Inger and Johannes Exner

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Inger Augusta Exner (born August 20, 1926 in Randers , Denmark ) and Johannes Exner (born March 25, 1926 in Hald bei Randers; † May 16, 2015 ), a Danish couple of architects , became known as important church builders and experts in restoration.

Life

Inger Exner grew up as one of five daughters of the metal goods dealer Frederik Emil Würtzen (1880–1950) and Anna Simone Marcussen (1886–1978) in a middle-class Christian home in Randers. In her childhood she was interested in drawing.

Johannes Exner grew up with his brother Bent Exner , who later became a well-known goldsmith and church artist, in Hald, north of the East Jutland port town of Randers, as the son of Gunild Holt and the evangelical provost Johan Exner . Like Johannes, he was active in the Danish resistance . In February 1945 Johan and Johannes Exner were arrested by the Gestapo, Johannes Exner was mistreated for two weeks and held in the internment camp Frøslev until April 1945 .

Inger and Johannes attended the local secondary school Randers Statsskole . After graduating in 1945, they studied together at the Royal Danish Academy of Art until 1954 (Det Kongelige Danske Art Academy Skoler for Architecture, Design og Konservering - Arkitektskolen). They married in 1952 at this time. During her studies, Inger Exner worked from 1951 until the birth of their first child Hans in 1953 for the newly founded Copenhagen design company Bernadotte & Bjørn Industridesign A / S by Sigvard Bernadotte and Acton Bjørn . Other children followed: Karen (1957), Anne-Mette (1962), Morten (1964). In 1956 the couple worked on church restorations for the Danish architect, furniture designer and professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art, Mogens Koch. The couple was personally anchored in Christianity, and they had theological conversations, as they knew it from their student days, with the architect and university professor Johan Otto von Spreckelsen , among others . In 1958 they founded their own architectural office in Aarhus and specialized in the construction of churches and restoration work. Johannes Exner was a lecturer from 1965 and professor from 1984 to 1992 at the Aarhus School of Architecture . In 1991, the company was transformed as the owner in a corporation with Inger and Johannes Exner and changed its name since then under the name Exner Tegnestue A / S . From 1998 the company was managed by the two daughters, the architects Karen Exner and Anne-Mette Exner and Finn Larsen as the new owners. With their departure, the company was renamed E + N Arkitektur A / S in April 2012 .

plant

Inger and Johannes Exner's work is divided into two main categories: church buildings and restorations. Their constructions were preceded by extensive planning in which they created models and studies. They were also inspired by church buildings from different eras and regions. In addition, they made numerous trips, for example to Rome in 1953 and 1983, to several churches in Western Europe in 1958, Spain in 1971, to churches in Eastern Europe in 1978, Germany in 1983, Northern Italy in 1985, USA in 1992. They also travel to Israel, Egypt, Hong Kong and Bangkok , Singapore and South China. In their church designs they combine modern elements with traditional construction.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the couple carried out a large number of restorations that kept the changes in the buildings over time visible, as opposed to a rigid restoration back to their original state. The buildings should bear witness to their entire previous history and their “narrative value”, as Johannes Exner called it, should be emphasized. Their restoration work includes, but is the Round Tower and Trinitatis Kirke in Copenhagen, castle Koldinghus and a new west wing at Klooster Ter Apel in Netherlands Ter Apel .

Sacred buildings (selection)

Sædden Kirke, Sædden Sogn, Skast Herred
Opstandelseskirken (Church of the Resurrection) in Albertslund
Islev Kirke, Copenhagen
Lyng Kirke, Fredericia Commune
Ølby Kirke

Their plans show an alternative to the construction of Catholic processional churches, the spatial organization of which, in their opinion, contradicts the Protestant liturgy, in which the priest should not stand above the congregation, but rather proclaim the word in the midst of it. This principle is the main theme in the planning of church buildings by the Exners, apart from their first churches: St. Clemens bei Randers 1963, which is in the tradition of Kaare Klint's construction , and Hald Ege Kirke from 1966 to 1967, which was a completely self-contained design, built on a low budget, using unpretentious and affordable materials. In the later churches, the church rooms are square or cubic, access usually leads from a corner diagonally through the room, as in the Præstebro Kirke in Herlev and the Nørrelandskirken in Holstebro. In Sædden Kirke, built in 1977/78, this principle is consistently implemented, so the altar is located roughly in the middle of the church. Many of the churches were built with distinctive, futuristic-looking campaniles .

The church constructions include the restoration of smaller village churches as the first major order from the Exners, the design of Sankt Clemens Kirke in Randers together with Knud Erik Larsen, the Præstebro Kirke in Herlev, Nørrelandskirke in Holstebro, Islev Kirk in Copenhagen, Gug Kirke in Aalborg and Sædden Kirke in Esbjerg. Since the churches increasingly developed into ecclesiastical parish centers from around 1970, the assembly and church rooms in a number of them were closely connected, only separated by a folding wall as in the churches of Islev, Præstebro, Gug and Sædden. For some churches the goldsmiths Helga and Bent Exner created crucifixes, candlesticks and altar silver.

