Birth: 2008/01
Location: Kastellholmen
Type: 80% Goodlife 20% Goodwill
During the autumn and winter the Swedish people gets too little daylight.
The normal light that they get at their workplaces or at home is considerably different from natural light and can by no means make a substitute.
The sleeping hormone production, Melatonin, gets out of balance when a person lacks daylight and this causes weariness and lack of interest in things.
At night time, it’s common with sleeping problems.
3-4% of the Swedish population suffers from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which is a severe reaction to the lack of daylight and causes depressions and concentration difficulties among other things.
The approximately 60000 people that get affected by SAD each autumn and winter in the Stockholm region should of course get some treatment for this unnecessary suffering.
Therefore we decided to give light to Kastellholmen, a small quite unnoticed island in a very central location, where people can go and charge their batteries to resist the cruel play of nature.
The light emits UV-rays like the sun and you can even get a nice tan after a while.
The cost that Stockholm would save with happier people is enormous.
The strong lights at Kastellholmen will also make the trees there keep their leaves for some weeks more compared to the surrounding, creating an interesting shift in colours.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Public Islands - a goodlife invention for some archipelago feeling in the inner-city -
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Near the inner city shores
Type: 100% Goodlife
Stockholm “The Venice of the north” with such clear water that you can just take your glass and refill it directly from the sea. A capital where you actually can take a swim right in the city centre, still no one does it simply because their is no place to get in or out from the water, no place to sit in the sunshine in just your underwear taking a beer. There is some beaches but there is just not enough. The people of Stockholm goes to their summerhouses instead, meaning that theyre going from one island to another island 50 miles away to get archipelago qualities. Which leads to that the city gets empty in the summer and that only rich people who can afford a summer house can experience that island life. Now that is not something for socialistic Sweden to be proud about.
As always we have a solution to that problem aswell.
Let us present the public islands; small floating island that you just get on board and then let them float out in the ocean for a little archipelago quality time. The island is constructed as a flower, leaning towards it centre. Meaning that you will always has a nice slope for sunbathing.
The centre of the island is under water and changes its water thru holes in the construction. Since the water mass in the centre of the floating island is quite small it will be easily warmed up. The centre also serves as a safe place for small children so take a bath. The island is attached to the bottom by an anchor and to land by a chain, so its just to drag your island to shore when done for the day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boatbridges- connections, leisure, harbours and more for the inner city-
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Stockholm archipelago
Type: 60% Structure 40% Goodlife
Even though the city of Stockholm is spread out on different island there are very few pedestrian bridges connecting your city stroll. As an example all the important museums in Stockholm are located quite close to each other but on different islands, meaning that a museum tour will take a whole day instead of some hours. The problem with longer pedestrian bridges is that they will be quite high and expensive or cheap and floating, but then they will stop the boat traffic. Apart from stopping boats, a low bridge has many advantages; it is cheap since it can be constructed as a floating construction, it is more pleasant to walk on since you get much closer to the water and it can host many good life services such as being a harbour for small boats or contain swimming facilities. In Stockholm’s case there is also a great lack of close connection to the water, since you’re always two or three meters above sea level while walking along the shoreline.
Low pedestrian bridges would give that connection and would at the same time be a pleasant time saver connecting the really beautiful parts of Stockholm.
The system of bridges will be an important addition to the pedestrian connections in the city with its linkage of the area between Strandvägen, Stadsgårdskajen, Gamla Stan and Djurgården.
The area of Stadsgårdskajen is one of the last parts to be developed in Stockholm and will hopefully be a great injection to the city life. New cultural buildings like the Abba museum are already in the pipeline, so the need for better connections with the surrounding city will increase in the future. The system will also serve as a harbour for hundreds of boats. Today you have to cue for several years to get a mooring so there will be no problem filling these new harbours.
The bridges will also contain saunas, trampolines and ocean pools, things that the people of Stockholm have been missing for such a long time. To not disturb the boat traffic we have constructed an opening system where the boats open the bridge simply by crashing into it.
