RE/01
RE/01 RE-MASTER 2019–2020
Edited by Thordis Arrhenius and Mikael Bergquist
KTH Royal Institute of Technology — School of Architecture Stockholm
COLOPHON RE-Master Studio is an advanced architectural
Acknowledgements
course run at KTH Royal Institute of Technology School of Architecture in Stockholm.
Thanks to our many guests, hosts and critics who joined us during the academic year 2019–2020.
It is taught by Thordis Arrhenius and Mikael Bergquist
Anders Bergström (Ass prof. KTH) Helena Matthsson (Prof. KTH) Josef Eder (Arch. General
Publication Design
Architecture) Torun Hammar,(Arch. National
Matthew Ashton
Property Board) Elizabeth Hatz, (Ass. Prof. KTH), Marcelo Rovira Torres (Dipl. architect msa epfl),
About the type
Teresa Stoppani, ( Arch.PhD, AA-Graduate
Univers is used throughout this publication. The
School of Architecture), Niall Hobbhouse
typeface was designed by the Swiss typographer
(Drawing Matter), Sara Handleman (Drawing
Adrian Frutiger and released by Deberny &
Matter), Matthew Page (Drawing Matter), Nina
Peignot in 1957 — the same year as Helvetica.
Lundvall (Arch. Caruso St John Architects) Ioana Marinescu (Photographer, Slade School of Fine
© For all texts, drawings and images the
Art), Claes Sörstedt, (Lecturer, KTH), Axel Burvall
respective authors, unless otherwise stated.
Theran (Arch.), Cecilia Tjärnberg (Interior Arch. MA. Konstfack), Ulrika Karlsson (Prof.KTH),
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
Katarina Lundeberg (Arch. In Praise of Shadows),
may be reproduced in any manner without
James Taylor Foster (ArkDes)
permission from the authors and the publisher. Special thanks to Karin Bolin from Stockholm ISBN 978-91-519-2348-2
Public Library and Frida Melin from ArkDes.
CONTENTS
Re-Master
6
Re-2019
12
Re-2020
22
Plinth
30
Rotunda
50
Annex
70
After Thoughts
88
Archive
102
[6]
| OC
CHANGE
A central effect of global capitalism is the pressure of change. Urban patterns and building programs are increasingly becoming redundant, demanding change to accommodate new functions, identities and economies. At an accelerating speed, dominated by the logic of obsolescence, the built becomes outdated and turned into waste. This in turn raises a new urgency for contemporary architectural culture to start addressing the pressure of change in alternative modes.
PRESERVATION
With the fundamental shift in our contemporary understanding of spatial and material resources, the architect is no longer primarily occupied with making the new from scratch, but with making the new out of the past. In this condition preservation has won a new relevance for architecture that goes far beyond saving its canon of buildings. In the urgent context of climate change preservation is moving from the fringe of architectural culture into its core.
[7]
PEOPLE RE-2019–20
PROJECTS 2019
PROJECTS 2020
Teachers Thordis Arrhenius (TA) Mikael Bergquist (MB)
Kungliga Majestäts Kansli Gunnar Asplund, Ture Ryberg (1922 Unrealised)
Stockholms Stadsbibliotek
Students Emelie Ahlqvist (EA) Claudia Bitzer (CB) Magdalena Bjerkefors (MBJ) Louise Björkander (LB) Isak Boardman (IB) Oliver Cassidy (OC) Leo Crawford (LC) Ludvig Ekman Sundin (LES) Pär Falkenäng (PF) Victoria Fabian (VF) Jeanette Hoff (JH) Evelina Hüll (EH) Love Lagercrantz (LL) Felicia Liang (FL) Dan Lindau (DL) Amanda Landén (AL) Ellen Lindskog (EL) Isabel Mayoral (IM) Anna Molodij (AM) Matilde Nunes (MNU) Marte Nyberget (MN) Jofrid Sandgren (JS) Raphael Schall (RS) Silja Siikki (SS) Malin Stavander (MS) Hanna Stohne (HS) Matilda Svensk (MS) Federico Taverna (FTA) Martin Thuberg (MT) Benjamin Tolis (BT) Johan Torarp (JT) Frida Torstensson (FT) Siebrent Willems (SW)
Socialt Nämndhus Gunnar Asplund 1938–39 (unrealised)
[8]
Stockholms Nämndhus Ralph Erskine, Léonie Geisendorf 1947; 1949 (unrealised) Nöjespark på Långholmen, AOS arkitekter 1955 (unrealised) Nya Katolska Kyrkan Léonie Geisendorf 1963–70 (unrealised)
Gunnar Asplund City-plan, library, park 1922–1932 Hans Aspund Interior 1968; 1974 Heike Hanada International competition first prize Extension 2006–2007 (unrealised) Caruso St John Alteration 2015–2019 (unrealised) ARCHIVES
Riksdagshuset Léonie Geisendorf, 1971 (unrealised) Slussen Hans Asplund 1974 (unrealised) Vasamuseet Hans Asplund 1981 (unrealised) Medborgplatsen Delområde 2, HSB Bengt Lindroos. 1985 (unrealised)
ArkDes Archive Stockholm Drawing Matter Somerset Stadsmuseet Stockholm
| Re-Masters Studio in London. 2019
[9]
[10]
| Re-Masters Studio, Final Review, Autumn 2019
| Studio visits to ArkDes and the Stockholm Public Library in Stockholm and Drawing Matter in Somerset
[11]
RE-2019 Studio Re- addresses the notion of change, permeance and resilience through the means of re-storation, re-use and re-pair. The overall methodological and pedagogical strategy is to explore the already present, the already built, the already thought and imagined. Preservation A central part of architectural education up until the Bauhaus was to survey and graphically re-construct the remains of antiquity. Preservation as a field of architectural inquiry had its origins on the drawing table, where fragmented ruins were completed with ink and imagination. One central driving objective of the studio is to critically re-engage with the representational tools used in architectural preservation, such as drawing, models, digital and photographic documentation as well as the latest representational technology of scanning. Particular attention is payed to scale as an architectural and methodological tool (scale drawing, detail, plan, section, scale model, mock up, sketch model, close up, zooming, portrait, landscape, resolution, pixels, point clouds etc.) with a specific focus on exploring how digitalization has affected our understanding of the architectural monument and its preservation. Public Welfare institutions, anticipated and materialized at the unruly intersection of culture, technique and politics, are strongly related to the evasive concept of the public. The fragmented and challenged project of modernity and architecture constitutes the working material of the studio.
[12]
During 2019/20 we focused on public welfare institutions and their role in the city. We have specifically considered how welfare institutions negotiate their status as public buildings and how tectonics and ornamentation relate to the concept of ‘the public,’ in both a programmatic and monumental sense. How publicness is conveyed in terms of materials and details, in façade compositions and programs. Document Aiming to explore the documentary evidence of the architectural drawing, we started the autumn term with a visit to the ArkDes archives, studying a series of unbuilt projects for public institutions proposed in central Stockholm between 1922 and 1980 (see list of projects 2019). We pulled these overlooked and often forgotten projects from the archive and discussed their potentials and influences on what was later realized on the particular sites in Stockholm. Drawing Through a series of speculative drawings, models and visualisation, new beginnings and alternative histories were projected for these once rejected projects. We then returned these drawings and projections to their original sites, suggesting alterations and changes, returns and reconstructions of the public institutions already in place. The actual buildings on site were all framed by contemporary issues of heritage and under pressure by forces of modernisation. Most of them were already undergoing larger renovations and reconstruction schemes and the studio speculated on alternative counter proposals. The counter projects were built on either real-life scenarios—specifically paying attention to contemporary issues of security and accessibility—or alternatively set in speculative futures or utopian pasts. All projects explored questions of original and copy, influence and rejection, adaption and contrast, integrity and fragmentation.
