00: Rematerializing the Facade: Kay Fisker’s Self Supporting Brick Shells and “The Tectonics of Sustainability”, Nijs Lieven 
  • 14:00-14:30: Transformation of the Former Aarhus Municipal Hospital, Stina Rask Jensen 
  • 14:30-14:50: Discussion  
  • 14:50-15:15: Coffee break 

 

Session 3: Cross-Cultural Fisker 

  • 15:15-15:45: Kay Fisker’s Housing Laboratory: The Birthplace of the Modern Danish Home, Søren Vadstrup 
  • 15:45-16:15: The North Towards South, an Italian Experience: Fisker’s Eye on Mediterranean Panorama, Riccardo Petrella 
  • 16:15-16:45: The Exemplary Danish Architect of “Der Klump”: Kay Fisker and the German Architectural Discourses, Atli Magnus Seelow and Michael Asgaard Andersen  
  • 16:45-17:05: Discussion

Programme - Thursday 30 November 2023
  • 09:30-10:00: Good morning and coffee 

Session 4: The Agency of the Fiskers

  • 10:00-10:30: Authorship in Architecture: Fisker's Housing Projects, Luca Ortelli 
  • 10:30-11:00: Quiet Attunement: A Defence of an Anonymous Architecture in a World Out of Joint, Nicolai Bo Andersen 
  • 11:00-11:30: The Building Site for Det Danske Institut i Rom: When Authorship Profited from the Losses in Translation, Angela Gigliotti 
  • 11:30-11:50: Discussion                          
  • 11:50-13:00: Lunch break 

Session 5: By Fisker 

  • 13:00-13:30: Kay Fisker’s Ship Interiors, Bruce Peter 
  • 13:30-14:00: Kay Fisker: Domestic Atmosphere in Public Buildings, Samuel Quagliotto 
  • 14:00-14:30: Kay Fisker and the Danish State Youth Camps, Martin Søberg 
  • 14:30-14:50: Discussion 
  • 14:50-15:10: Coffee break 

Session 6: Fisker at School 

  • 15:10-15:40: Fisker’s Typological-Based Approach in the Boligbyggeri Course, Chiara Monterumisi 
  • 15:40-16:10: Foundations for Fisker: Educational Appraisals and Reappraisals from Delft, Paul Kuitenbrouwer 
  • 16:10-16:40: Pimp the Fiskers: Drawing as a Pedagogical Tool, Fabio Gigone 
  • 16:40-17:00: Discussion  
  • 17:00-17:30: Final discussion and concluding remarks, Angela Gigliotti and Martin Søberg
  • 17:30-19:00: Drinks and light snacks
Sign up for the symposium