A movable part of the bridge revolves around its axis like a swing door, meaning that it can be opened from both sides and at the same time swing back into its original position.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reefs - plots on reefs in the Stockholm archipelago - Birth: 2008/01
Location: Stockholm archipelago
Type: 70% Structure 30% Goodlife
Stockholm has an archipelago with around 15 000 islands, still it’s crowded with summer houses. To find a site in this lovely archipelago is getting more and more difficult and expensive. The archipelago is also hard to navigate in due to all its reefs.
We propose to start selling the reefs as sites for new buildings.
It would give more then 15 000 new sites (probably a lot more) and also making the reefs visible for an easier navigation. The prices on summer houses would go down and at least 15 000 more households would get a magnificent view with water on each side of their house.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Walkways - intensification of the city center -
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Important streets
Type: 90% Structure 10% Goodlife
Being a city on a lot of islands doesn’t always have to be an advantage.
One of the negative aspects is the lack of an uninterrupted dense city core, which in comparison with other European cities in the same population range, makes Stockholm feel spread out and less intense, thus affecting the urban life in a negative way.
One of the remedies for a more intense city core is the layout of a structure of moving walkways that speeds up the pedestrian life and makes the various inner city islands come closer to each other.
A backbone of walkways is set out on a north-south axis through Södermalm via Gamla Stan and Norrmalm, this spine is intervened with strategic perpendicular ones that contributes to the east-west connections; Vasastan, Kungsholmen and Djurgården.
The speeds of these walkways is correspondent to the setting and context of that city district.
For example at Sveavägen, the speed is high because the street is quite boring but you can access a lot of places of interests along this route.
Strandvägen on the other hand is set to a calmer pace, so one can enjoy the views, and in a comfortable way do a Sunday museum hopping without feeling stressed.
More connections makes more people eager to change their habitual city visits, and include a bigger mental map of what they consider their city centre to be.
The advantages with moving walkways in comparison with buses for example, is that there is no waiting time, you can hop on and off wherever you want along the route, you get fresh air while doing it, and you doesn’t have to spend your time in cramped buses with noisy passengers, and it doesn’t cost you anything either.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Streets - revealing and creating new streets inside big blocks-
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Vasastan
Type: 95% Structure 5% Goodlife
Studying the maps of Stockholm one can see that there are hidden streets all over town that easily could be turned into public ones.The biggest amount of hidden streets are in the area of Vasastan, maybe the most boring part of Stockholm, perhaps due to its big size blocks.It is a part of town that could need a vitamin injection with some new streets.
The new streets would be small pedestrian streets; perfect for small cafés, bars and restaurants and other typical activities for Vasastan. The making of the new streets is rather easy from a technical point of view, just make some holes in the old facades where there is a street hidden, and a new street is born.This streets will probably not be public in that sense that it will be owned by the one once owning the land that the street is crossing, usually a house corporation that could gain a lot of money by renting out commercial space.These streets would also be easy to close at night if the corporation owning it would have difficulties to sleep, but more streets to explore at daytime would mean a more fun Vasastan, and perhaps the new semi-private streets would be so successful that most of them would be open at night as well.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Amphibians - a unique transportation for a more effective movement -
Birth: 2008/01
Location: All over Stockholm
Type: 100% Structure
The Baltic Sea and the lake Mälaren are the two seas that make Stockholm one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Still it is a barrier when it comes to public transportation. The situation has created a finger like structured net of transportation meaning that all passengers are squeezed into the city centre even if they just want to pass it. Parts of the town that are close to each other seem very distant, and islands that is nearby seems difficult to develop due to the cost of bridges. There is some boats trafficking the sea but it is manly tourist boats going further out in the archipelago. A transportation system with boats connecting to bus stations is also too time-demanding to see it implemented in everyday public transportation.
