Shards of the past
The village of Birka is home to a legendary Viking past. On the program: fortifications and burial mounds and, of course, reconstructions of longhouses, those large rectangular houses with the silhouette of an overturned ship and a structure combining wooden frames with earth and thatch cladding. Gamla Stan, Stockholm's "Old Town", still echoes the Middle Ages, with its narrow, steep streets, staircases and small squares, and its gabled houses reminding us that the city was under the influence of the Germanic Hanseatic League. Among the landmark buildings of the Middle Ages, don't miss the Storkyrkan cathedral, with its three naves, thick brick pillars and beautiful Gothic cross-beams; the Riddarholmskyrkan church, with its austere, majestic brick silhouette; or the Kunsliga castle keep. In the 16th century, on the orders of the Vasa family, the town was placed under the protection of the Vaxholm fortress, with its elegant stonework. In the 17th century, the town enjoyed a new lease of life, expanding along a new urban layout with wide, straight streets. This revival took place under the gold and exuberance of the Baroque and under the pencil strokes of a great family of architects: the Tessins. Tessin the Elder is indissociable from the sumptuous Drottningholm castle. Designed according to the Baroque plan known as "between courtyard and garden", the palace unfurls a powerful central body 160 m long and 50 m wide between a large main courtyard and a garden organized around a central axis and populated with fountains and other landscaped amenities. Stucco, moldings, pilasters and sculptures adorn its façades. This decorative power is also found in the finest private residences, such as the Wrangel Palace, with its gallery courtyard, terraced gardens and superb sculpted portal. Tessin le Jeune, for his part, gave free rein to his talent in the Royal Palace of Stockholm, with its sumptuous circular wings, its garden inspired by Italian villas, its polychrome silhouette and its facades whose decoration celebrates power (triumphal arch, statues...). In the 18th century, after the War of the North, the city abandoned its Baroque exuberance for the sobriety of classicism, as illustrated by the galleries, theater and library of Drottningholm Castle, which took on the air of a Swedish Versailles. The city also developed new districts, such as the geometrically symmetrical residential area of Malmen.
Styles, a nation
In the second half of the 19th century, Stockholm was transformed by the combined effects of the industrial revolution and exponential urban growth. Inspired by hygienic ideals, the new urban plan called for wide tree-lined avenues and large esplanades for more air and light. At the same time, a vast construction program was launched, notably for cultural and social public buildings such as museums, schools and hospitals. The National Museum, for example, was inspired by the Venetian and Florentine Renaissance, while the Hallwyl Museum was housed in a palace that oscillated between Venetian Gothic and Spanish Renaissance. This abundant eclecticism was followed by Romanticism-Nationalism. Blending formal innovations, neo influences, Arts and Crafts inspirations and vernacular traditions, this style both surprises and displeases. The leader of this movement was Ragnar Östberg, who designed one of Stockholm's most famous buildings: theTown Hall, a free reinterpretation of medieval town halls, harmoniously blending Hanseatic and Venetian Gothic, with its crenellated gables, red brick silhouette glazed in black and white, arcades, bays and loggias and, of course, sumptuous courtyards and interior squares, such as the Hall Doré, whose walls are covered with 18 million gold tesserae. Another great example of this style is... the Olympic Stadium! This period also saw the development of new tree-lined residential neighborhoods, where beautiful architect-designed villas flourished. The Villa Lagercrantz has an astonishingly medieval silhouette... as does the red-brick Villa Bonnier, designed by Ragnar Östberg. Villa Tallom, entirely in wood and with its elegant latticework decor, is a fine synthesis of craftsmanship, wooden architecture and classicism, and a proud representative of National Romanticism. Swedish identity is celebrated in all its originality at Skansen Park, an ethnographic museum featuring hundreds of traditional dwellings. This exaltation of Swedish identity culminated in the Swedish Grace movement, of which Gunnar Asplund was the most famous exponent. The purity and rigor of this neoclassical style can be seen in the purity of the volumes of the Stockholm Library, often referred to as "Asplund's House", or in the Stockholm Concert House, designed by Ivar Tengbom, whose portico is supported by elegant, stylized Corinthian columns. And don't miss Gunnar Asplund's other great achievement: the superb Skogskyrkogärden cemetery, a perfect symbiosis of nature and architecture, with its wooded chapel and rows of graves inspired by medieval cemeteries.
