Etikettarkiv: Holmén

Architect, no link

Kvarteren Hejderidaren, Dahlins äng, Plantaget, Skonaren, Fregatten, Barken

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Episodes 274 to 278 descend from district Olivedal to district Masthugget – or is it all Olivedal? Who knows!

Episode 274: kv Hejderidaren

District: Olivedal

Photo date: 11 July 2022

Gustaf Elliot seems to have been very prolific in the development along Linnégatan. Does anyone know anything more about him? He must have been inventive to build tall houses straddling equally tall hills. Fredberg relates that the rock slopes produced were far from stable and that a rock fall at Nordhemsgatan destroyed a house below it. They should have called Bergab for professional support! The almost level Prinsgatan seems to have been a more posh street, where the houses were designed by Stenfelt instead. And of course, the western side of the block, below the steep hill, was razed in the 1960s and replaced with modern housing estates. At least the ones on this side of Vegagatan are cheerfully clad with yellow brick.

Episode 275: kv Dahlins äng, kv Plantaget

District: Olivedal

Photo date: 15 July 2022

On the zoning map from 1891 you can see all the houses and sheds that belonged to the Dahlin property, scattered at the site of this block below the north end of the Nordhem Hill. They were replaced with landshövdingehus in the late 1800s and to the east with Stenfelt’s turreted stone highrises in 1907. In 1981, the landshövdingehus had to go too – to be replaced with sections from dismantled houses in the suburbs! Yes, the city had built too many housing estates in the 1970s, before the heavy industries foundered and there were no incoming workers to fill the new units. So they had the brilliant, and very circular, idea to reuse the material when continuing to upscale the inner city.

The Viktoria House is touted as the first stone house built in Olivedal. The current zoning plan has cleared the way for the property to be divided, possibly meaning that new developments are afoot…

Episode 276: kv Skonaren

District: Olivedal (formerly Masthugget)

Photo date: 24 July 2022

Olivedal, Masthugget, Linnéstaden, Långgatorna, Stigberget… This area of the city has been and still is assigned to one or more of these official or colloquial districts. Official districts and subdistricts were completely overhauled in the 1980s, to reflect demands on social services like schools and care. The ordnance survey also saw the need for updating at that time. In this project, I try to follow the lines according to current ”primary areas”, which is why this block from district Masthugget is lumped in with the old district Olivedal. Confusing? Yes!

Episode 277: kv Fregatten

District: Olivedal (formerly Masthugget)

Photo date: 24 July 2022

The houses along Plantagegatan were designed by A Engström (No 5), J Andersson (7-9) and Ch Jacobsson (11-13). Nordhemsgatan 25 used to be a textile factory but it burned down in 1990 and was replaced by the current building in 1997. Apparently there was a bit of a scandal when the house along Värmlandsgatan was built in 1990. It seems Semrén+Månsson were responsible for it.

Episode 275: kv Barken

District: Olivedal (formerly Masthugget

Photo date: 28 July 2022

Since visiting this block almost four years ago, there have been slight developments. But first a recap: some of the other architects for the older houses in this block were August Krüger and Hjalmar Cornilsen. One narrow new house has now been completed and another one just commenced – and the police house itself is being redeveloped into a ”lifestyle hotel” for Hagabadet!

Kvarteren Malmgården, Bäckebron, Alvhem, Vega, Landeriet

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In episodes 264 to 268 we enter district Olivedal proper – a rather confusing district often mixed up with Kommendantsängen, Annedal, Masthugget and Stigberget.

Episode 264: kv Malmgården

District: Olivedal

Photo date: 26 June 2022

The castle-like entrance to Slottsskogen was in fact designed by Oscar Nilsson together with Hjalmar Zetterström, my main source says. And the preschool was built in 1955, from designs by one P Mårtensson. In the 1950s, facade decorations were a strict no-no.

Episode 265: kv Bäckebron

District: Olivedal

Photo date: 2 July 2022

On the 1891 zoning map, you can see that there actually was a bridge over the Djupedal Creek here, thus giving the block its name Creek Bridge. It is a popular area, with flats being snapped up left and right. At one of the estate agents, you can see pictures from the interior of the block too.