[13]
[14]
| Student work from Studio RE-2019–2020 (clockwise from top left) CB, OC, LL, JT
| OC, LB, EA, LES, JH
[15]
[16]
| FTA, AM, FTA, JT
| SW, SW, SW
[17]
[18]
| MT, AM, SS, FTA
| DL, FL, FL, FL
[19]
[20]
| EA
| IM
[21]
RE-2020 Under the umbrella of modernity and heritage, the studio has worked with the preservation and change of the Stockholm Public Library. Over the years several proposals for the modernisation and renovation of the building have been put forth which in different ways have tried to negotiate the double role of the library—as a monument and as a public institution. Altogether, these different projects for the Stockholm public library constitute the studio’s archive, material for thought and stockpile of ideas. This in an important methodological strategy that relates to the studio’s conviction that architecture by necessity must be understood as a collective undertaking. There are always multiple authors and agents involved at all levels and at all times, in pasts and futures, on paper and in concrete, from the initial conception to the final execution and further into the different lives and deaths of a building. This finally related to the studio’s belief that preservation, as field of architectural inquiry and practise opens up for a fundamental redefinition of architecture as a discipline negotiating authorship, intentions and œuvre. Welfare The role of the Public Library as a welfare institution has changed over time, reflecting shifting political notions on public service and accessibility. In the deregulated welfare state of Sweden, the public library is one of the few public services that has not yet been privatised or opened to market forces. The idea of free open access to the written word, the book, is still taken for granted in a Swedish context. Yet with the rise of new public media the role of libraries in the cultural and social landscape of cities has changed significantly, transforming from a building for storing and loaning books into a complex site for public interaction, new learning and educational
[22]
experiences, social gatherings and just hanging around. The library is one of the few public interiors in the city that is still free to access, and it’s increasingly becoming a site which provides citizens with necessary community information, guidance and important access to public services. This changing role has broadened the user groups and programs of the library and its role as a sole storage place for books is today under re-consideration. These programmatic changes put pressure of the public library as a welfare institution, challenging many of its original objectives and spaces. Repair To rethink and challenge the notion of change and preservation of the Stockholm Public Library we have under the heading of repair returned to Claude Lévi-Strauss’ bricoleur and savage thought (La Pensée Sauvage, 1962) to both reconsider the role of the historical monument and its preservation, but specifically to challenge the notion of an architectural work authored by a singular master architect. If scientific thought in Lévi-Strauss is represented by the engineer (or in our case the architect)—one who asks questions and proposes complete design solutions to a problem—savage though is represented in Lévi-Strauss writing, by the figure of the bricoleur, gathering and applying structures wherever they can by using and re-combining materials at hand. In preservation ‘savage thought’ is productive, and architects working with preservation, like the bricoleur, must make do with what is at hand—all that built stuff around us that is now obsolete, impractical or otherwise outmoded. All that was once lauded as a design solution to a problem, engineered specifically to meet a particular program or desire, but is today redundant. The bricoleur thinks laterally, like menders rather than designers—their solutions are open ended and ongoing, rather than final and concluded, incorporating a whole range of different strategies and technologies of pasts and presents. To repair is to care and reconsider, to rethink and repurpose.
[23]
[24]
| Stockholms Stadsarkiv
MAKING AND RE-MAKING A PUBLIC LIBRARY The public library movement in Sweden started with one of the first female librarians, Valfrid Palmgren (1877–1967), who was deeply interested in the American concept of public libraries. After traveling to the United States, she returned to establish a library system that was open and accessible to the public. Gunnar Asplund also studied this system during a trip to America in the early 1920s, before proposing a design for a new library scheme in 1922. Asplund’s design of the library developed this concept into a clear organisation of rooms, which ensured access to all books available. The Stockholm Public Library was Sweden’s first library to apply the principle of open shelves, allowing visitors access to books without the need to ask library staff for assistance. Built between 1928–36 by architect Gunnar Asplund, the library is one of the foremost internationally recognized modern monuments in Sweden, receiving an increasing number of visitors every year coming to experience a modern master piece. This double role of being an international historical monument and a welfare institution serving the public of Stockholm is a challenge, both to the building in itself and the library as a modern functional public institution. Between 2020 to 2025 renovation work on the Stockholm Public Library will take place. The main goals of the project, as stated officially, are; to increase security for children, improve accessibility, exterior renovations including new drainage systems and structural assessments of the terraces, new technical installations and improved fire security. It is unclear how much the interiors will be affected by the project.
[25]
No new functions or extensions will be added. Only as late as 2019, the ambitious project by Caruso St John Architects to renew the ‘bazaar’ buildings along Sveavägen, as well as extensive work inside the main building, was abandoned due to high costs and a change of government. In 2006–07 one of the largest open international architectural competitions ever, was held to give form to a large extension of the main library building. Delphinium, by architect Heike Hanada, Laboratory of Art and Architecture, was announced as the winner. The project was also rejected due to its perceived high costs, as well as receiving strong negative critique from many renowned architectural voices, in Sweden and abroad. In 1968 Gunnar Asplund’s son Hans Asplund designed an extensive proposal for reshaping his fathers project. One of the features were escalators running from Sveavägen up to the Rotunda. In the early 1970s some of the elements of Hans Asplund proposal where executed, such as the new elevators in the former north east courtyard, as well as stairs in the rotunda, providing better access to the upper floors from the main bookshelves. The elevators where designed in a contrasting style, however the stairs in the Rotunda are often mistaken for being designed by Gunnar Asplund.
[26]
| Ingemar Gram, 1965. Stadsmuseet
[27]
TIMELINE
Early 1900’s In the early 20th century the first committee with Valfrid Palmgren initiate the first investigation of a public city library in Stockholm.
1918 A new committee, including architect Gunnar Asplund, develop the project further with sketches and drawings
1919 Gunnar Asplund, working, together with Erik Lallerstedt and Ivar Tengbom develop a new plan for the area around Observatorielunden, which was intended to be consolidated into an urban university campus.
1924–28 The construction of the main rotunda and three wings takes place during these years. Due to financial reasons the design is significantly altered, with the original drawings revealing the library in a far more classicist and decorated manner.
1932 The fourth wing is constructed in a slightly different aesthetic, leaning more towards functionalism. This wing contains further storage space and yet another reading room.
1952 The annex is established by the architect Paul Hedqvist. This later functions as the international library supporting the main building.
[28]
1968 Hans Asplund proposes an extensive remodeling of the library as an answer to the current demands of modernization. One idea he put forward was to restructure circulation, by adding entrances from Sveavägen and escalators which would take visitors to the rotunda.
1973–74 The first part of Hans Asplund’s renovation is made, including changes to circulation within the buildiing with the addition of new elevators and stairs.
1979–81 The second part of the renovation is made, focusing on technical installations as well as windows and entrances.
2006 In the 1990’s libraries faced several ideological and practical questions, such as digitalization and the need to provide more social spaces. This led to a study, culminating in an international competition with over 1000 entries, with an international jury awarding Heike Hanada’s proposal Delphinium first prize. 2011–2015 Caruso St John, Nyrens and IPOS work on a more modest proposal after critical reactions to the results of the international competition. The project suggests adding the space currently occupied by the commercial bazaars to the library.
