Is an architect an artist? Gert Wingårdh looks up the word on Swedish Wikipedia, and eight categories of artistic practice are listed. There is no mention of architects. The search continues.

“I don’t want to design new buildings that look like those of the past. That’s not about taking some kind of moral position; it’s just that repetition is not stimulating. It’s suffocating.”

In the book Eight Projects: From Liljevalchs to Nationalmuseum, Gert Wingårdh takes a deep dive into eight projects that have played a significant role for him in recent years. The content spans from a ring-shaped concrete water tower to a screen roof of stacked glued laminated beams to the renovation of Sweden’s largest museum of art and design.

“I only look at people, never art. I hate when something is finished. There are always roads to keep going farther. The best-case scenario is a hierarchy of decisions. Does the building volume fit into the city and the context? Is it what the client needs? How is it formed? Detailed? It is painful to interrupt the process. There’s a learning curve that rises logarithmically—why interrupt it? Therein lies the grief that comes with the start of construction.

“I don’t want to design new buildings that look like those of the past. That’s not about taking some kind of moral position; it’s just that repetition is not stimulating. It’s suffocating.”

The book interweaves personal writings and pictures about the process before, during, and after each design project. There is one chapter each devoted to Liljevalchs+, Aula Medica, Helsingborg Water Tower, Vasaplan in Umeå, Nobel Center, Laponia Nature Center, Villa F, and Nationalmuseum.

Eight Projects: From Liljevalchs to Nationalmuseum is being self-published by Wingårdh Architects, with texts, sketches, and drawings by the architect. Photographs by André Pihl, Gert Wingårdh, Åke E:son Lindman, and others. Afterword by Mårten Castenfors. Production by Henrik Nygren Design. The book has eight different dust covers—one for each project.

Price: 595 SEK. Birkhäuser Verlag (Switzerland) will publish an English edition in September.

For more information on the book, to find a retailer, or for other questions, call Klara Grape at 010 - 788 11 19 or email klara.grape@wingardhs.se.