Triumph of modernity
The 1930 Stockholm Exhibition marked a stylistic turning point. Swedish Grace was abandoned in favor of Functionalism. Ivar Tengbom designed two key buildings in this movement: the Société Esselte headquarters and the Citypalatset for the Sydbanken bank. Long rows of windows, a top composed of three recessed storeys forming a stepped structure and the predominance of concrete and glass characterize these representatives of modernity. In the 1950s, Anders Tengbom, his son, took this modernism even further, rejecting all ornamentation and aesthetic dimension. The post-war period was also one of great urban renewal. The historic center was largely transformed, its narrow, tangled alleys giving way to wide pedestrian avenues. At the same time, the Social Democratic Party launched a major construction program, dubbed the "Million Program", with the aim of creating one million modern, comfortable and affordable homes. Urban planner and architect Sven Markelius was to play a key role in the planning of the new housing districts. For him, it's all about developing a new kind of urban environment, combining jobs, housing and shops. This is what he calls the ABC model. The Vällingby and Skärholmen districts are two prime examples. Another of Markelius's flagship creations are the Hötorget skyscrapers in the Normalm district. These 5 72 m-high buildings bear the hallmark of international style, with their glass and aluminum panels set directly on the building's skeleton. With its powerful, austere concrete silhouette, a veritable manifesto of Brutalism, Gunnar Henriksson's School of Architecture was often dubbed the city's ugliest building... before being listed as a historic monument to be preserved! 25 years later, it was the famous architect Ricardo Bofill who stirred up much debate with his project for 400 housing units and public facilities on the island of Södermalm, whose arched main building was nicknamed "the Ark" by the locals. Today, the city is committed to sustainability and environmental protection. In 2010, it was crowned the first "Green Capital" of the European Union! Ecological villas are springing up everywhere, using natural materials and sober lines to blend in with the surrounding environment; their inspiration undoubtedly comes from the Naturhus concept imagined in the 1970s by Bengt Warne, which consists of enclosing the house in an insulating glass casket for rational energy consumption. The city has also seen an increasing number of rehabilitations and requalifications of former industrial districts into eco-neighborhoods, such as Hammarby Sjöstad, whose houses are equipped with solar panels, rainwater recovery systems and waste-to-fuel systems. Its tall glass tower, the Sthlm 01 Tower, has become the symbol of this sustainable renewal. Another superb creation is Artipelag, the gallery designed by Björn Jakobson and built by Johan Nyren, whose silhouette of rigid pine planks and grey concrete, and roof of succulents, are to be admired. In Stockholm, sustainability and respect for the environment go hand in hand with strong creative gestures! Just look at Sandell Sandberg's astonishing Kallbadhus, a 125 m-diameter circle inspired by a giant lily, with a glass façade that gives the illusion of transparency. This is the way to sublimate the Swedish bathing tradition! The great Swedish architect Gert Windgardh, famous for his style that blends functionalism, high-tech and neo-baroque with bold colors and shapes, left his mark on the city with the K:fem Department Store in Vällingby, a multi-layered lacquered box whose milky glass gradually becomes transparent to reveal a red skin. He was also responsible for the Victoria Tower, whose glass silhouette towers 117 m above the city. Other great contemporary creations include the Arsta Bridge (West Bridge), whose beautiful silhouette, with its ten piers painted Falun red (the symbol of Sweden par excellence), is the work of Norman Foster; or the beautiful 79&Park building designed by Bjarke Ingels, whose curved shape adapts to the topography and creates superb views of the surrounding nature. Always respectful of the environment!
