Can Lis

This project commenced with a visit to Can Lis, invited by colleagues from the Aarhus School of Architecture. All had practiced, and perhaps it can be said all bought a practitioners eyes to the building. Throughout the visit, we kept uncovering strange details, be it the gap in the famous semi-circular table, remnants of earlier glazing configurations, and strange level changes hidden in the corner of the living room. Working in partnership with Kim Utzon at the time - and sharing an office with him and Jan Utzon’s son, Jeppe - it was quickly organised that we could interview all three of Utzon’s children. We interviewed Kim and Jan in Copenhagen, and Lin on a later visit to Mallorca. Triangulating these interviews and revisiting the house revealed twelve strange details in all, along with other information such as the early image of the house with a pillow stuffed in the famous sidelight window. These details tell perhaps a truer story of Can Lis than that recorded in journals to date. A subsequent publication collated these discoveries alongside the interview and essays by the original group who visited the house together in 2012.