Bergman felt that Tarkovsky was the greatest film director until now... but we feel he was far from being less, and while hierarchies in art are very questionable, like everything that is measurable, we do feel that Bergman was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, until now.

He was/is considered by many a "dark artist..." But those who think/feel so neglect his beautiful humour, not to speak about the great cosmos of hope he generously gave birth to through his great work.

Yes, he was a "dinosaur," as he himself said, in the sense that he still believed in those three ambitious and at the same time very humble letters with which Bach signed his compositions: S.D.G., Soli Deo Gloria, To God alone the glory!

What artist, today, would do something like this? But Bergman did, he signed some of his screenplays with these very initials: S.D.G.!

Yet, he was far from being a bigot. He desired faith, perhaps, amid many doubts and anxieties.

And then, although some might describe him as an atheist, he ardently desired the cathedral, building the cathedral on the great plain... but that cathedral is not being built any longer, anywhere... the greatness of the anonymous builders of the Chartres Cathedral is not ours any longer, unfortunately.

We invite you to imagine A HOUSE FOR INGMAR BERGMAN, on the occasion of his centennial. He was born 100 years ago, on July 14th, 1918.

  • How would A HOUSE FOR INGMAR BERGMAN look like?
  • Would it be a nostalgic house, if we consider his great film WILD STRAWBERRIES?
  • Would it be a dual, divided house, if we consider PERSONA?
  • Would it be a house torn apart between reason and flesh, if we consider THE SILENCE?
  • Would it be the house of doubts, if we consider WINTER LIGHT?
  • Would it be the HOUSE OF DEATH AND IRREMEDIABLE LOSS if we consider THE SEVENTH SEAL?
  • Would it be the HOUSE OF SCHIZOPHRENIA, INCEST AND REDEEMING LOVE if we consider THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY?
  • Would it be the HOUSE OF BROKEN MARRIAGES, if we consider several other films by him?
  • Would it be THE HOUSE OF RAPE AND ATROCIOUS CRUELTY if we consider THE VIRGIN SPRING?

A HOUSE FOR INGMAR BERGMAN would tell the story of one of the most complete and complex artistic oeuvres of modernity.

FILM, yes, FILM, this beautiful "seventh art" that challenged architecture and challenges architecture the way, for example, the book challenged the cathedral, after Gutenberg, as Victor Hugo knew and wrote.

But what doesn't kill us, it makes us stronger, it is said.

So it is very possible film could make architecture stronger, it could actually regenerate it, and some of the most interesting architects of the past 30 years or so thought so too.

Please send us your work by July 14th, this year, when there will be exactly 100 years since his birth. Please register before the deadline in order to receive a registration number with which to anonymously identify your work. Your work should be sent digitally to: [email protected]. We prefer format A0. If you have any questions, please contact us.