Hötorget buildings
Encyclopedia
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Located between the squares Hötorget
Hötorget
Hötorget is a city square in the center of Stockholm. During the daytime it is the site of a fruit and vegetable market, except on Sundays, when flea markets are arranged....
and Sergels Torg
Sergels Torg
Sergels torg is the most central public square in Stockholm, Sweden, named after 18th century sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel, whose workshop was once located north of the square.- Overview :...
in the central Norrmalm district, they stand 72 meters tall and are a clearly visible landmark.
Though apparently not skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
s in an international context, the 19 stories-tall buildings do stand out on the Stockholm skyline, and are therefore called "scrapers". Built 1952-1966, they were labelled the architectonic five "trumpet-blasts" (trumpetstötar) of the renewed city centre by the Municipal commissioner
Municipal Commissioner
Municipal Commissioner is an office and political title in the municipalities of Sweden for councillors with executive responsibilities. The Commissioners are the only full-time employed office-holders outside the municipal civil service...
(Borgarråd) Yngve Larsson
Yngve Larsson
Gustaf Richard Yngve Larsson was a Swedish Ph. D., Municipal commissioner , Member of Parliament and statesman....
. The buildings are designed by different architects (from Hötorget and south: David Helldén, Sven Markelius
Sven Markelius
Sven Gottfrid Markelius was one of the most important modernist Swedish architects. Markelius played an important role in the post-war urban planning of Stockholm, for example in the creation of the model suburb of Vällingby .Born in Stockholm in October 1889, he attended the Royal Institute of...
, Anders Tengbom, Erik Lallerstedt, and Backström and Reinius) and there is thus a slight variation in the curtain wall
Curtain wall
A curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep out the weather. As the curtain wall is non-structural it can be made of a lightweight material reducing construction costs. When glass is used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is...
façades. Curtain walls a rare in Sweden and were here directly inspired by the Lever House
Lever House
Lever House, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and located at 390 Park Avenue in New York City, is the quintessential and seminal glass-box skyscraper built in the International style according to the design principles of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Completed in 1952, it was...
by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
built in 1951-52.
Originally, intentions were to let a series of pedestrian bridges connect shops and malls on several levels below and around the buildings, but vandalism and other social problems forced the closure of all levels above ground in the 1970s. During the 1990s, much of the complex at ground-level was rebuilt to allow new indoor shops and new tenants.
The buildings first appeared in a city planning proposal by David Helldén in 1946, and in 1951 he, together with Sven Markelius
Sven Markelius
Sven Gottfrid Markelius was one of the most important modernist Swedish architects. Markelius played an important role in the post-war urban planning of Stockholm, for example in the creation of the model suburb of Vällingby .Born in Stockholm in October 1889, he attended the Royal Institute of...
, was commissioned to develop a detailed plan for the surrounding area and the buildings themselves. His first proposal was modified so that all five buildings looked virtually the same, composed of two narrow volumes, one wider facing south and a smaller facing north. More importantly, in this second proposal the system of pedestrian bridges were added. In 1953, a new city plan determined the buildings should be made even taller, 19 stories, while the surrounding building were restricted to two stories, a decision which finally gave the entire neighbourhood its present appearance.
According to Professor Thomas Hall, these buildings and the neighbourhood around them are to be regarded as…
Hall then notes there are few city centres in Europe more deeply affected by these Modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
ideas than Stockholm, the most notable exceptions being Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
and Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, both largely destroyed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He finally concludes this concept is implemented with more elegance and vigour in Stockholm, but that these urban projects seem to have inspired each other.