The Facade Project started as a simple ramble and photo activity but after a couple of months I had enough material to start playing with it. Especially if the weather at the weekend was too foul to go out and I had to stay indoors during the pandemic.
Then I started making little videos of what I had found. In a previous Club Cosmos film competition I had discovered how to make Powerpoint videos, a simple and easily accessible way to produce material quickly. Eventually I accessorised my mobile phone with a selfie-stick (for higher altitude pictures) and a better microphone plus a sound-editing app. At work I use CAD so I could make my own background maps — using out-of-date underlays that don’t show the hectic transformation that is going on in Gothenburg these days — and at home I dabbled un-musically with various instruments to make soundtracks. That first slap from youtube copyright check stung! All my material is thus my own.
Which language should I use? I’m Swedish and the subject is a Swedish city with Swedish place names. But I have many English-speaking friends on FB, where I post links to the videos. And since pretty much all Swedes are reasonalby fluent in English, that’s the language I choose for the narration. It makes for some interesting translation problems sometimes…
And with that, here are the first five videos I made.
Episode 1: Gustav Adolfs torg
District: Västra Nordstaden
Photo date: 17 November 2019
For the very first video I chose what might be seen as the centre of the city: the square with the statue of our founder, king Gustav II Adolf. The square was laid out when the city was planned in ca 1620 and is surrounded by old official buildings.
In earlier days, it was the centre of official activities like royal visits and similar events. Nowadays, it holds fairs and manifestations, and of course the official christmas tree. On one side are three big flag-poles with intricate bronze reliefs. They show the history of the city up to the biplane era. In fact, they were not made for the 1923 anniversary exhibition, but were made in 1932 by one Herman Bergman.
These first videos are in the original format, with background maps from the Swedish Ordnance Survey and with annoying animations for every photo. In later videos the map is home-made and the animations fewer.
Episode 2: kv Högvakten
District: Västra Nordstaden
Photo date: 30 November 2019
Blocks in central Gothenburg were named a hundred years ago or earlier. In this district the names relate to the activities once exercised at the site. This block once held the city guard, next to the city hall. My old dictionary translates ”högvakt” as ”main guard” so that’s what I call this block in my English narration.
The Main Guard once had a cannon in front, for salutes, emergencies and fire alarms. It also held the central fire services. Guns were used for all sorts of things in the old days, apparently. And these days grenades are used to put out fires too.
In this block we also find one of the grand projects from the late 1850s, the Exchange. I once went to a function inside it: quite opulent! And if you go on a guided ghost tour, you’ll hear spooky stories about this building…
Episode 3: kv Borgaren
District: Västra Nordstaden
Photo date: 2 January 2020
Gothenburg was founded as a deliberate attempt to create a mercantile city. The king invited all sorts of merchants to settle here: Dutch, Germans, English, Scots — as well as Swedes. And until the mid-1900s, the city remained resolutely trades-oriented. (After that, the city image has been one of Marxism, football, proletariats and most recently, segregation and gangsters.)
In the old Sweden, society was divided into four parts: aristocray, clergy, burghers and farmers. Not peasants — free, land-owning farmers. Of these, the burghers were the most important in Gothenburg. And here is a block commemorating them! My dictionary perferred the word ”burgess” to ”burgher” so that’s what this episode is called.
The old wooden city was frequently destroyed by conflagrations, which is why so few old houses remain. In this block, there once stood the first (tiny) theatre, owned by wealthy merchant John Hall. He made a very large fortune, and his son by the same name managed to squander all of it and died a pauper. This was a favourite story among the old merchants: beware irresponsible prodigy!
Episode 4: kv Polismästaren
District: Västra Nordstaden
Photo date: 2 January 2020
The tiny house at the end of the block was once the main police station. One of the chores they had was to check all the prostitutes for syphilis, and one of the subjects was Elizabeth Stride. When she moved to London she was killed by Jack the Ripper!
The nick is of course the reason this block is called The Police Commissioner. But it’s a long time since the tiny house served the long arm of the law. For some time now it has held the city medical museum: gruesome displays of old instruments, huge kidney and bladder stones. The house is old and in need of renovation. It might open again in 2023.
These early episodes are short and without explanatory narration. Later episodes get more verbiose.
Episode 5: kv Göta Kanal
District: Västra Nordstaden
Photo date: 2 January 2020
Shipping was important in the old Gothenburg. There were shipping companies, outfitters, agents, wharves, transports and dockers. Once the river was dredged and proper quays erected, big ships could land right next to the city centre instead of out in the estuary. All that has disappeared, of course, due to shifts in economy and technology, and because ships have become impossibly large. Once again they have to land far out in the estuary and the goods transported inland by other means (trucks).
One of the means of transporting inland was by canal. The Göta Canal was built in the 1830s and it long had a regular shipping line of the same name. The western terminus was here in Gothenburg and the shipping company has given name to this block.
When companies erected houses for themselves in the old days, they often incorporated their logos in the facade. And when the company moved out, its memory still lingers, like here with the Johnson Line. In 1990 it merged with Silja Line and ceased to exist, except in this relief.
Rockyramblings 