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Retrospective exhibit of Edward Anders Svik architectural work on display

By Elizabeth Child
October 24, 2002

The works of celebrated architect Edward Anders Sövik will be on display Oct. 26 to Dec. 8 at Flaten Art Museum in the Dittmann Center of St. Olaf College.

Modern Liturgy magazine has called Sövik, 84, "the most influential liturgical architect of the last 20 years." Sovik is credited with modernizing church design. He has designed hundreds of churches nationwide, receiving international acclaim.

A 1939 graduate of St. Olaf College, and later a professor of art and architecture at his alma mater, Sövik designed many of the college's signature buildings, including Urness Recital Hall and the Christiansen Hall of Music.

Sövik himself, as well as alumni who are architects, will lead tours of the buildings on campus that he designed. The public is welcome.

"Ed Sövik has been instrumental in creating the aesthetic of St. Olaf College," says Jill Ewald, curator at St. Olaf. "Drawing from the roots of Modernism and Scandinavian design, Sövik has created public spaces that inspire community and connection. This idea carries through his institutional buildings and places of worship, and makes the St. Olaf campus very special."

Included in the monthlong exhibit at St. Olaf will be Sövik's writings and blueprints, two videos about his work and a timeline of his church designs.

Years ago, Sövik felt church architecture was behind the times. He was motivated to "continue where the Protestant reformation left off some 400 years ago," he wrote in his seminal 1973 book, Architecture and Worship. To that end, he did away with the narthex that places the altar apart from the congregation. In addition, he was convinced that "a deep chancel and inaccessible altar did not represent the Lutheran 'priesthood of believers,'" according to Joseph M. Shaw, professor emeritus of religion and the unofficial historian of St. Olaf.

In Dear Old Hill, his history of the college, Shaw wrote, "The chancel is spacious but the span is in width, not in depth and there is no distinct division between the nave and the chancel."

Another characteristic that moved church architecture beyond the medieval pattern was Sövik's construction of simple, open churches that allowed the space to be configured for variable uses. All the furnishings were portable, and Sövik even designed stackable church chairs for optimal flexibility.

The exhibit will include a comprehensive overview of Sövik's works, beginning with award-winning plans he drew up as a graduate student at the Yale School of Architecture that helped shape the future of church architecture. The exhibit will offer insights into the 28 St. Olaf campus projects he completed with SMSQ between 1950 and 1992. Sövik's most significant St. Olaf building designs include several residence halls and the administration complex.

"His work invites the community to embrace the present and the future," Shaw wrote. "It is bold and clear in purpose, using space, color and light to affirm beauty and freedom."

Events on campus On Saturday, Oct. 26, a day of celebratory events has been scheduled in honor of Ed Sövik. From 9 to 10 a.m., the college will host a hospitality gathering with Sövik and other St. Olaf architectural alumni in the Dittmann Center, Room 204, followed by a 10 a.m. address from Ohio State University architecture professor and St. Olaf College alumna Kay Bea Jones, who will speak about Sövik's design and architecture.

At 11 a.m. in Dittmann Center, St. Olaf architect alumni will give a campus tour of buildings designed by Sövik. From 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Flaten Art Museum, Dittmann Center, a reception and opening exhibit will honor Sovik - his contribution to the college, its campus and buildings, and to church architecture in general.

Other Sövik-related tours of campus architecture will be offered during the run of his exhibition.

Ed Sövik biography Edward Anders Sövik was born in 1918 to American missionaries in Henan, China, and spent most of his formative years in that country. At 17, he moved with his family to Northfield, Minn., where he remained until he graduated with honors from St. Olaf College in 1939.

He studied at the Arts Students League in New York City and Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., until World War II. During the War, he served as a combat pilot and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Purple Heart and several air medals.

Following the war, he attended the Yale School of Architecture, graduating with honors in 1949. He launched his architectural career immediately thereafter, in Northfield. He had a dual-track career as a professor at St. Olaf and as founder and chairman of the firm now known as SMSQ Architects. Before retiring in 1994, Sövik led his firm in the design and renovation of several hundred churches and other building projects across the country, earning an international reputation for his liturgical architecture.

Sövik was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1967. He served as president of AIA Minnesota and the Minnesota Architectural Foundation, and was the first chair of the State Designer Selection Board. In 1982, AIA Minnesota honored him with its Gold Medal for his distinctive leadership in design, writing and speaking. He has held several offices in associations concerned with religion and architecture including the National Council of Churches, the Liturgical Conference and the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions.

In recognition of his contribution to the heritage of St. Olaf College, the college honored Sövik with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995.

St. Olaf College, a national leader among liberal arts institutions, fosters the development of mind, body and spirit. It is a residential college in Northfield, Minn., and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college provides personalized instruction and diverse learning environments, with nearly two-thirds of its students participating in international studies.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.