Episode 266: kv Alvhem

District: Olivedal

Photo date: 2 July 2022

You can read all about the farm Olivedal here. Or here.

Episode 267: kv Vega

District: Olivedal

Photo date: 9 July 2022

Nordenskiöld and his ship Vega were extremely popular back in the day, The Vega expedition was sponsored by one of the big magnates in Gothenburg, Oscar Dickson. It was so popular it even inspired the name for a ubiquitous cap in Gothenburg and elsewhere, the Vega cap.

Episode 268: kv Landeriet

District: Olivedal

Photo date: 9 July 2022

There isn’t much to add about this block. It was rural farmland until the 19-noughties and -tens, and then the stone city suddenly sprang up around the nearby farm house. Some sixty years later, half the block had to be replaced with new houses that blend in so perfectly it’s difficult to tell when they were made. Unlike the concrete boxes otherwise prevalent at that time.

Kvarteren Rysåsen, Skansen, Batteriet, Kastellanen, Vaktposten, Murbräckan

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Episodes 255 to 259 explore the northern part of sub-district Kommendantsängen.

Episode 255: kv Rysåsen, kv Skansen

District: Kommendantsängen (part of district Olivedal)

Photo date: 25 May 2022

This block contains much architectural history, from the dull late-1960s tenement to the delightful 1920s Classicism to elaborate 1890s woodwork (designed by O W Nilsson). But Fredberg describes an earlier, long-forgotten vista: that of itinerant Italians living in hovels next to rowdy rogues in huts clambering up the hill towards the fortress. His descriptions aren’t dissimilar from the camps of Romanian beggars that one can find all over the city nowadays. Even the racism and classism are the same.

Episode 256: kv Batteriet

District: Kommendantsängen (part of district Olivedal)

Photo date: 25 May 2022

The plaster and iron-work in the western, circa-1900 half of this block contrasts with the more sober red brick facades of the 1930s and 1980s in the eastern half. Towards Skanstorget, the 1930s houses were designed by G Jacobsson and D Persson, and contained a cinema that was turned into a theatre dedicated to dance. I haven’t been able to find any info on the nice decorations on the 1980s house, but a three-room apartment there went for just over 5 and a half million a few months ago. That’s cheap!

Episode 257: kv Kastellanen

District: Kommendantsängen (part of district Olivedal)

Photo date: 29 May 2022

The Olof Asklund Steam Bakery apparently was a runaway success, rapidly expanding and needing bigger and bigger premises. When this dedicated house in The Castellan was built in 1901, it employed 100 people and a promotional picture shows five tall chimneys belching black smoke over the neighbourhood. Twenty years later there were 200 employees and in the 1960s the company merged with another bread producer and moved to big industrial premises in Högsbo, under the new brand name Pååls, now Pågen. The street where the current factory stands is named after Olof Asklund.

Episode 258: kv Vaktposten

District: Kommendantsängen (part of district Olivedal)

Photo date: 27 May 2022

Hans Hedlund’s house from 1899 was built by ”SJ:s Änke- och pupillkassa”, a rather nice name. And a nice house, well designed and robustly built – unlike many of the houses built today which need refurbishment immediately the scaffolding has been taken down. Ever since I walked around this block I’ve meant to visit the Purrfect Cat Café but it hasn’t happened yet.

Episode 259: kv Murbräckan

District: Kommendantsängen (part of district Olivedal)

Photo date: 27 May 2022

At Linnégatan 48 the entire facade is clad with limestone, a rather exotic rock in Gothenburg. Ten years later, fashion had swung to local materials and granite became de rigueur for decorations. There are also many other types of rock in Gothenburg facades; here is a geological guide to them!

Kvarteren Karl XII, Utanverket, Bäcken, Slottsskogsledet

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Episodes 260 to 263 look at the engineering geology behind, or rather below, Kommendantsängen and Linnégatan. And an enigma: why is there an Illuminati sign in the sidewalk outside a small shop?