PUBLIC STAFF
// 805 m2 // 875 m2
PUBLIC STAFF
PUBLIC STAFF
// 1500 m2 // 130 m2
PUBLIC STAFF
PUBLIC STAFF
// 1010 m2 // 740 m2
PUBLIC STAFF
PUBLIC STAFF
// 140 m2 // 75 m2
STAFF
PUBLIC STAFF
// 1630 m2 // 365 m2
PUBLIC STAFF
STAFF
// 865 m2
PUBLIC STAFF
// 140 m2 // 455 m2
Entrance Level Public: 805 m2 Staff: 875 m2
PUBLIC STAFF
// 805 m2 // 875 m2
Rotunda Level Public: 1500 m2 Staff: 130 m2
PUBLIC STAFF
// 1500 m2 // 130 m2
Mezzanine Level Public: 140 m2 PUBLIC STAFF
// 1010 m2 // 740 m2
PUBLIC STAFF
// 140 m2 // 75 m2
Staff: 75 m2
Upper Level PUBLIC STAFF
PUBLIC STAFF
// 1630 m2 // 365 m2
// 140 m2 // 455 m2
Staff: 865 m2
PUBLIC
PUBLIC
// 915 m2
| Comparison of spaces dedicated to public activities and staff. Diagram JT
[29]
PLINTH Magdalena Bjerkefors (MBJ) Evelina Hüll (EH) Matilda Svensk (MS) Frida Torstensson (FT)
[30]
| Börje Gallén, 1941. Spårvägsmuseet
When the Stockholm Public Library opened in 1928 it only consisted of the main building, lacking its fourth wing towards the west and its base towards Sveavägen due to economic restraints. The “Bazaar building” was added several years later as a plinth to the main building—a low modernist structure wrapping around the corner of Sveavägen and Odengatan. The large slender glazing and load bearing pillars in concrete receed into the building, producing a “freefacade” in Le Corbusier’s manner. The plinth originaly housed a restaurant and shops which were intended to be rented for a period of 25 years before returning to the library. The articulated entrance sequence from Sveavägen leads up the long external staircase—cutting the plinth in two—to the upper terraces, towards a slender glass wall supporting the main doors. One enters a light airy room which leads directly into a low narrow space with a stair ascending upwards. Slowly, step by step, one emerges into the lofty book-filled room of the rotunda. The entrance sequence is a very special, almost theatrical, way of entering the building. All projects dealing with the renewal of the Library must, to some extent, relate to this sequence of entering the building. Can this be challenged by opening up new routes into the main building from Sveavägen and the Bazaars? Hans Asplund proposed escalators from Sveavägen all the way into the Rotunda, while the Caruso St John project proposed a new round staircase leading from street level up to the North east corner of the entrance level of the main building. The new stair does not oppose the main axis but weakens it by introducing an alternative route into the main building. Coming from the north-west, from Odenplan, how do you enter into the building?
[31]
[32]
| MBJ, EH, MS, FT
| MBJ, EH, MS, FT
[33]
A PRESERVATION DISCUSSION RE-ACTIVATE
RE-TAKE
What if the pavilion on the terrace was reconstructed?
What if the bazaars were designed to really function as a base for the library? What would be the potential for them as one unified building?
In the early 1940’s an outdoor seating pavilion designed by Gunnar Asplund was located on the terrace. This pavilion was later removed sometime after 1947, but the reason why is not clear. It’s interesting to reflect upon how this pavilion acted as a bridge between the bazaar and the Library, which both have their own specific tectonic languages. The two are linked in a very special manner, having no internal connection, but only an outdoor one, which today is somewhat neglected. If I dare to speculate, I believe Asplund imagined the terrace pavilion as a connection between the two different buildings. The Stockholm Public Library is a historical monument, but as I see it, it’s currently lacking the public life and urban energy that Asplund originally intended. What if we re-activate the terrace? Would that small gesture lift the library and initiate a respectful use of the space? Yes, I would like to think so. My reflections around the terraces led me to see the potential, but also the urgent need for restoration, given their current poor condition. What could I do to make it alive and vibrant? My response is a controlled and populated building which would draw people in every hour of the day — an attempt to activate the existing situation by small and careful means. (EH)
[34]
There has been some uncertainty about the relation between the bazaars and the library throughout history. A reading of archived articles from the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, from the twenties, exposes a sense of a general criticism towards the appearance of the bazaars and their visual impact on the library’s architectural form. Historical photographs from various years also reveals how the colour of the facade has changed over time — a further indication of the public confusion. The facades of the library and bazaars originally differed in color, but were painted the same during the sixties and eighties. By the extension of the bazaars as a wall against Odengatan, one imagines the idea of the bazaars as the library’s base. Interestingly the traditional thought of a base — being rustic, heavy and stable, usually darker than the main building — contradicts this one being transparent and light in both color and tectonics. Keeping these contrasts in mind, one starts to wonder what was Asplund’s idea of the relationship between the two buildings: the main library and the bazaars? Looking at an illustration of Asplund’s addition for the Stockholm Exhibition in 1930, one can see that combining contrasting tectonics is recurrent in Asplund’s
work, especially during the late 20’s and early 30’s. This makes me wonder how the bazaars would have looked like if Asplund had designed the library just a few years earlier. Would they have expressed the same lightness? Today, as the bazaars face a likely renovation or reconstruction, the question arises whether the bazaars should be reconstructed as a copy of their original, or transformed into something else? Given our modern building technologies and today’s legal, social and environmental requirements, is it even possible to recreate the original? To be realistic, I think not. Rather than reconstructing the bazaars into a poor copy of its original design, I see a potential in making something new out of the past and already imagined. (MBJ)
RE-COGNIZE What if the reconstructed bazaars would both recognize the public library’s inherent programmatic qualities and become an attractive threshold between the main library and the street? I see a tendency that contemporary libraries are getting bigger—both in terms of space and program. Many contemporary libraries offer extensive services, not too different from the programs of cultural centers. Also in the case of the Stockholm Public Library this tendency was seen in the architectural competition program
RE-PAIR put forward in 2006, where a large extension was requested. Is that the way to go? I do not think so. An alternative approach to a significant expansion of Asplund’s library would be to rethink and preserve what is already there, in terms of space as well as program. An integration of the existing bazaar buildings along Sveavägen has been proposed before—by Hans Asplund in the 1960’s and Caruso St. John more recently—and could, I believe, both spatially and programatically strengthen the library. The bazaars’ location, in-between Sveavägen and the main library, opens up new relationships between the street and the library, making possible an introduction of qualities complementing the existing, such as a new connection to the street and park, additional reading spaces, improved accessibility and a separation between two parts of the library that can enable extended hours. In our contemporary cities, libraries generally, and Stockholm Public Library particularly, play increasingly important roles as one of very few public spaces supporting solitude, focus and disconnection. The bazaars were originally designed for consumption along the street—the opposite—but with a reconstruction comes the opportunity to adjust the existing, taking into account Asplund’s initial idea of a lively threshold, after the library’s specific programmatic needs. We need places, where we can disconnect and escape into imaginary worlds. (MS)
What if the bazaars provide an extension of the library that creates new public spaces yet enhances the qualities of the old? What is the program of a public library? Is it just a space for books and reading, or it is a space where democratic values and ideas are established and where meetings between different social groups takes place in an open atmosphere? Do books have an important role in the future, or should new technology have a more central role in the library of today? Contemporary ideas about the functions and spaces the public library should contain is ever changing, based on ideas of what the society is and what it should become.
The bazars in front of the library which today house commercial spaces were originally intended to eventually become a part of the library, but due to financial reasons have remained commercial. Therefore it felt natural for me to apply the extended, complementary library program into the bazaars and to develop the connection between the two, especially the vertical circulation between the library and the street. I wanted to establish a connection between the existing and extended program without breaking the logic of the circulation of people in the main library. (FT)
The historical importance of Stockholm Public Library is well established, both in the field of architecture and among book enthusiasts. The building is a monument, with every detail meticulously designed, and original details cannot be removed or changed without strong opposition. Yet the functions of the spaces inside the library have been constantly changing since the 1930’s. The entrance from the park has its original appearance—the original glass and door are kept— but the original function of an opening has been transformed into a fixed glass wall. The concept behind the original becomes a question around surfaces as a collective memory—a historicised shell to view, not inhabit.
