Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [20]
Gotland is your best bet in Sweden for ecclesiastical Gothic architecture, with around 100 medieval churches gracing the island.
During and after the Reformation, monasteries and churches were plundered by the crown in favour of lavish royal palaces and castles like Gustav Vasa’s Kalmar Slott and Gripsholm Slott, which boasts one of Sweden’s finest Renaissance interiors.
Magnificently ornate baroque architecture arrived in Sweden (mainly from Italy) during the 1640s while Queen Kristina held the throne. Kalmar Cathedral, designed in 1660, the adjacent Kalmar Rådhus and Drottningholm Slott (1662), just outside Stockholm, were all designed by the court architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. Tessin the Younger designed the vast ‘new’ Royal Palace in Stockholm after the original palace was gutted by fire in 1697.
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For the low-down on Sweden’s street art scene, check out the brilliant book Playground Sweden, published by Dokument and featuring the work and thoughts of Sweden’s top street artists. Good online blogs include www.streetartstockholm.se and www.gatukonst.se (both in Swedish).
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The late 19th century and early 20th century saw a rise in national romanticism, a particularly Swedish style mainly using wood and brick that produced such wonders as the Stockholm Rådhus (1916) and Stadshus (City Hall; completed in 1923). Another popular style in early-20th-century Sweden was neo-classicism, best exemplified by Stockholm’s curvaceous Stadsbiblioteket (City Library; 1924). The building’s creator, Erik Gunnar Asplund (1885–1940), remains Sweden’s most internationally acclaimed architect.
From the 1930s to the ’80s, functionalism and the so-called international style stole the limelight, with their emphasis on steel, concrete and glass. One of the latter’s most controversial legacies is the Hötorgscity complex (built 1952–56) in central Stockholm, its five cookie-cutter office blocks blemishing the city skyline.
The subsequent postmodern wave witnessed the mash-up of styles and historical influences, and the rise of contemporary starchitect Gert Wingårdh. Describing his style as ‘high organic’, the Göteborg local’s most prolific projects to date include the visionary, ecofriendly Bo01 housing project at Malmö’s Western Harbour redevelopment, Universeum (2001) in Göteborg, and the award-winning House of Sweden (2006) in Washington DC.
Design & Fashion
From Jonas Bohlin ‘Tutu lamps’ to Tom Hedquist Mellanmjölk milk cartons, Sweden is a living gallery of inspired design. While simplicity still defines the Nordic aesthetic, new designers are challenging Scandi functionalism with bold, witty work. A claw-legged ‘Bird Table’ by Broberg Ridderstråle and a table made entirely of ping pong balls by Don’t Feed the Swedes are two of a plethora of playful creations from design collectives like Folkform, DessertDesign, and Defyra. One of the hottest is Front, an all-female quartet famed for animated creations including a bin that bloats when full.
The source of much of this ingenuity is Sweden’s leading design schools, namely Stockholm’s Konstfack, University College of Arts, Craft and Design, and Göteborg’s School for Design and Crafts (HDK).
Held in February, Stockholm Design Week is one of the world’s prolific annual design events.
Aesthetic prowess also fuels Sweden’s thriving fashion scene. Since the late 1990s local fashion designers have roused global admiration: Madonna dons Patrik Söderstam trousers and Acne Jeans sell like hot cakes at LA’s hip Fred Segal. In fact, Sweden now exports more fashion than pop. Amid industry stalwarts like uberchic Filippa K and skater-cool WESC, rising labels include deconstructionist Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, ecohip Camilla Norrback and the feminine House of Dagmar, the latter created by three sisters inspired by their needle-savvy grandmother.
Painting, Sculpture & Street Art
Sweden’s 19th-century artistic highlights