OSLO.- Lina Bo Bardi’s iconic glasshouse in São Paulo, Casa de Vidro from 1952, will be presented inside Sverre Fehn’s glass Pavilion from 2008. This juxtaposition of Bo Bardi and Fehn sets up a dialogue between two architects who never met. There are nevertheless many similarities in their work, for example their sculptural use of concrete and their shared interest in the rehabilitation of older buildings and in exhibition design. The new exhibition also includes commissioned works by the German artist Veronika Kellndorfer featuring images of Casa de Vidro, where she explores the reflection and transparency of the building’s glass walls. The exhibition curator is Markus Richter.

In parallel with this presentation, "The Norwegian Glasshouse” exhibition will be on display in the museum's Vault. Focusing on how Norwegian architects experimented with ideas of the glasshouse both before and after the Second World War, the exhibition presents single-family houses designed by Arne Korsmo, Ove Bang, Sverre Fehn, Håkon Mjelva, Geir Grung, and Wenche and Jens Selmer. On display are rarely seen drawings from projects that are now counted among the highlights of Norwegian modernist architecture.

The glasshouse as mental liberation
Architects used the glasshouse as a symbol of mental liberation throughout the entire twentieth century. Around the time of the First World War I, German expressionist architects wrote passionate manifestos about glass constructions that would contribute to the moral purification of future societies. According to later architects associated with the so-called international style, glass-wall houses enhanced the residents' experience of their natural environs and made them more aware of the need to contemplate nature.

The exhibition curator for “Casa de Vidro: Lina Bo Bardi in Dialogue with Sverre Fehn” in the Pavilion is Markus Richter, while the exhibition curators for “The Norwegian Glasshouse” in the vault are Talette Rørvik Simonsen and Markus Richter.

The Bardi-Fehn exhibition in the Pavilion is on display at the Nasjonalmuseet until 14 May, while the glasshouse exhibition in the Vault will run until 13 August.

“Casa de Vidro: Lina Bo Bardi in Dialogue with Sverre Fehn” has been produced in collaboration with the Instituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi in São Paulo.