These problems could be solved faster and cheaper by just adding a new type of vehicle adapted to the specific situation of Stockholm. We are proposing a network of Amphibian buses connecting with the metro of Stockholm. The Amphibians will be the circle line of Stockholm. Not only will it connect the two sides of Stockholm, the journey will be a spectacular ride on both water and land.
New serious attempts of making this system adapted to public transportation is soon in the market. These new vehicles can take up to 50 passengers and has the same speed as an ordinary bus on land and makes 20+ knots in the water. It fills all EU regulations concerning noise and pollution, so the time is ready for this new transportation system to be a part of Stockholm.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Royal Sheep - upgrading the royal sheep for local beauty and animal protection-
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Gärdet
Type: 40% Pimp 30% Glory 30% Goodwill
The King has 120 sheep that strolls around Djurgården and Gärdet in Stockholm.
Their grazing is an important part of keeping the grassy historical landscapes in this area neat and trimmed.
The sheep are constantly harassed by unleashed dogs, although that the owners have to have leash on them according to the law.
This causes the sheep to get stressed and uneasy, and in some cases they have even been killed by loose dogs.
These royal sheep needs help.
Gärdet is a big grassy area in the north-eastern part of Stockholm, just in the outskirt of the more posh parts of the town.
The area is almost unreasonably big for its central location, and you can actually call this place dull if there isn’t an ongoing festival there of any kind.
The leader sheep gets a spire helmet to protect his suffering herd from vicious creatures, the spire is also connected to a device that discharges a light beam from the spire when it is moving.
Some of the other sheep has a similar device on their back that also produces light.
Finally something interesting is happening on Gärdet, a moving subtle lightshow that will be a perfect mood setter for romantic evening strolls, and now people will be more aware of these proud animals in the Royal service.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Magic Mushroom - finally a spectacular nightclub -
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Stureplan
Type: 50% Pimp 45% Goodlife 5% Glory
Stureplan is the nightlife Mecca of Stockholm with trendy clubs and shopping for the fashionable young people of the city.
Celebrities from all over the world are also attracted by this hot spot and famous faces are not an uncommon sight here.
It’s all about the looks and style and showing off to the latest in vogue music while sipping expensive drinks with an unconcerned expression on your face.
The nightclubs are plentiful but they are also quite similar and Stureplan doesn’t have that top notch club that many other big cities have, and none of the clubs today is open longer than 05.00 due to the disturbance laws that are regulated by the city.
Svampen, the mushroom, is the symbol of Stureplan and is a concrete sculpture that is shaped as a mushroom and functions like a rain protection and is also frequently used as a meeting point for people.
It was first built in 1937 by Holger Blom and was heavily criticized by the top dog architect Ragnar Östberg, the architect that built Stadshuset.
In 1988, the mushroom were torn down but were rebuilt the next year, ten meters away from its original position.
We replace the mushroom again, this time with an inflatable semi-transparent material that will have the same mushroom form as its earlier versions.
At five o clock the mushroom inflates itself and becomes a nightclub that will hover above the rooftops, while the guests can dance until daybreak without disturbing anyone, and at the same time having a great view of Stockholm.
Finally a spectacular nightclub that is worthy the high-class clientele, and finally the party can go on even longer!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Globen - Existing monument gets a makeover -
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Johanneshov
Type: 70% Pimp 30% Glory
Stockholm Globe arena is the national indoor arena of Sweden, and also the biggest with a capacity of an audience of 16 000 people depending on the event. It was inaugurated in 1989 and it holds the world record of being the biggest spherical form on earth. The diameter of the sphere is 110 meters and the height is 85 meters since the arena is partly sunken into the ground. The sphere is constructed by 48 steel beams and with a major concrete structure at its lower parts.
The only sad part about this building is its cladding with white sheets, it looks cheep and that is probably the true reason why they are still there. To build new architectural monuments are expensive, therefore it makes sense to upgrade the monuments that already exists.