[35]
[36]
| MBJ, EH, FT
| FT, Ingrid Johansson (IJ), 2003. Stadsmuseet, EH, MBJ, EH, (IJ), (IJ)
[37]
[38]
| MS
[39]
[40]
| EH
| EH
[41]
[42]
| C. G Rosenberg. Arkdes (above), EH
| EH
[43]
[44]
| MS
| MS
[45]
Facade to
Facade to
Detailed Facade towards Sveavägen 1:50
[46]
| MBJ
Facade towards Sveavägen 1:250
| MBJ
[47]
[48]
| FT
[49]
ROTUNDA Amanda LandĂŠn (AL) Isabel Mayoral (IM) Hanna Stohne (HS) Raphael Schall (RS)
[50]
| C.G Rosenberg. Arkdes
Asplund’s City Library is often referred to as a Gestamtkunstwerk, a total work of art—a term introduced by the German philosopher K. F. E. Trahndorff in an essay in 1827. The term has become particularly associated with the opera composer Richard Wagner and his aesthetic ideals. In architecture Gesamtkunstwerk has taken the meaning of a project where the architect has designed everything with a total vision in mind. The massing of the building, as well as the detailing, the ornamentation, colour scheme, as well as fixed and movable furniture, as well as fittings like doorhandles and electric lamps. The architect has also chosen the artworks and guided the artists involved. It is an idea that puts the architect in the position of the artistic genius. During the early decades of the 1900s the idea of the Gestamtkunstwerk held a very strong position as an ideal to strive for, and even today the view of the all knowing architect has survived for many people. The Austrian architect Adolf Loos wrote the polemical text Ornament and Crime in 1908 where he argues against the idea of the architect as an artist, inventing ornaments during the industrial age. “The architect cannot be in control of everything,” Loos writes, “reality consists of different parts, with different logical and aesthetic solutions in the industrial age. No one can claim to be in control of everything in a project.” This leads to the question of how to maintain and renew a Gestamtkunstwerk like the Stockholm Public Library today? How do you meet new programs and functions? How do you incorporate new ventilation systems? What will happen to the ceilings? Should there be a new lower ceiling hiding ventilation ducts or should the ventilation be incorporated into the floor slabs or walls of the building? How to deal with modern electric lighting? How do you treat Asplund’s furniture and how do you design new furniture for new purposes like computers?
[51]
Space Scale in architecture is closely linked to the human body and its relationship to the spaces in a project. Asplund transforms the room heights and scale of the Stockholm Library into an intricate puzzle of high and narrow spaces. The Rotunda is large and high, but not monumental. The scale of the room is more intimate than expected. The rotunda passages with low ceiling heights lead to the reading halls that are high but rectangular in shape. The room height and the placement of the windows also affects the scale. In the Rotunda the windows are high up on the rounded wall. In the reading halls the square windows also sit high on the walls. It is only possible to see out onto the ground when entering the reading halls through the large ceiling high glass-walls. This gives you the feeling of being very much inside the building and surrounded by it. PochĂŠ The term PochĂŠ (from French pocket) is often used in architecture to describe a space that is integrated into the wall of a building in connection to larger spaces, almost like fixed furniture yet still a small room. In the Library there are a lot of these in between spaces and gaps. The geometrical clarity of the building is obscured when looking closer at it. In some cases Asplund uses the gaps and hidden spaces to make accessible spaces like intimate reading rooms. In other cases the gaps are almost forgotten and point only at a potential. From the beginning the high narrow courtyards where outside spaces used mainly to get light and air into the building. Soon they where also used for installations and other purposes. Two large heating chimneys where put into one of the courtyards. In the late 1960 Hans Asplund proposed elevators in the North east court yard. These elevators where later executed in the early 1970s turning the former outside courtyard, into an interior space.
[52]
Ornament Alberti was one of the first architects to formulate an idea about ornament as an entity of its own, possible to separate from the architecture and structure of the building. During the 1800s Gottfried Semper formulated an idea about architecture having its origins in the textile. The load bearing structure belongs to the tectonic, but the visible layer of the interior die Bekleidung has its origin in the fabric with warp and weave. In the Stockholm library the idea of the skin as the visible layer of the inner walls is evident in the entrance hall, among other places. Asplund both invents and loans ornaments and colour schemes from other projects and times in a very eclectic and free manner, still making the project as a whole very much his own. A source of inspiration for the building is Thorvaldsen’s Museum in Copenhagen by the Danish architect Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll. Throughout the library Asplund applies ornamentation to edges of inbuilt furniture. The floor pattern in the rotunda is inspired from the Roman Pantheon but executed in linoleum, not stone as the original. The library project has an ambivalence—the initial proposal was designed in a neoclassical style, with much ornamentation, but owing to economic restraints during construction, much of the ornamentation and decoration was removed, giving the finished building a strict geometrical appearance. Asplund’s repainting of the reading rooms in the early 1930s veiled the Pompeian colour schemes behind a layer of white paint, while the forth wing towards west and the Bazaar building, with their clear modernistic appearances, makes the project a combination of contradictory stylistic expressions, adding a very special quality of ambiguity to the building as a whole.
[53]
[54]
| Ingrid Johansson, 2003. Stadsmuseet
| AL, IM, HS, RS
[55]
[56]
ALTERATION//MAIN FLOOR
| AL, IM, HS, RS
PRODUCIDO POR UN PRODUCTO EDUCATIVO DE AUTODESK
fรถr Kurltur
g Space ctional wall
PRODUCIDO POR UN PRODUCTO EDUCATIVO DE AUTODESK
| AL, IM, HS, RS
[57]
INTERIOR ALTERATION STRATEGIES RE-WORKING POCHÉ Reprogramming existing buildings often requires structural changes and programmatic compromises to minimize permanent alterations to the interior. Due to the necessity of redefining public areas in the library, changes to Asplund’s original concept must be made, but should these changes become visible in the existing building, which is valuable in terms of historic preservation? Will a functional change diminish the historical value of the library and its interior?
the building structure as much as possible. The static separation of new and old minimizes the risk and necessity of changing the existing building. The independence of the new building structure and the tectonic demarcation allows for a freer design and a possible return to the original at a later point in time. New, necessary functions and technology will minimise the intervention in the existing building and the risk of damage.
Today this space has been occupied without a general program. Retaking the space with specific uses provides an opportunity to decide how and when to use it. The space has been redone with Asplund’s program and ornamentation inspired by Asplund’s original patterns and style. (AL)
THE BOOK WALL (RS)
Adding new building volumes to the interior produces a programmatic expansion, allowing existing rooms and structures to be preserved in adherence to Asplund’s original designs, while newly created interiors accommodate modern user requirements. The clear architectural demarcation of the newly created interior space is not intended to create any competing or pejorative gestures towards the existing building, but rather to accentuate and appreciate it as a self-contained architectural element. The addition of internal building volumes comes at the expense of the technical installations, which are invisible to the visitor and play no role in the preservation of the building‘s historic heritage. In return, all interior elements are preserved, starting with Gunnar Asplund‘s original concept, the extension of the fourth building wing and Hans Asplund‘s alterations to the building‘s passageway. This respectful treatment of the existing building is continued in the architectural approach by preserving
[58]
RE-MAKING SPACE This project is about reclaiming the north wing of the library’s entrance that has lost both its purpose and coherence with the other parts of the library in terms of functionality and style. Asplund was known for being meticulous with details, yet this wing of the library lacks the thoroughness of the rest of the buildind and has developed into an unbalanced large room with different programs colliding with each other. In comparison to the other parts of the ground floor, the north wing has undergone many transformations over the years, with different agendas changing with the times. The entrance from Odengatan was originally intended only for staff, but over time the space was absorbed by the public programmes of the library and opened to visitors. The library is constantly changing, as it adapts to new technologies and different needs from citizens.