Episode 260: kv Karl XII

District: Kommendantsängen (part of district Olivedal)

Photo date: 6 June 2022

Looking at orthophotos of this block, you can see it is built as a single open courtyard instead of cluttered with courtside houses or several smaller courts, as in surrounding blocks. This was very progressive for its time. The 1920s in general seemed very progressive and forward-looking.

Episode 261: kv Utanverket

District: Kommendantsängen (part of district Olivedal)

Photo date: 6 June 2022

I wonder why there is an Illuminati sign in the sidewalk outside a small shop… First time I passed it I missed it: who looks down at the pavement when walking briskly along busy city streets? Maybe a medium operated here in the 1910s, or the shop was a front for one of the many secret societies? Marie Hermansson has written several entertaining detective books set in 1920s Gothenburg, maybe she could take up the story. Oh and by the way, the Asklund garage was designed by the F O Peterson firm.

Episode 262: kv Bäcken

District: Kommendantsängen (part of district Olivedal)

Photo date: 4 June 2022

The Creek is of course named after Djupedalsbäcken, or Råttebäcken, that runs underneath it in a culvert. Geology students are often taken on local excursions to witness what happens when you ignore hydrogeology in areas dominated by postglacial clays: subsidence! Also, many of the hastily put up houses along Linnégatan in the late 1800s had really poor foundations that meant moisture was sucked up into the buildings which rotted from within… Hopefully the modern replacements from the 1980s and 90s were built with better foundations.

Episode 263: kv Slottsskogsledet

District: Kommendantsängen (part of district Olivedal)

Photo date: 6 June 2022

Kommendantsängen is still regulated by the zoning plan from 1891. On the map, one can see the original terrain and houses at that time, before development started. Rather quaint. Even the cholera cemetery is marked.

Kvarteren Järneken, Falken, Morkullan, Anden, Sångsvanen, Sothönan, Fiskmåsen, Brushanen, Hägern, Spoven, Berget

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Episodes 216 to 219 contemplate the pros and cons of tearing down a whole district of un-modern wooden houses with a strong sense of community, to build modern machines for living where the community spirit has been lost.

Episode 216: kv Järneken, kv Falken, kv Morkullan, kv Anden

District: Landala

Photo date: 22 August 2021

Landala was once a vibrant working class district, with much crime and poverty but a strong sense of community. At least, that is what the inhabitants said in surveys after they had been uprooted in the 1970s ”sanitation” efforts, and sat in their single, lonely flats with all the mod cons. Sure the old landshövdingehus and rustic cottages were picturesque, but cold and draughty with outhouses in the courtyards and only cold water if any. Current inhabitants in the machines for living say they are pleased enough to live there.

The razed area was distributed among seven private entrepreneurs as well as the city’s housing company. The new Landala Torg and the too-brutalist block south of if were designed by Lars Ågren, Ingemar Mattsson and the K-Konsult bureau.

The little chapel that looks forlorn between the Brutalist architecture and the merciless traffic on Aschebergsgatan was built in 1885 from designs by Carl Möller.

Episode 217: kv Sångsvanen

District: Landala

Photo date: 22 August 2021

At the south end of Landala are a couple of blocks that weren’t fully sanitized in the 1970s. The landshövdingehus were some of the last to be built here, in 1915, from designs by O M Holmén and Hjalmar Cornilsen among others. The geology department of the university was located in Sångsvanen until the 1990s: a sign in one of the windows declared this. At that time, I was studying computational linguistics at the Holterman Hospital, then home to the computer science department of Chalmers. The old syphilis hospital has since been further remodelled to become a hostel for Chalmers students.

Episode 218: kv Sothönan

District: Landala

Photo date: 22 August 2021

These eleven disc houses were designed by Sven Brolid – the Brutalism can sometimes be stifling. But the Robert Dickson Foundation always adds some kind of decoration to their facades. The ones in The Coot are quite fun. I work in the same house as the Foundation, maybe I should climb the stairs one day and ask them about their artists?

