John Pawson Lecture

On August 21, 2010, British Architect John Pawson will deliver a lecture as part of the artist-in- residence program of the Cape Cod Modern House Trust. The lecture is the first in a weekend of architectural events including a modern house tour and a film night (for more details visit: www.ccmht.org ) organized by the Trust, whose aim is to promote the documentation and preservation of significant examples of Modernist architecture on the Outer Cape. Pawson’s approach reflects, the importance of his clarity of thinking and his regard for simple, restrained materials. Though his work is often casually equated with the school of art that is known as minimalism, his objectives are architectural ones. From the outset of his career he has dealt with the fundamental problems of space, proportion, light and materials, rather than on developing a set of stylistic mannerisms. His first notable influence was Shiro Kuramata, whom he met in Japan. After spending many months in Kuramata’s studio, Pawson returned to England to study architecture at the Architectural Association. He set up his own practice in 1981. Early commissions included homes for the writer Bruce Chatwin, opera director Pierre Audi, contemporary art dealer Hester van Royen and collector Doris Lockhart Saatchi, together with art galleries in London, Dublin and New York. Subsequent projects have spanned a wide range of scales and building types, from Calvin Klein's flagship store in Manhattan and airport lounges for Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong to the new Cistercian monastery of Our Lady of Novy Dvur in Bohemia. His most recently completed projects include the Sackler Crossing at Kew's Royal Botanic Gardens, interiors of two yachts, the set for a new ballet commissioned by the Royal Ballet and sacred commissions in Bohemia, Burgundy and Bavaria as well as residential projects in Sweden, Japan, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium and the US. In June of this year Pawson was named as the architect who will oversee the transformation of the former Commonwealth Institute into a new home for the Design Museum, London. Pawon is the subject of many architectural journals and books. Phaidon Press is publishing a new title, ‘John Pawson Plain Space’ to coincide with the opening of a major exhibition at the Design Museum in September 2010. The illustrated lecture and book signing is on August 21st. 8pm, Wellfleet Public Library, Tickets $10. available from [email protected] See John Pawson's work at www.johnpawson.com For further press information, please contact Linda Brown on 508 214 0285.