Stockholm’s Public City Library was considered a pioneer in Sweden when it was inaugurated in 1928 for implementing the principle of open shelves, where visitors could access books themselves—a concept that the architect observed in libraries in the United States. The programme was solved spatially by the construction of a large main space—the rotunda— whose walls housed a continuous horizontal system of open shelves. An intricate architecture which accommodated a variety of uses, spaces, environments and atmospheres. The wall is responsible for delimiting the interior space of the rotunda, changing in section as it increases in height, with residual spaces adapting in size and shape to the construction system. But one must ask who inhabits these rooms? Are they public or private spaces? Have they been a focus in recent renovations and are they preserved as Asplund originally intended? In this case it houses shelves, storage spaces and staircases, with
THE LIBRARY REVISITED the gaps and niches serving the greater open reading space–there is thus a clear spatial hierarchy. How can we design a new project relating to the existing structure, that is not considered a new detached part of the historical building? The greatest risk is taken when opening these shelves that delimit the rooms and the rotunda. The change would modify the perception of continuity that occurs in the main space. To reduce this impact, the new system of bookshelves is based on reusing the same furnishings that were originally designed to hold the books, with the intention of recovering the meaning that Asplund initially gave to these spaces. Along these lines it could be considered valid to change the main aspect of the room, given that this was endowed in the latest renovations, but was inconsistent with the historical idea. Taking advantage of what exists, the actual furniture is reused for this new room, but the treatment of all surfaces are modified. The main feature of these environments designed by Asplund is the atmosphere, which invites peacefulness, solitude and consultation. This is to be recovered, but not though imitating the original design, but by applying new lighting and layout systems. (IM)
As time has changed, Stockholm’s Public Library has changed with it. While Asplund’s original vision of the library differs in ways from what was actually built in terms of ornamentation and material due to economic reasons, the library today is even further from the original vision. Although modern needs and requirements of the library demand a reconstruction and revaluation, nothing should be carried through without first a knowledge of all the layers of history. Every fragment of what makes the library the symbol of democracy, education and culture should be taken into account. All the spaces in use in the library have a purpose to keep the machinery of a public institution in functioning order. To add a reminder of the greatness of a public library one cannot simply change the function of an already used space, but should instead look to hidden or forgotten spaces to transform. By turning one of the outdoor atriums to a hall for this knowledge no old spaces are tempered with and a new space made for appreciation of the building takes a natural place. By using familiar materials, shapes and forms, the new room eases into its surroundings and at the same time shows respect for the craftsmanship necessary at the time of construction.
the gesamtkunstwerk that is the library—furniture, door handles and other removed and forgotten parts of the interior which was so thoroughly designed. It is not a space for relics—it is a basis for the debate on how to work with a listed building and an exhibition of the history of a monument. The project doesn’t answer the question of how to work with a historical building, apart from reusing design elements to enlighten them, but the debate continues. (HS)
Displayed along the balconies are drawings from the process of creating the library, photographs of how the library has been used previously, and objects that were an important part of
[59]
[60]
| RS, RS, HS
| IM, Ingrid Johansson (IJ), 2003. Stadsmuseet, (IJ), (IJ), (IJ)
[61]
[62]
| IM
| C. G. Rosenberg. Arkdes
[63]
[64]
| HS
| HS
[65]
[66]
| RS
| RS
[67]
[68]
| AL
Part of new café
AUDIO
DESK
Audio library
| AL
[69]
ANNEX Leo Crawford (LC) Marte Nyberget (MN) Johan Torarp (JT)
[70]
| LC
The library was originally designed with the main building and the contextual prerequisites in symbiosis. To satisfy the new demands the architect must approach the project in a similar manner. After Odenplan opened its new commuter train station in 2017, the flow of visitors has been slightly redirected and more visitors are encountering the Stockholm Public Library from the west. When approaching the library from this direction, you will pass by the small square, Spelbomskans torg. Today, the square functions mainly as a parking lot and is disconnected from the architecture surrounding it. The square faces Paul Hedqvist’s, now empty annex building to the east and the library’s 1932 backsidefacade to the west. It opens up towards Odengatan, where historically there existed a marketplace and there are plans to build a new market hall. As the importance of the square has increased, it has gradually become less utilized. This contradiction is in contrast to the holistic view of the library and its surroundings. By finding potential in the existing architecture, as well as the space in-between the buildings, one can support the library without interfering with the integrity of its architecture. The three proposals work with different strategies and scale, but all have their roots in Spelbomskans torg and the former International library
[71]
[72]
| LC, MN, JT
[73]
[74]
| LC, MN, JT
[75]
[76]
| MN
| JT
[77]
[78]
| LC
| JT
[79]
[80]
| LC, MN, JT
| LC, MN, JT
[81]
[82]
| JT
| JT
[83]
+ 2.0
MUSIC ROOM
+0
+ 2.9
FOYER
DIGITAL SPACE
+ 0.5
+ 1.9
STORAGE
+ 2.9
ASSEMBLY HALL FREEZER
KITCHEN GR
[84]
| MN
[85]
STOCKHOLMS STADSBIBLIOTEK
+14.50
STOCKHOLMS STADSBIBLIOTEK
+14.50
STOCKHOLMS STADSBIBLIOTEK ARKITEKT GUNNAR ASPLUND 1928
+1
[86]
STADSBIBLIOTEKET - ANNEXET INTERNATIONELLA BIBLIOTEKET
+18.00 +17.00 +16.00 +15.00
STADSBIBLIOTEKET - ANNEXET INTERNATIONELLA BIBLIOTEKET
+18.00 +17.00 +16.00 +15.00
+26.85
+23.65
+20.45
+17.25
15.00
| LC
[87] +26.85
AFTER THOUGHTS
[88]
| C. G. Rosenberg. Arkdes
[89]
FUNCTIONAL CLASSICISM: A STYLISTIC STUDY OF THE LIBRARY’S EXTERIOR
The facade from 1924, which was shown to me both times I visited the ArkDes Collections, became a point of departure for my facade investigations, and immediately captured my interest. As the architectural historian Anders Bergström explained to me, this was the design proposal up until construction, yet owing to financial constraints, the design had to be reworked to cut costs, resulting in a building which differs significantly from this original drawing. One must then ask, did these economic limitations actually help co-create one of Swedens most iconic pieces of architecture? With this drawing as a starting point I continued to explore the stylistic tendencies which formed the Stockholm Public Library
One must then ask, did these economic limitations actually help co-create one of Swedens most iconic pieces of architecture? 1924 The archive drawing from 1924 (see fig. 1 and fig. 2) displays the facade of the library in the state in which it was intended to be
[90]
built. Asplund’s proposal is clearly influenced by the neoclassical movement, with predecessors such as Ledoux Rotonde de la Villette in Paris. This drawing displays a heavily ornamented facade with an emphasis on classical elements such as the low pitched roof and balconies supported by large decorative columns. The library, however, was later constructed in a simplified manner and what we see today differs immensely from the initial ideas. What forces might have led to these alterations? 1928 Gunnar Asplund was a student of the Klara school after his formal education in 1909. This was an alternative architecture academy where he studied under renowned architects such as Ivar Tengbom, Ragnar Östberg, Carl Westman and Carl Bergsten. The focus was centred on the revival of neoclassical ideas, which was a reaction against national realism and historicism, which dominated architectural discourse at the time. Swedish Neoclassicism was influenced by german thinking, such as the writings of Walter Curt Behrendt who wrote about the new classical architecture and how useful it was already in 1918, urging architects not to copy old motifs but to rather renew them. He highlights simplicity in volume, logical construction, generality in elements and universality in language. This opposed the contemporary Beaux Art movement, which had a great influence in France and the AngloSaxon countries which favoured a rigid study of the classicist style. In 1928 the Stockholm Public library was inaugurated, but it’s construction was not yet complete— still to be built were the bazaars, the park, the buildings along Odengatan and the fourth wing. The built
Unrealised proposal for the Stockholm Public Library. E.G. Asplund, 1924. Fig. 1 (above) Eastern elevation and Fig. 2 (below) plan.
