Swedish architect's interview

To get more global information about Stockholm's architecture, we met Charlotte Rydahl, a Swedish achitect, who accorded us an interview. She lives and works in Stockholm's suburb. 

 

Interviewer : Hello Charlotte ! Thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions.  So, tell us, how did you become an architect ? 

Charlotte :  Actually, I only started to study architecture at 30. Beforehand, I had a degree in urban planning and worked with regional planning at the provincial government.

Interviewer : In which architecture school did you study ?

Charlotte : I went here in Stockholm, to the KTH school. 

Interviewer : Oh really !? We were there this very afternoon ! We saw the new building part which is very original thanks to its shape and materials.

Charlotte : Indeed. The new building wasn't there yet when I studied architecture. The building I studied in was a concrete one. It was ok but not as nice as the new one. 

Interviewer : Yes, we heard it was very criticised, wasn't it? 

Charlotte : Indeed ! It is not popular at all ! It was built in the 60's and people thought it looked like a prison. 

Interviewer : Which building do you find  the most interesting in Stockholm ?

Charlotte : I like this one ! (showing the cultural center where we met) because it's very cosy I suppose. Architecture is for people, humans. In here, you can go around or just sit and talk... There are many activities for children, I believe it's a very nice place! 

Interviewer : Do you know when this building was erected? 

Charlotte : It was built around 1970 by Peter Celsing, one of Stockholm's major architects in the 70's. It's a place you're very comfortable in.

Interviewer : Are there any other places you like here in Stockholm ? 

Charlotte : Yes, of course ! I like many places in here. I also like the City Hall, nearby the water. Wonderful! 

Interviewer : What inspired Swedish architecture ? 

Charlotte : In the beginning, German architecture inspired Swedish's, like in Gamla Stan. 

Interviewer : When was this town's part built? 

 Charlotte : It dates back from the 13th century.

Interviewer: Did French architecture had influence on Swedish's at some point ? 

Charlotte : Around the 18th century, French architecture was the main influence on Swedish architecture because the king often went to Paris. Therefore he had contacts there and asked them to come build castles in Stockholm. These Swedish castles were smaller than the French ones though.

Interviewer : What about today ? What inspires Swedish architecture nowadays ? 

Charlotte : Nowadays, Swedish architecture is still influenced by European architecture but also by the United States, like this district we're in. But mostly Europe and particularly Netherlands. There is also traditional Swedish architecture, in Skansen for example where they use a lot of wood. Wooden houses are typical Swedish architecture from the 19th century. Nowadays, as people want more ecological buildings, wooden houses are built again. They also have some residential houses which are popular outside the city. 

Interviewer : What about Hammarby, the ecological district ? 

Charlotte : There are wooden houses there too and the main objective of this district is to develop ecologic features. But I don't know a lot about this district...

Interviewer : Speaking of the ecological district, is ecology important in Stockholm's architecture ? 

Charlotte : Yes, especially these last few years! Everyone now wants to be the best in term of ecology, no energy can be lost, every building has its "green touch" now. For example, many offices have green roofs, like a garden you know. That's very new, these last few years I'd say.

Interviewer : Which materials are the most used in Stockholm's buildings' construction ? 

Charlotte : At first, it was mostly wood. In the South, you'll mainly see bricks. In the old town, plaster, with warm colours. That's traditional from the 18 and 19th century. Until the 20th century, mostly wood was used in the structure. 

Interviewer : And nowadays with the ecological buildings, architects come back to using woods, don't they ?

Charlotte : Yes. The Wingardhs building is only made of wood for example.  But bricks are also used because they are insulating.

Interviewer : So are bricks used on the facade ? Because the Wingardhs building seems to be constructed with bricks 

Charlotte : Yeah but, actually that’s small pieces of wood assembled.

Interviewer :  Oh, ok. Is there  a lot of ecological buildings in Stockholm ?