Stockholm Globe arena being the biggest sphere on earth is therefore an obvious target for renewal. The rebirth is rather easy; just change the modest and ugly white cladding to a classy golden one!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thai-town - Ethnicification for a more exciting city -
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Norrmalm
Type: 100% Pimp
In recent years the streets around the corner of Olof Palmes gata and Olofsgatan has been commonly known as Chinatown although half of the restaurants serves Thai-food. Every metropolitan seams to need its own Chinatown but a Chinatown in Stockholm would seem ridiculous in comparison with other ones in bigger cities.
Every year thousands of Swedes goes to Thailand for vacation. We go there for the beaches, food, temples and friendly people. Why not emphasise our good relation with the Thai people by calling the city area Thai-town.
A Thai-town would be more honest and more unique. The Thai population in Sweden has also increased lately when Swedes seems to fall in love with Thai people on their vacation.
The area between Sveavägen and the north part of Drottninggatan is today an almost dead part of the city in the evenings and the Thai-town could be the spark that renews this part of town. It could also be a more dynamic extension to the nightlife at Kungsgatan.
The new addition of architecture would mostly be Thai-details on the housing blocks in the area. The most important detail will be the four gates making it clear where Thai-town begins and ends. Small Thai spires will also be put on the roofs of some houses; these details will be painted in gold.
The streetlight will be renewed so it can change colour with what is hot in Thailand, On Mondays the colour is yellow to celebrate Bhumbibol and so on. The street Olofsgatan, going in a north-south direction, will be a pedestrian street, meaning that restaurants can put out their furniture on the street and build nice Thai-verandas.
“Adolf Fredriks kyrka” the church north of Thai-town could be shared to be a Christian and a Buddhist building at the same time. Most Swedes do not go to church anyway, so why not give half of the church to Thai-town. The side of the building facing Thai-town will also get some Thai-details in gold to blend in better with this new vibrant district.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------City Library - A quick sketch for the Asplund competition -
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Sveavägen
Type: 60% Goodwill 40% Glory
When the competition for an extension of the world famous City library of Stockholm was announced, we finally thought that the city could have its first modern interesting building in decades.
Over a thousand proposals was sent in, and the competition organizers was proud to say that this was one of the biggest competitions in the world, and they said that they wanted something unique, a masterpiece.
The winner was from Germany and proposed a dull slab with some patterns on it.
Another Stockholm tragedy was born.
Maybe the jury was corrupt or had a terrible bad day when they were going to decide the winner, probably we will never know.
Well if all the other thousand proposals was worse than the winning one (which seems almost impossible) we just have to give you a quick sketch to show you something better.
First of all we picked a better site.
The new city library will be under the existing pond. It will not take any attention away from the great old library, it will not tear down the three buildings from the original design also made by Asplund, it will connect with out being seen, it will have a much better urban location next to Sveavägen. And it will be an amazing room to be in. it will not only be a library, it will also be the most classy subway station in Stockholm. The library will have a magnificent main hall with natural light coming through the pond and as you sit reading your book you can look up on people walking barefoot in the water above you.
We did not enter the competition because we did not want our project to be judged by fools. But for you, intelligent people who read this book, we give you something better to think about when sitting in the new city library of Stockholm. While sitting there maybe you should go to the architecture department and have a look in Gunnar Asplunds most famous book “Acceptera” and ask yourself if he would be pleased of this highly unsophisticated building next to his.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Homeless Heaven - Night shelters in big rooms owned by the municipality -
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Stadshuset, Kungsholmen
Type: 100% Goodwill
In Sweden the numbers of homeless people has increased dramatically in recent years. Only in Stockholm there are 2000 to 10000 people with out a home and about 450 people of these who sleep on the streets. The places called night shelters who are suppose to host homeless people can only cover a small percents of the need. The reason for the increase is manly due to political reforms where money has been saved on mental institutions and people in need. This is a disgrace for the modern monarchy of Sweden and as a capital; Stockholm should take the responsibility as a role model by giving people a decent place to sleep. Now we are sure that the politicians in Stockholm are aware of this problem, but it is one of these problems that could easily be put aside, and has been done so for many years now, since people on the bottom seldom have the strength to complain.