[91]
facade differs from the drawing referred to earlier in this text. The main reason for this is said to be depend upon difficulties finding financing for the project. The major alterations to the original design were concerned with downscaling the abundance of ornamentation and details—the pitched roof and balconies were removed and the heavy ornamentation was simplified and abstracted.
The major alterations to the original design were concerned with downscaling the abundance of ornamentation and details The facade relates essentially to the drawing from 1924 regarding it’s proportions and volume. The neoclassical formation had brought about a new-found interest in measurements, proportions, lines and shadows which is implied in this piece of architecture . The facade follows a formal, repetitive pattern in terms of window placement and the wings are vertically divided by a rusticated base and horizontally amplified by an ornamented frieze. The entrances mark their presence by ornamented porticos on all three sides, not distinguishing the main entrance towards Sveavägen from the staff entrance towards Odengatan. One interesting aspect to study in detail is how Asplund deals with the proportions of windows—the window opening towards the reading room differs in size towards the interior and the exterior (see fig. 3). This is done, as I
[92]
understand it, to maintain a certain proportion in the facade while simultaneously producing a pleasant window towards the interior. This way of reasoning implies the importance of harmonic proportions and reveals the influence of classical predecessors. Gunnar Asplund works with classical elements, freely choosing, composing and interpreting them. This way of dealing with the classical language is significant for Swedish neoclassicism (also known as the Swedish Grace)—striving for universality and adjustments to modernity can be seen as an intellectualisation of the classical interpretation, compared to the earlier national realism. 1932 In 1932 the fourth wing was constructed, completing the main building. Between the inauguration and the construction of the addition, the Stockholm Exhibition of 1930 took place. In connection to the exhibition, Gunnar Asplund together with Wolter Gahn, Sven Markelius, Eskil Sundahl, Uno Åhrén, and art historian Gregor Paulsson formulated the 1931 manifesto Acceptera, which embraced functionalist ideas and marks a shift in Swedish architectural style. If Swedish Grace derives from intellectualisation, I believe one can say that functionalism derives from politicisation. The authors of Acceptera claimed that Swedish architecture had failed to keep up with social and technological change, and that we need to “accept the reality that exists —only in that way have we any prospect of mastering it, taking it in hand, and altering it to create a culture that offers an adaptable tool for life.”
Fig. 3 (above) Elevation and section of facades constructed in 1928. Fig 4 (below) Elevation and section of facades constructed in 1932.
[93]
The Stockholm Exhibition can be seen as the starting point for the domination of the functionalist style during large parts of the 20th century. I believe that the later addition to the library must have been heavily influenced by Gunnar Asplund’s shift in architectural vision. The facade of the fourth wing distinguishes itself from the earlier three. It relates somewhat to window sizes, rhythm and placement, although the strict window pattern is disrupted and the facade reflects the interior activity, as if the interior has been pushed out through the wall (see fig 4. and fig 5.). The new entrances for staff and deliveries are moderate, clearly impling they are of secondary importance. The vertical division is still present, yet both the ornamented frieze and the rustication are removed. Asplund’s detailing of window-mullions is less intricate—looking at the same detail, with the window towards the reading room, this wing doesn’t follow the same principle. In this case, the window is optimized for allowing sunlight to the interior, widened with the lower embrasure angled, and unlike the windows of the earlier reading rooms, the window openings of the interior and exterior match. Gunnar Asplund adapts the additional wing to the existing library in terms of proportion and lines, but he disconnects it from the formality and unity. The exterior is embodied as a result of the interior and the ornamentation is gone. This approach follows the ideals of the functionalist style.
[94]
Conclusion “Neoclassicism is dead”. In 1928, Uno Åhren mediates harsh criticism towards the library and the cases of pure formalism he claims to exist. In general, one can claim, that the facades of the Stockholm public library have been scraped of ornamentation and decoration and have successively been simplified. This can be explained partly by economic reasons, but in a greater sense also by a shift in stylistic tendencies between the 1910’s and the 1930’s. The intellectualisation of classicism replaced the national realistic focus on materiality. Neoclassical materiality was smooth and polished and the new material abstraction, reduction of ornamentation and tectonic importance, lay the foundation for modernism. The library relies on classical ideals but at the same time escapes them. The design process of the library demonstrates the successive disappearance of an era, but in my opinion it also demonstrates an intricate way of dealing with a classical language in an era of modernity. The juxtaposition of building elements with contradictory controlling factors create a complete whole, responsive to architectural tendencies. The library seeks inspiration from the past but accepts the future. As a response to Uno Åhrens statement I end this essay with asking myself, is accepting the future really dependent on killing the past? (JT)
Notes 1. Arkitekturens klassiska språk, Johan Mårtelius, Arkitektur 1982 no 2 2. The missing Link, Adnan Gacanin, Marcelo Rovira Torres, San Rocco 15 3. Den moderna klassicismen, Fredric Bedoire, Arkitektur 1982 no 2 4. Några uppgifter om Stadsbiblioteket, E.G. Asplund, Byggmästaren, 1928 5. Seminars, Anders Bergström 6. The missing Link, Adnan Gacanin, Marcelo Rovira Torres, San Rocco 15. 7. Acceptera, Gunnar Asplund, Wolter Gahn, Sven Markelius, Gregor Paulsson, Eskil Sundahl, Uno Åhren, 1931 8. Reflexioner i Stadsbiblioteket, Uno Åhren, Byggmästaren 1928 no 6 s 93-104
Illustration Credits Fig. 1–2: ArkDes Fig. 3–4: By the author Fig. 5: Photograph by Ingemar Gram, 1965. Stockholm Stadsmuseet
Fig. 5 Photograph of the western elevation of the Stockholm public library, clearly showing the difference between the original 1928 building and the 1932 addition.
[95]
LIKE FATHER LIKE SON
Following in the footsteps of his father Gunnar Asplund, Hans Asplund (1921–1994) also pursued a career in architecture, and similarly changed his architectural convictions later in life. His father, Erik Gunnar Asplund (1885–1940) was one of the preeminent Swedish architects of the Nordic Classicism movement, which flourished in the early decades of the twentieth century, until becoming one of the foremost advocates of modernism. Hans Asplund began as committed modernist, before questioning the architectural movement later in his career, arguing for a return to traditional architecture and ornamentation.
Stockholm Public Library is the site of intersection between the work of father and son. In 1931 Gunnar Asplund, together with Wolter Gahn, Sven Markelius, Eskil Sundahl, Uno Åhrén, and Gregor Paulsson published the manifesto acceptera, an interjection in the architectural debate of the time proclaiming functionalism as a liberation from history and tradition and by extension falseness—in architecture, city planning and philosophy. This is what Hans Asplund reacts against in his work Farväl till Funktionalismen!, published in 1980. By categorizing functionalism into several subcategories, Hans Asplund bit by bit demolishes its main ideas,
[96]
The functionalists” as simple fanatics, who make it harder for themselves by creating yet more prohibitions, rather than paths toward liberation. “Far too individualistic architects were ill fitted in the new unitary collectives and were thereby also branded as renegades. Typically enough ‘acceptera’ was written by a collective and the word is symptomatically enough an imperative, a command, a decree.1 Even though the book was dedicated to the memory of his father, Gunnar Asplund, he is not spared from the critique of the functionalist movement from which Hans Asplund builds his arguments. Maybe Hans Asplund saw it as fair play, since the entire 19th century and the beginning of the 20th were brutally criticized by the modernists, however it should be noted that Gunnar Asplund was one of the more liberal members of the movement. Stockholm Public Library is the site of intersection between the work of father and son. Originally designed by Gunnar Asplund in 1924 as a neoclassical monument with a heavily ornamented facade, the design was scaled back significantly during the construction process in response to financial constraints, resulting in the abstract geometric form devoid of excess architectural decoration that was inaugurated in 1928. Over time the requirements of the library changed, and in the 1960’s Hans Asplund was commissioned the task of developing a reconstruction proposal for his father’s building. Hans had previously worked in New York as part of the team of architects
Fig. 1 Cover of Farväl Till Funktionismen! by Hans Asplund, First Edition 1980.