Episode 219: kv Fiskmåsen, kv Brushanen, kv Hägern, kv Spoven, kv Berget, the water tower castle

District: Landala

Photo date: 22 August 2021

The Brutalist architecture continues up the Landala Hill. These houses were designed by Jaak Lohk who, before joining a private entrepreneur, was one of the architects who developed the new zoning plan for the city in the late 1960s.

The northwest side of Landala is slightly less sanitized than the rest of the district. Here are a few remaining landshövdingehus, a preschool from 2010, and three buildings from earlier expansions of the city’s critical infrastructure. The first water reservoir was constructed in 1871, the little fairy castle (and underground reservoir) came in 1892, a time when Peterson was very busy building water stations and schools, and finally the Jugend pumping station in 1905.

It is now April of 2024 and I can not remember why I didn’t go out to do any photography between September 2021 and January 2022, when the story picks up in district Annedal. How short and fickle the memory is!

Kvarteren Rubinen, Opalen, Bergkristallen, Onyxen, Granaten

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Episodes 123 to 126 take a tour through architectural fashions from the 1890s to the 1990s.

Episode 123: kv Rubinen, kv Opalen

District: Heden

Photo date: 25 December 2020

As you can see by my WordPress signature, my alias in the Gothenburg Tolkien society is Ruby Gamgee. So city block Ruby feels right at home! It’s a little bit weird but also nice how much my alias has become part of my overall personality: before, my favourite colour was blue and now it’s ruby red. When I could create a coat of arms, my life suddenly filled with penguins. And above all: the many and very good friends I have made.

In city block Opal, the 1880s landshövdingehus were torn down in the 1960s to make way for modern buildings – a story that is true for every other district in Gothenburg too. The hotel by Henning Orlando was in perfect 1960s style until the topside extension was added in 2007. Now it just looks wonky. The other buildings in the block were designed by Lennart Kvarnström, and the Lund & Valentin bureau.

Episode 124: kv Bergkristallen

District: Heden

Photo date: 13 March 2021

Now we enter the area south of Heden, where tall stone houses sprang up in a tight cluster from the 1890s to the 1920s. The old farms, tobacco plantations and shacks had to go, to make way for the demands of a modern city – words that are still true today and probably were true even for the old Greeks.

My main source for this area, and indeed the next 50 or more episodes of this series, is an in-depth study of planning and architecture in Vasastaden-Lorensberg, made by Staffan Sedenmalm in 2016. Chock full of information! My other source is of course CRA Fredberg, and my grandmother’s memoirs; she grew up just south of here in the early 1900s.

Along Hedåsgatan, the middle part of the block has been pulled back a bit from the street, creating a more open space. This is a hallmark of the city plans drawn up by Albert Lilienberg, who was planning director in Gothenburg between 1907 and 1927. Lots more will be said about him in episodes 389ff of this series. Berzeliigatan 22 is a very light type of Jugend, almost Rococo, designed by Robert Andersson in 1903.

Episode 125: kv Onyxen

District: Heden

Photo date: 13 March 2021

The area south of Heden was mostly developed by builders who had worked their way up from wooden landshövdingehus. They included August Westerlind, Johan August Frise, Johan Peter A Rydgren, Hans A Kilander, C A Lund, J A Westerberg, Nathan Persson and Abraham Pehrsson. They mostly drew their buildings in-house and only the posher houses along the main thouroughfares were designed by proper architects, like Hjalmar Cornilsen, Frans Frise, Zetterstöm & Jonsson and Olof Holmén.

Sten Sturegatan 21 was built in 1905 by Carl Axel Gillberg. It is a Jugend-type house but a bit heavier than usual, almost Baroque.

Episode 126: kv Granaten

District: Heden

Photo date: 20 March 2021

The stone desert continues, as Fredberg would have put it. The houses along Skånegatan were built as the noughties Jugend had turned into the 1910s National Romanticism, and even into the 1920s Classicism. They are too humble to be worthy of separate comments in my sources, though. The odd fire or too-severe subsidence damage has caused some old buildings to be replaced in the 1990s. Some of the houses along Södra Vägen were designed by Olof Holmén and built in the noughties.