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5/6/2002

John Pawson

IVAM Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, Valencia

John Pawson (Halifax, Yorkshire, 1949) studied at Eton College and the Architectural Association. He has lived in India and Australia and in the mid seventies he lectured at the University of Commerce in Nagoya, Japan. He began to devote himself to architecture fairly late, when he was over thirty and had spent some years working in the family textile business. Rather than being a drawback, this circumstance endows Pawson's first projects with an unexpected maturity and evident self-assurance. His main concern is the study of space, light, proportions and materials and he shuns affection of style. His friendship with the Japanese architect Shiro Kumata provided him with some of the keys to the poetic simplicity that characterizes his work.
In Pawson's architecture there is an equilibrium between intellectual issues, technical priorities and the material aspects of the design, not to mention the sensuality of the qualities chosen. Artistry and the knowledge of the materials and their possibilities are at the forefront of Pawson's projects; however, craftsmanship is not the aim he pursues. On the contrary, his skill and his absolute mastery of the materials never lose their humility, but remain concealed, almost invisible.
His architectonic production is not very extensive and consists mostly of interiors. The diversity of his projects is characteristic, nevertheless: from art galleries or centres to apartments, from shops to restaurants. The exquisite care of the design, his tireless pursuit of purity by means of the simplicity of his proposals are often the reason that his production is considered a work of art rather than architecture.

CONTENTS:
Between built and unbuilt projects, the exhibition includes nineteen private dwellings (from Bruce Chatwin's apartment in London to Novy Dvur monastery in Bohemia), thirteen commercial projects (from waiting rooms for air lines at Hong Kong airport to fashion boutiques), six art galleries and exhibition spaces, and some objects (including kitchen units and furniture).

CATALOGUE:
The publication that accompanies this exhibition is not the usual catalogue; it is a work in its own right that completes the existing literature about and/or by John Pawson. The structure of the catalogue follows the exhibition, although it is not a replica of it. The abstraction systems used (spatial concepts and the use of materials) are profusely illustrated and one of the projects included in the points of concentration (Rosmead Road) are explained in detail, including John Pawson's painstaking documentation and design process.

Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Sunday: 10 am to 8 pm
Monday: closed

Admission: 2,10 euro
Students and Carnet Jove: 1,00 euro
Friends of the IVAM, pensioners, children under 10: free
Sundays: admission free

IVAM Centre Julio González
Guillem de Castro, 118
46003 Valencia

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