  • 1963: Sankt Clemens Kirke, Randers Kommune (together with Knud Erik Larsen)
  • 1964–1967: Hald Ege Kirke, Hald Ege, Viborg .
  • 1965–69: Præstebro Kirke, Herlev, Herlev Kommune
  • 1967–1969 / 70: Nørrelandskirken, Holstebro : The church building is part of a larger complex of meeting rooms and offices that were built in two stages. The light arrangement of the church with its 144 light bulbs hanging from the ceiling as a starry sky was supplemented by several light objects by Johannes Exner from 1980. Bent Exner created the "Tree of Life" in the middle of the altar, the baptismal vessel and other silver sacred objects.
  • 1968–70: Islev Kirk, Rødovre Kommune , Copenhagen
  • 1971–72: Gug Kirke, Aalborg
  • 1975–77: Nørre Uttrup Kirke, Nørresundby , Aalborg Municipality
  • 1978: Sædden Kirke, Esbjerg
  • 1984: Opstandelseskirken (Church of the Resurrection), Albertslund, Albertslund Kommune : in the Church of the Resurrection in Albertslund from 1984, the usually rectangular church space is replaced by an octagonal one. The organ by Frobenius Orgelbyggeri was made in 1991 based on the architects' drawings.
  • 1993–94: Lyng Kirke, Erritsø Sogn / Fredericia
  • 1994: Skæring Kirke, Egå , Aarhus
  • 1994: Virklund Kirke, Silkeborg
  • 1997: Ølby Kirke, Køge

Restorations and extensions (selection)

Koldinghus, Kolding
Koldinghus, Kolding
  • 1972-92: Koldinghus , Kolding . The main work of the Exners was the concept and the restoration of the building, which they carried out on behalf of the Boligministeriet (then the Ministry of Housing) from 1972 to 1992. The architects deliberately decided not to restore the castle in a certain era. Instead, they left the castle's five phases of construction visible, including the ruin. The original shape of the castle and existing components from 1808 have been retained unchanged, so that the ruin, enclosed and surrounded by new architecture, continues to exist as a historical monument. The Exners consciously worked with materials that are visibly different from the original materials, such as plywood and steel for the interior structures, wood or modern bricks for the facades. In the basement of the south and east wing, new foundations had to be laid on which a construction of laminated wooden pillars was erected, which supports the roofs and floors. The missing wall part in the south and east was filled with a light wooden wall, which is hung in the roof structure and clad on the outside with oak wood chips. The implementation attracted international attention and was awarded the Europa Nostra Prize in 1994.
  • 1978: Sankt Pauls Kirke, Aarhus , fan-shaped complex made of brick, which corresponds to the masonry of the church, with a meeting room and offices. It is connected to the apse by a foyer with a glazed roof and covered with a gable roof.
  • 1981: Rundetårn , Copenhagen and 1981–83: Trinitatis Kirke , Copenhagen
  • 2001: Klooster Ter Apel, Ter Apel in the Netherlands, new west wing

Profane buildings (selection)

Folkestedet

Awards

The Exners have received numerous awards for their work:

Exhibitions (selection)

The KØS - Museum for Kunst i det offentlige rum (Museum for Art in Public Spaces) in Køge has wooden architectural models of Islev Kirke in København, Nørrelandskirken in Holstebro and Opstandelseskirken in Albertslund. The Exners' plans and drawings have been exhibited several times:

  • 1981: Jens Nielsen & Olivia Holm-Møller Museum, Holstebro
  • 1989: Koldinghus Museum
  • 1996: retrospective exhibition Inger and Johannes Exner , Museum Koldinghus

Web links

Commons : Inger and Johannes Exner  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Dansk kvindebiografisk leksikon: Inger Exner (1926-) . Retrieved October 20, 2017
  2. ↑ a b Kirkearkitektur: Inger & Johannes Exner . Retrieved November 7, 2017
  3. ^ Kunstindeks Danmark & ​​Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon: Inger Exner Travels . Retrieved October 22, 2017
  4. ↑ Kim Dirckinck-Holmfeld: Johannes Exner 1926 - 2015 . In: Arkitektforeningen of May 26, 2015. Accessed November 5, 2017
  5. ↑ a b c Kunstindeks Danmark & ​​Weilbach's Kunstnerleksikon: Inger Exner Biography . Retrieved October 22, 2017
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Rudolf Stegers: Bibliography of sacred buildings: churches, synagogues, mosques, houses of silence, cemetery buildings, 1970-2009 . LIT Verlag Münster, 2010, ISBN 978-3643105172 , No. 146-154
  7. ↑ Nørrelandskirken: Kirkens historie . Retrieved November 7, 2017
  8. ↑ Danish National Museum: Danmarks Kirker - Nørrelandskirken . Retrieved November 7, 2017
  9. ↑ Danish National Museum: Danmarks Kirker - Sædden Kirke . Retrieved November 7, 2017
  10. ^ Europa Nostra Danmark: Koldinghus får price for restaurering . Retrieved November 10, 2017
  11. ↑ Danish National Museum: Danmarks Kirker - Trinitas Kirke . Retrieved November 7, 2017
  12. ^ Egernsunder Ziegel GmbH: Mengel Tower
  13. ↑ Europa Nostra Danmark: HKH Prinsgemalens Europa Nostra Danmark Pris . Retrieved November 10, 2017
  14. ^ Europa Nostra Danmark: Johannes Exner . Retrieved November 10, 2017
  15. ^ Kunstindeks Danmark & ​​Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon: Inger Exner Exhibitions . Retrieved October 22, 2017