[97]
responsible for designing the new headquarters of the United Nations—a group including many big names of the modern movement, such as Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer and Sven Markelius— yet now he was asked to propose additions to the neoclassical building of his father. As seen in the drawings from 1965, Hans Asplund proposes to add escalators from the street level up to the rotunda and enclose all four open atriums to create more space. Most of his radical proposal goes unrealised, however one atrium is eventually enclosed and new staff elevators are added, and most significantly, a new staircase is added in the rotunda improving public access to the bookshelves located on the upper levels. This staircase could have been designed with a modern aesthetic, in contrast to Gunnar Asplunds original neoclassical design language, yet instead it blends in with its surroundings to the extent that few visitors realise that it wasn’t there from the beginning. Had Hans Asplund already begun to question the modernist architectural movement at this point? The reconstruction is completed in 1968—still 12 years before he publishes his book. Could it be that working on the Stockholm Public Library orchestrated a radical architectural shift in the work and thinking of both Gunnar Asplund and his son Hans? For Gunnar Asplund this involved a movement away from neoclassical forms towards an embrace of the emerging modernist aesthetic, illustrated in the difference between the three first wings of the library built in 1928, and the fourth wing which was added in 1931. Hans Asplund moved in the opposite direction, questioning an architecture based
[98]
purely on technical and functional demands and returning to history for inspiration and ideas—towards a postmodern way of thinking. Even though the ornamentation of the staircase is still restrained, it is not necessary for the stairs function.
Could it be that working on the Stockholm Public Library orchestrated a radical architectural shift in the work and thinking of both Gunnar Asplund and his son Hans?
Moralism is one of the subcategories of functionalism identified by Hans Asplund in Farväl till Funktionalismen! A moralism is built on don’ts, rather than dos. The first prohibition is against imitating style, the second is against using symmetry and the third is against using ornamentation beyond functional or constructional necessities. According to Asplund The first prohibition created obvious problems when adding or extending to existing buildings, with its direct and intimate connection between old and new, which by nature should be underlined if the two shall serve the same purpose. Formerly it was said that the style of the location was more important than the one of the time and you should therefore conform an extension to the existing building regarding one or several variables of form: style, scale, colour or material.2
Fig. 2 Plans of Hans Asplund’s proposal for the Stockholm Public Library,1965.
[99]
Hans proclaims later in the book that instead of deconstructing tradition, you should realize that traditional forms are often symbols of safety and beauty.3 While Hans Asplund’s staircase addition to the rotunda blends seamlessly into the original interior, it is by no means considered an original feature. Stockholm Public Library is in need of a major renovation in order to adapt to contemporary needs and requirements, but what will this renovation entail for the different layers of the buildings history? What does it mean for a building to be restored to its former glory? Should it be striped of all additions and alterations added over time and restored to an original state when it was considered to be finished? It only took a few years for the original Pompeiian colour scheme of the internal walls to be replaced with the lighter colour scheme that we see today, yet are these colours somehow less authentic than the architects original ideas, even though they have adorned the walls for most of the buildings life? One could argue that history is not simply a frozen snapshot of time, but rather a continuous process of change and transformation, and that even a new staircase deserves its place in these layers of time.
[100]
Another question one could ask is would the staircase be at a greater risk of removal if it were designed in an unadorned rationalist manner, contrasting with its surrounding environment? If Hans Asplund had been a fanatic of a modernist—as he claimed the functionalist to be in retrospect—and the staircase was stripped of all historic features and ornamentation, leaving only a functional construction designed solely to bridge vertical distance, would it have been less a part of the interior than it is today? Hans Asplund ends his book with a manifesto for “tradinnovism,” which outlines a strategy of working against the movement that is modernism. Yet if we look back today, forty years since Färväl till Funkionalism was first published, we now see modernism as a part of our collective built history, rather than an active architectural ideology that must be opposed—it is now a tradition in itself, and as such should be taken into consideration when discussing building and preservation today. (HS)
Notes 1.Hans Asplund, Farväl till Funktionalismen! (Stockholm: Atlantis, 1980) 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. Illustration Credits Fig.1: Photograph by author Fig 2: ArkDes Fig 3. Photograph by Katrina Lee, 2015 Fig 4. Photograph by C. G. Rosenberg. ArkDes
Fig. 3 (left) The rotonda after 1968. Fig. 4 (right) The Rotonda before 1968.
[101]
ARCHIVE C. G. Rosenberg
[102]
[103]
Caruso St John
[104]
[105]
Level +9
1:500
void
Level +8
1:500
void
Level +7
1:500
Level +6
1:500
Level +5
1:500
Level +4
1:500
Level +3
1:500
Level +2
1:500
Heike Hanada 21 25
25
25
void
12
24
10 void
10
12 11
void
22 23
void
12
void
22
void
void
12 19 20
19 10
24
void
24
20
void
22
void
11
18 10 20
void
11 21
void
21 15
21
21
10
24
04
11
[106]
1
Main Entrance Hall
2
News Zone
3
Exhibition / Entrance Hall / Market Zone
4
Learning Zone
5
Young People
6
Cafe
7
Restaurant
8
Swedish Institute od Children’s Books
9
Children’s Fiction
10
Information
Level -1
1:500
Reading Hall Level +1 (04)
Facade matrix
Facade aperture
Facade with Loggia at 6th floor 1:200
E-E
Imaginary Landscape
into a contemporary language such as his
abstract alterations of a circle into frag-
forming a strongly hierarchical circulation
understanding of light, modesty and sim-
mented surge like spaces allow to define
pattern. The multiplicity arising from the
plicity. Yet by choosing a completely differ-
floating space sequences with an inter-
forms of these relationships between the
ent material - glazed volumes with prints
change of enclosed and open areas and
main areas permits an immediate variety
of white or translucent leave ornaments of
will be reflected by the semi-transparent
of access and movement within the differ-
delphinium - the poetic and monumental
ornament on the facade. Naturally the play
ent floor levels. The idea behind is to open
language of Asplund is transformed into a
with circular fragments tries to respond on
up a flexible usage of each area and to
dissolving image of light. The chosen
the circular and semi-circular spaces of
form at the same time a strong identity
ornament which is based on the transfor-
Asplund in a contemporary way and we
within the space by the glazed round
mation of a photography by Karl Blossfeldt
believe that this flow and dissolution of
partitions and walls, which reflect a soft
(Delphinium, larkspur - part of a leaf dried
space by concave and convex shapes
and tender light towards the study areas,
on a stem, 1942) repeats the flow of circu-
replies to the needs and transformations
carrels and shelves. The design tries to
lar movements, which is initial for the
of a coeval library today.
modify aspects of Asplunds architecture
entire design concept of the project. The
Aerial view (a)
D-D
Window at north-east corner with information system (p)
E
D
C
B
A
E
D
C
B
A
F
C-C
Circulation / topographical landscape Section diagram 1:500 F
B-B
Cross section sequence 1:500 A-A
* Please note: The new library has a height of 32 m, which is deliberately slightly lower than the Asplund library with 35 m.