Charlotte : Yes, a lot. Actually, there are almost only ecological buildings now in Stockholm so that you don’t waste too much energy and take care of all the water.

Interviewer : When building something, what do you take in consideration ? 

Charlotte : The way it fits in its environment. Usually before building something, we need a master plan then you decide whether it's a good project or not. I work in Sotckholm's suburb which is very spread out, there is a lot of traffic. One wants a house here, another wants a house there ; but we want to make a city, we want nice streets with trees, with houses near the road, with a park, places where children will play. Sometimes, someone comes and says I want this and this with a very precise idea, a fancy house for example. But perhaps it doesn't fit in its environment so we can't build it. That's why the environment is so important to take in consideration. 

Interviewer : Does water have an important place in Stockholm’s architecture?

Charlotte : Yeah, because as you can see, Stockholm is made of islands, and the water is really present in everyday life. So the architects always take water into consideration when they plan a building. 

Interviewer : Is the city growing ?

Charlotte : Yeah, and they take away barriers. But, in architecture, there are strategies and things you have to think about. We have to take care about not rising huge buildings in the medieval's part of the city to preserve it as it was beforehand. And, one of the main purpose nowadays is also to diminish the traffic so you would be able to walk everywhere and not use your car from your house to limit car gaz emissions.

Interviewer : So transports are important too in the architecture?

Charlotte : Yes, in the 50’s they started building the underground and now they need to extend it. They also plan to extend the other means of transportation. This way,  the places should be more accessible for a larger public.

Interviewer : Who are the main Swedish architects ?

Charlotte : One of the first main Swedish architects is from France, actually. His name was Simon de la Vallée. He built a castle just outside Stockholm, named  House of Knights. Then his son, who was also an architect, continued his work. Another architect is William Moore, in England. He wanted everything to look old-fashioned, he didn’t like industrialism. He wanted to go back to the way it was before, to previous architecture. Then Gunnar Asplund is the only pure Swedish, and the only one famous outside Sweden. If you talk to architects about him, they’ll tell you he was quite special.

Interviewer : Did he raise buildings outside Sweden ?

Charlotte : No but he was still very well-known, he started the modern period here in Stockholm. But he was still a classical. He wanted to build classical buildings like in Rome but he was influenced by modern architecture. He built the Stadsbiblioteket and many other buildings. Have you heard about the Skogskyrkogården cemetery ? It’s very beautiful, people come from all over the world to visit it. It’s a huge cemetery, about half a km. In Stockholm there was no war and no destruction, and we had a very strong social democratic period, in which the government was interested in the modernity and had new plans for the city. After World War 2, in the 60’s, politics decided that we should renovate the city. They wanted very modern things, they wanted to take away Gamla Stan. But it didn’t happen.

Something special in Stockholm is that the social democrats had the power so long and they wanted modern houses, they wanted to build things for the people. The democrats had the power for 30 years and they wanted buildings, that’s why they wanted to tear old buildings down, so that people all had nice flats. We didn’t attempt social housing like in other European countries. They wanted everyone to be able to have a place to live in. They wanted gardens between the houses, they also built small houses for families. The social democratic leader lived in one of them. In the 70’s, they started to build small suburbs where they wanted shops, where people could work, play... There should be high-rised flats. That’s very typical for Sweden I think. But nowadays we want to build more ecological stuff. They think it was too expensive, it’s much more dense now.

Interviewer : In the future, what do you think will be the most important to build something? Ecology ? Social housing maybe or modern buildings ?

Charlotte : Ecology I guess… At the moment we build a lot of dense ecological houses.

Interviewer : Which style do you prefer ?

Charlotte : It’s difficult to say, it really depends on the building, I’m open minded to every style. I’ve also got this one for you, this is a nice architecture in Stockholm, Tellus Kindergarten, very interesting! 

Interviewer :  Indeed ! It is very modern ! Well... I think that's about it ! Thank you very much for according us this interview !