Art tour of the Faculty of Engineering?

Now all the students are back and the campus is fizzing with life. It feels great to get going again!

Over the summer, there was a debate in Sydsvenskan about the fact that John E Franzén’s magnificent work “Cadillac Eldorado”, which has graced the lobby of the V Building since the 1960s, is being moved to Moderna Museet. The move was justified by the fact that the painting, removed for storage during renovation work on the V Building, was valued at SEK 17 million, bringing this art treasure to the attention of many who might otherwise have remained unaware of it. For many years, there was no protection at all around the work and later on, a small metal railing was set up merely to guard the painting physically, but nothing more! It turned out that the painting had coffee stains on it, among other things, and that the environment had not been very good for it. From LTH, we naturally wanted to have the “Cadillac” back. We could have solved the security and climate issues, but once the Public Art Agency Sweden and Moderna Museet had declared the painting to be among the most important works of the postwar period, it felt difficult to insist on its return. I believe we have come to a satisfactory solution whereby we have a full-scale replica in the lobby, signed by the artist. It may not be the original, but it does enhance the space! Perhaps it’s time for a visit to Campus LTH and the V Building? 

Once you are there, you may as well take a little art tour around the LTH campus. Start with the aptly named “Fontänen” fountain, by architect Klas Anshelm and sculptor Arne Jones, which I have only seen working once in all my years at LTH! No masterpiece of engineering, but it has a certain style. Nearby, you can also view Anshelm’s steel sculpture in front of the Centre for Mathematical Sciences. The space in front of the LTH students’ union building is graced with three magnificent stone sculptures by Danish artist Jørgen Haugen Sørensen. In the E Building, you can study and ponder Olle Bonniér’s strange creation “Healing the Earth”, of which the distinguishing feature is the boomerang which many have taken to be an antenna, considering the activities in the building. The latest additions are the bronze sculptures at the A Building, “Into the Wild” by Malmö artist Carl Boutard.

Then we must not forget our students’ exhibitions; both the architecture and industrial design students have exhibitions in the autumn and in the spring, and in the meantime our campus is full of temporary installations.

Find out more about the art in LTH news no 2 from 2005. But why not take a stroll through LTH, it is a beautiful campus dotted with rich artistic treasures. 

Viktor Öwall
Dean LTH

PS Another hidden artistic treasure, one of my favourites in Lund, is Alexander Calder’s sculpture “L’un des notres” at Fäladskolan. 

PPS I will not intervene in the discussions on whether the Malmö Art Academy is to move to Kemicentrum in Lund. But IF this were to happen, there are many on our campus, not just the architects in the A Building and the industrial designers in IKDC, who would look forward to new and enriching encounters!