Can Lis is a house the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

architect

Jørn Utzon Jørn Oberg Utzon, , Hon. FAIA (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. He was most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia, completed in 1973. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzo ...

built for his wife Lis and himself near Portopetro on the Spanish island of

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

. Completed in 1971, it consists of four separate blocks linked together by walls and courtyards."Can Lis"
, ''Dansk Arkitectur Center''. Retrieved 24 September 2011.

History

Utzon visited Majorca in 1966 when returning from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

after disagreements with the authorities about how to complete his iconic

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

. He was enchanted by the island and decided to build a summer residence there. The basic concept of the villa is similar to the design for the house Utzon had intended to build in Sydney: a number of pavilions arranged to serve the different functions of the building."Can Lis and Can Feliz in Mallorca"
''Stories of Houses''. Retrieved 24 September 2011

Architecture

Located on the top of a cliff on the island's south coast, the house is built in the area's yellowish-pink sandstone, known locally as marés stone, making it blend into the landscape. The concrete roof is capped with of yellow tiles while the gables are crafted in the Chinese style, like those of the

Fredensborg Houses The Fredensborg Houses ( da, Fredensborghusene) form a housing complex in natural surroundings on the outskirts of the small town of Fredensborg in the north of Zealand, Denmark. The houses were designed by Jørn Utzon for Danes who have worked for ...

. The four separate blocks are linked together with walls and courtyards. From west to east, the first block houses the kitchen, dining room and study, the second the living room, the third the bedrooms and the fourth contains a guest suite. All face the sea with slightly different orientations following the line of the cliffs. Utzon prepared preliminary sketches and drawings but these were underwent changes as the building grew. The result is a house that makes optimum use of light and views. Utzon's approach is reminiscent of the experience he had gained in Finland where he saw how

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

had built the

Villa Mairea Villa Mairea is a villa, guest-house, and rural retreat designed and built by the Finnish modernist architect Alvar Aalto for Harry and Maire Gullichsen in Noormarkku, Finland. The building was constructed in 1938–1939. The Gullichsens were ...

, altering the design along the way. The light in Majorca is sharp and bright. Can Lis has a number of areas where loggias and projecting roofs provide the necessary shade. The window frames, mounted on the exterior surface of the walls, stimulate the effect of light inside the house. Most of the furniture is also made of stone, sculpted into shelving, tables, chairs and benches. In his extensive monograph on Utzon, Richard Weston considers Can Lis to be "one of the finest houses built in the twentieth century." He further comments: "Uniting mental and physical order, geometry and building, Utzon has made a house unmistakenly modern in technique and sensibility yet seemingly as natural and ordinary as the sun, stone and sea whose intercourse it celebrates."Richard Weston, ''Utzon: Inspiration, Vision, Architecture'', Hellerup, Denmark, Edition Bløndal, 2001, Page 388.

Later developments

The Utzons kept Can Lis as their Majorca residence for almost 20 years, living there for extensive periods as they grew older. They finally decided to build a second house on the island,

Can Feliz Can Feliz is a summer residence the Danish architect Jørn Utzon built for himself near Portopetro on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Completed in 1994 and located a few kilometres inland on a mountain side near S'Horta, it is the second house Utz ...

, at a more remote location, as they were increasingly bothered by the continual pounding of the waves, the glare of the sun, and intrusions by tourists and architecture enthusiasts who wandered through the site."Jørn Utzon, 2003 laureate, Biography"
''PritzkerPrize.com''. Retrieved 24 September 2011. Can Lis was used for many years by their children. Recently, in collaboration with the Utzon Foundation, the Danish Architectural Foundation has now made the house available to architects wishing to stay there for periods of at least one month."Recidency-ophold i Can Lis: Arkitekter fra hele verden kan nu få glæde af Jørn Utzons hus, Can Lis, på Mallorca som inspirationssted"
, with video by Kim Utzon in English. ''Kunst.dk''. Retrieved 26 September 2011.

References

Literature

* Martin Keiding and Kim Dirckinck-Holmfeld (ed.), ''Utzon's own houses'', Utzon Library, Copenhagen, Danish Architectural Press, 2004, 106 pages.

External links

Kim Utzon presents Can Lis with photos and video

Can Lis Official Website
{{coord, 39, 21, 10, N, 03, 12, 25, E, type:landmark, display=title Jørn Utzon buildings Buildings and structures completed in 1971 Modernist architecture in Spain Houses in Spain Buildings and structures in Mallorca