Meaning that there will probably always be a shortage of night shelters in Stockholm if not the politicians get constantly reminded of the situation.
There will take some time to build all the necessary rooms to fulfil the needs for homeless people in Stockholm. So meanwhile Stockholm could show some hospitality by letting homeless people use some empty rooms owned by the municipality that are available at night time.
One of the finest rooms available is a room called “Blå hallen” famous for posh events like the Nobel dinner. It is the biggest room in the Stockholm City Hall, an icon building not only for Stockholm but also for Sweden as a whole. It was designed by the most famous architect in Sweden in the beginning of this century; Ragnar Östberg, and it took over ten years to build. At midsummer in 1923 it had its grand opening exactly 400 years after Gustaf Vasa, the king of kings in Sweden, took back Stockholm from the Danes. At the time of completion, it was one of the most expensive houses ever built in Sweden.
Apart from being a party house for noble people, the city hall also serves as the chamber for the Stockholm city counsel. Now the opening hours for posh parties are from 1 pm to 1 am in the mornings, meaning that one of the most beautiful rooms in Stockholm is available during night time. So why not show some class and let people with no place to sleep get a decent night rest in a beautiful room.
To get started we have designed a grid of rooms.
The grid is hanging at roof level, and at 1 am they are descended; creating a small village of rooms for homeless people in “Blå Hallen”. At 9 am they are raised up again and the cleaning and rearrangement for the next party can start. This project would not only help people in need. By inviting the homeless people to the house of power it would also be a constant reminder for the politicians in Stockholm about the alarming amount of homeless people.
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Gärdet
Type: 40% Glory 40% Goodwill 10% Pimp 10% Goodlife
Kaknästornet is 155 metres high (170 metres if you include the antenna) and is one of the tallest buildings in Northern Europe, and it is also the main central for television and radio traffic in Sweden. A lot of programs from the most common TV channels is also broadcasted from here. Kaknästornet was built in 1967 by the architect Bengt Lindroos and was inaugurated by Olof Palme, the legendary Swedish prime minister. The tower has a restaurant and an observation deck with superb views of Stockholm and its archipelago. Around Stockholm there are a lot of artificial hills from garbage and landfill masses. Hammarbytoppen for example, is an artificial peak that reaches 88 meters and is also a skiing slope, but they have problems to keep the snow from melting due to heavy traffic and new residential areas around the hill. Högdalstoppen has three man-made peaks; The first one was built in the beginning of the 60s with 65 million cubic metres of waste and reaches 72 metres. This peak was also used as a skiing slope until the end of the 90s. In the 70s Ingmar Stenmark, the second most famous Swedish athlete after Björn Borg, had appreciated shows here. The Högdalen Slalom Team was also the biggest slalom organization in Sweden at that time. The peak number two was built in the beginning of the 70s, and is 102 metres high, and the highest peak in Stockholm. The third peak was built in the end of the 80s and will eventually reach a height of 95 metres. During the last 50 years the amount of waste produced from the homes has increased from 25 kilograms per person and year to over 300 kilograms. Yearly around 400 000 tons of waste is taken care of in Stockholm, and 50% of this waste is organic.
A hill of garbage will slowly rise around Kaknästornet and eventually it will become a splendid slope where people can ski in the winter and have picnics at summertime, all easily accessible with the elevators in Kaknästornet. When the garbage level reach to the parabolas, the tower can be raised and revealed, until the garbage level once more reach it after some decades. Caves are excavated in the junk for educational purposes so one can see the decomposition and the horrendous amount of the garbage we all produce, it will also be a nice leisure cave with a view, if you can stand the smell.
The boring Gärdet will now have a dramatic and cool hill in a stark contrast to the flat surroundings, and the garbage storage problem is solved in the Stockholm area for a considerable time period.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kungsträdgården - more glory and fun to the central district -
Birth: 2008/01
Location: Kungsträdgården
Type: 50% Glory 30% Pimp 20% Goodlife
