Edward Sövik

Edward Anders Sövik, also Sovik, (June 9, 1918 – May 4, 2014) was an American architect and author. His most influential book, Architecture for Worship, covered the modern period in church architecture.

Early life

Sövik was born in 1918 in Henan province, China, a child of missionaries. After 17 years in China, Edward moved to the United States with his older sister and twin brother to attend college at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Flaten had designed the Art Barn on campus. Sövik graduated in 1939. Edward moved to New York City to study painting at the Art Students League, then returned to Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1940 to study theology at Luther Seminary with the hope to serve God through art.

In the summer of 1941, sensing the inevitability of war, Ed Sövik enlisted in the Marine Corps. He served during the Second World War as a night fighter pilot in the Pacific theater, and was awarded a Purple Heart and a Distinguished Flying Cross. As a professor, Sövik published many monographs and articles. He cites six scholars Saint Leo Catholic Church (1968–69) in Pipestone, Minnesota, and Central United Methodist Church (1971–72; now, Trinity United Methodist Church) in Charles City, Iowa, further showcased this approach with exterior facades resembling other public buildings and constructed of concrete, brick, steel, and glass and without a single, fixed focal point. The floorplan featured a large gathering area adjacent to the primary entrance to the "centrum." In 1981 he was the first recipient of the Edward S. Frey Award from the AIA Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture. Modern Liturgy magazine named him the "most influential liturgical architect of the past twenty years".

Projects (partial list)

Northfield United Methodist Church, Northfield, Minnesota (1964) Urness Recital Hall, Christiansen Hall of Music, St. Olaf College (1974) First Presbyterian Church, Lawrence, Kansas (1968)