#imagining malmo

For the past few weeks I have been working on a book project, or at least an appetizer for a book. At the moment I have a finished product, containing a shallow content of what could come, but also this product should be enough to understand my thought and goals. If I am going to continue working on this book is at the moment quite uncertain.

The book is an examination of the summer course that I have been taking this summer and as time sets it's limits, I had to make ends meet. I however, feel like I could elaborate this book so much more, going into details in my analysis and also make a proper proposal of Change as a finishing conclusion of the book.

I have added a link to the online e-book that I created, feel free to read it!

“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.”

In Landskrona this building is located, The Townhouse, designed by the architects Jonas Elding and Johan Oscarsson. The building has received both praise and criticism, and it certainly raises many emotions, which I think is fun!

I always advocate for the importance of architects to be interested in the urban environment around the building and show consideration for the existing environments. Concerning this house, according to many critics this was not taken into account. It's just a white box that they slammed into the cultural-historical buildings at Gamla Kyrkogatan. But in this case, I feel that they are wrong. I don't think it fits worse than any other brick buildings (pale copies) on the other side of the street. Here, I actually feel that the white box adds something and makes the street more alive.

Respect for the former settlements is extremely important but what "building tradition" implies can be discussed. The new buildings in a busy city center do not need to be subordinate to the existing when it comes to aesthetics and expression.

The art of success to get new buildings to interact with the old in a harmonious way, is a major challenge and also places high demands on the architects and their expertise. To allow those to a certain extent contrasting each other is a common way to relate to. I think Stadsbiblioteket in Malmö is a fine example of how to combine new and old buildings and which also blends in with the surroundings.

Ok, so The Death and Life of American Cities by Jane Jacobs, is a very fascinating and thrilling book. She makes it clear right away that there is a problem with the cities, with the development of residential areas, parks, zoning laws and other aspects of the city. This is because the designers created them to be so, not because they are such in their nature. She criticizes the way urban planners and also politicians are not listening to their hearts. The people who have some sort of power position in society today choose to believe the things they hear instead and follow the trends that prevail.

Jacobs makes me through this book; sharpen my gaze on the city, to once again emphasize the importance of seeing the life in the city and the particularity of city life. She gives me explanations on how the lack of life has arisen and how it really develops. She contributes with the help to articulate the demands of a working city.

Now, after reading the entire book, I would like to comment on Chapter 9 - "The Need For Small Blocks". In this chapter Jacobs discusses how valuable tightly spaced streets and short blocks are, which made me very interested. She argues that the blocks and streets create the conditions for a vibrant and urban diversity. Longer blocks isolate pedestrians and restrict their freedom of movement, leaving many streets in a silent fate. The more fine mesh the street network is, the more the flow of residents and visitors spread in the city, and that it becomes more even.

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

Yesterday we took another trip, a trip to Louisiana museum of modern art in Denmark. The museum building is divided into different wings. The building was built in the late 50's in a modern style.

I love Art and I love Architecture, but I have to say that when I first saw the museums building, I thought; this Architecture is a piece of Art!

The details have been carefully shaped and designed; even the details of the fire alarm button have been thoroughly designed and look amazing! It's not just a piece of functional plastic button, it's a little piece in brass connected to all of the other details in brass, making a coherent expression throughout the building.