In Praise of Shadows: "Presence"
To name an architects office “In Praise of Shadows” or IPOS already suggests not a norm. The name refers directly to the essay of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki In Praise of Shadows (1933). The text focuses on the aesthetics of traditional Japanese architecture and discuses it in reference to western culture and the modernistic movement.
The architecture office “In Praise of Shadows” very much attend to the phenomena described in the essay: the use of the building material, specific work with light, as well as what contemporary architecture can learn from local tradition and how different materials can be connected. A main theme, which always returns, is the interaction between contemporary architecture and contextual or typological roots of architecture in Sweden.
They address essential issues of basic architecture phenomena as light and shadow. Through their work they respond to an international discourse especially of the Nordic countries, and Switzerland. At the office IPOS architecture is a specific solution for explicit tasks. The results are well-defined architectural solutions, for specific sites, and catering for the needs and ideas of the clients. The collaboration between Katarina Lundeberg and Fredric Benesch started in 2003 when they were paired as teachers in a first year studio at KTH School of Architecture. They held a studio in the bachelor program for a number of years.
-- Daniel A. Walser