SVENSK A BARNBOKSINSTITUTET
a
t
a
n
*
y
l
d
e
n
g
North elevation 1:500
G
View from Sveavägen (b)
Our proposal interrelates zones rather than
[107]
Ingmar Gram
[108]
[109]
Gunnar Asplund
[110]
[111]
Uno Ã…hren
[112]
[113]
Johan MĂĽrtelius
[114]
Fredrik Bedoire
[115]
Stockholm City
Kulturfรถrvaltningen Stockholms stadsbibliotek
Rapport Sida 0 (33) 2016-10-26
Fรถrnyat Stadsbibliotek i Stockholm Verksamhetsprogram 2014
Kulturfรถrvaltningen Stockholms stadsbibliotek stockholm.se
1
Spelbomskan 13, 3, del av 16 lamellbyggnaderna vid stadsbiblioteket Vasastaden, Stockholm Kulturhistorisk karakterisering Lena Lundberg (text) Ingrid Johansson (foto)
Stockholms stadsbibliotek med tillhรถrande park Vรฅrdprogram 2012
www.stockholm.se/fastighetskontoret
[116]
Stockholms stadsmuseum rapporterar | 38
www.stadsmuseum.stockholm.se
SPelbomSkaN 16 • StadSbiblioteket
byggnadshistoriska rapporter utgivna av Stockholms stadsmuseum 2000 1. argus 8, Skeppsbron 38, byggnadshistorisk inventering 2. Grönlandet Södra 13, adolf Fredriks kyrkogata 8, byggnadshistorisk inventering 3. Näckebro 3 (del av), Södra blasieholmshamnen 12, byggnadshistorisk inventering 4. kv Sjövik, Årstadalshamnen, liljeholmen, byggnadshistorisk inventering 5. Uven Större 4 och 27, hornsgatan 82b, byggnadshistorisk inventering 6. Norra djurgården 1:1, tekniska högskolan hus 8-9, "Sing-Sing", byggnadshistorisk inventering 7. Fiskartorpets friluftsanläggning, Norra djurgården, byggnadshistorisk inventering 8. bergholmstorpet, Skarpnäcks gård 1:1, byggnadshistorisk inventering 9. Godsvagnen 8, Virkesvägen 19-21, byggnadshistorisk inventering 10. Fordfabriken i Frihamnen, ladugårdsgärdet 1:48, byggnadshistorisk inventering 2001 1. Åkeshov 1:1, Åkeshovs slott: östra flygeln, byggnadshistorisk inventering 2. kista gård, kista gård 1, Skagafjord 1 och 2, byggnadshistorisk inventering 2002 1. bromma gymnasium. mossen 4. Byggnadshistorisk inventering 2:I. Stadshuset. eldkvarnen 1. Byggnadshistorisk inventering. Del I. Historik 2:II. Stadshuset. eldkvarnen 1. Byggnadshistorisk inventering. Del II. Inventering 3 hässelby slott. Byggnadshistorisk inventering 4 Sturehovs slott. Byggnadshistorisk inventering
2003 1. Vällingby centrum. Byggnadshistorisk inventering 2. Riddersvik. Byggnadshistorisk inventering 3. Södra bankohuset. Pluto 1. Arkeologisk och byggnadshistorisk förstudie av källarvåning 4. Perseus 14. Byggnadshistorisk inventering 5. Spelbomskan 16. Stadsbiblioteket. Byggnadshistorisk inventering
Spelbomskan 16 Stoc k h o l m S S ta dS b ib l io t e k
byggnadshistorisk rapport 2003:5
Fastighetskontoret Kulturförvaltningen
Tjänsteutlåtande FSK Dnr 1.6-256/2015 KUF Dnr 2.2/5002/2014 Sida 1 (18) 2015-09-28
byggnadshistorisk inventering hedvig Schönbäck (text) ingrid Johansson (foto)
Stockholms stadsmuseum kulturmiljöavdelningen
byggnadshistorisk rapport 2003:5
Bibliotek i rörelse Sida 1 (18)
Till Fastighetsnämnden 2015-10-20 Kulturnämnden 2015-10-13
Handläggare Fastighetskontoret Lena Johanson Utvecklingsavdelningen Telefon: 08-508 269 28 lena.johanson@stockholm.se Handläggare Kulturförvaltningen Anne-Marie Evers Stadsbiblioteket Telefon: 08-508 310 38 anne-marie.evers@stockholm.se
Upprustning av Stockholms stadsbibliotek, fastigheten Spelbomskan 16, ombyggnad, renovering och utveckling. Inriktningsbeslut. Fastighetskontorets förslag till beslut 1. Fastighetsnämnden godkänner utlåtandets förslag till inriktning av upprustning av Stockholms stadsbibliotek, samt föreslår kommunfullmäktige att godkänna inriktningen. 2. Fastighetsnämnden uppdrar åt fastighetskontoret att fortsätta planering fram till genomförandebeslut och godkänner fortsatta planeringsutgifter om cirka15 miljoner kronor, samt föreslår att kommunfullmäktige godkänner planeringsutgiften. 3. Beslutet anmäls till stadsbyggnadsnämnden. Kulturförvaltningens förslag till beslut 1. Kulturnämnden godkänner utlåtandets förslag till inriktning av upprustning av Stockholms stadsbibliotek, till en bedömd ökad självkostnadshyra om 29 miljoner kronor (exklusive årlig indexuppräkning), samt föreslår kommunfullmäktige att godkänna inriktningen. 2.
Kulturnämnden uppdrar åt kulturförvaltningen att fortsätta planering fram till genomförandebeslut och godkänner fortsatta planeringsutgifter om cirka 3,5 miljoner kronor, samt föreslår att kommunfullmäktige godkänner planeringsutgiften.
3.
Beslutet anmäls till stadsbyggnadsnämnden.
Fastighetskontoret Utvecklingsavdelningen Hantverkargatan 2 Box 8312 104 20 Stockholm Växel 08-508 270 00 fastighetskontoret@stockholm.se stockholm.se/fastighetskontoret
Åsa Öttenius Fastighetsdirektör Fastighetskontoret
Inga Lundén T f kulturdirektör Kulturförvaltningen
Strukturplan för Stockholms stadsbibliotek 2012-2015
STOCKHOLMS STADSBIBLIOTEK
D:\Files\insynSverige\work\59\2015-10-20\Dagordning\Ärendedokument\9 Stadsbiblioteket.docx
[117]
RE/01
RE/01
RE/01
RE—01
RE/02
INDEX
[133]
ON METHODS The role of the Stockholm Public Library has been in constant change since the first brushstroke and creates a different demand for library use today apart from Gunnar Asplunds days. The public library movement in Sweden started with one of the first female librarians Valfrid Palm-gren who was deeply interested in the uprising American concept of public libraries. After traveling to the United States, she established the system of full accessibility by the public. In Asplunds design of the library this concept led into a clear organisation of rooms to guaranty access to all the books available. With the rise of new media (audio, film, internet) the role of libraries in the cultural and social landscape of cities changed significantly, from a building for storing books into a building for public interaction, from a place to borrow books to a place with new learning environments, meeting areas and places to stay. At the beginning of the 21st century a series of new developed libraries were built. The Seattle Central Library from OMA in 2004 set a new standard
[134]
[135]
he role of the Stockholm Public Library The role of the Stockholm Public Library
as been in constant change since thehas firstbeen in constant change since the first
rushstroke and creates a different demand brushstroke and creates a different demand
or library use today apart from Gunnar for library use today apart from Gunnar splunds days. The public library movement Asplunds days. The public library movement
n Sweden started with one of the firstin Sweden started with one of the first
emale librarians Valfrid Palm-gren who female was librarians Valfrid Palm-gren who was
eeply interested in the uprising American deeply interested in the uprising American
oncept of public libraries. After traveling concept of public libraries. After traveling
The role of the Stockholm Public Library has been in constant change since the first brushstroke and creates a different demand for library use today apart from Gunnar Asplunds days. The public library movement in Sweden started with one of the first female librarians Valfrid Palm-gren who was deeply interested in the uprising American concept of public libraries. After traveling
[136]
[137]
[138]
[139]
[140]