Etikettarkiv: Nilsson O

Architect, https://gamlagoteborg.se/2018/03/15/oscar-w-nilsson/

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 Malmöhus, Oppensten, Borgeby, Örbyhus samt Lorensbergsparken

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Episodes 171 to 175 tour the tail-end of Neo-Renaissance and celebrate early and late Modernism.

Episode 171: kv Malmöhus

District: Vasastaden (formerly Lorensberg)

Photo date: 30 May 2021

Wallenstam recently changed its logo from the ant carrying a letter m or W, to a stylised ant drawn with a single looping line. Maybe the ant carrying a pine needle, as seen on Engelbrektsgatan 28, is the original logo from the 1950s?

Trying to find some information about the modern houses in the middle of the block (a real estate agent says they were built in 1943), I came across the current zoning plan for the area. It is dated 1867!

Episode 172: kv Oppensten

District: Vasastaden (formerly Lorensberg)

Photo date: 29 May 2021

Wilhelm Röhss was one of the magnates in the 19th century who donated parts of their estates to the city, to be used for the public good. Since the sums were substantial, the foundations are still operating today. The Röhss monies were used to build this museum to which my mother would drag me quite often (my favourite museum was the ethnographic one, with American Indians). When the museum was built, it was in the then-fashionable National Romanticist style. The two extensions were also designed in then-current fashions: Melchior Wernstedt’s 1930s early-Modernism and the late-Modernist one from circa 1960, by Sven Brolid and Jan Wallinder.

At the other end of the block is the Academy of Craft and Design, or some better equivalent to its many names: Slöjdförenings skola, Konstindustriskolan, Högskolan för design och konsthantverk. Hans Hedlund’s original building has been added to by Sigfrid Ericson in 1915 (the penthouse) and the White design bureau in 1992 (filling up the former courtyard). Today, it is part of the university and offers education in all the fine arts.

Episode 173: kv Borgeby

District: Vasastaden (formerly Lorensberg)

Photo date: 30 May 2021

Here is the original Valand that the current Academy of Fine Arts takes its name from. It was quite an important institution (at least locally), producing several fine artists over the years. The school moved to new premises in 1925 and has led a wandering existence since then. The Par Bricole lodge took over the house at that time and are still very much going strong.

The block is built on land that belonged to the old farm Kristinelund. Nothing remains of it but the street name, and apart from Valand nothing remains of the first stone houses either. At the south end of the block is a beautiful Modernist house designed by Nils Olsson in the late 1930s. The middle of the block was razed in the late 1950s and two new houses designed by Helge Zimdal were put up along Avenyn. Some ten years ago they were given a makeover, and the western side of the block was completely rebuilt from designs by Anna Sunnerö at the Wingårdh bureau. Gert Wingårdh is the current mega-star in Swedish architecture.

Episode 174: kv Örbyhus

District: Vasastaden (formerly Lorensberg)

Photo date: 29 May 2021

In this block, too, the back side along Teatergatan has been redeveloped from designs by Jacek Zalecki at Wingårdhs. Apparently, the previous 1930s and 1960s houses were ”shoddy” and ”disgusting” – the very same words used for the districts that were lamentedly razed in the 1960s and 70s. Plus ça change…

Originally, the whole block was built in intricate Neo-Renaissance in the late 1890s, but only the end houses have been left standing. Of the three middle houses along Avenyn, the northern one was built in 1935 and designed by Nils Olsson in a calm and clean Modernist style. The other two houses were designed by Lund & Valentin in late-Modernist style and built in 1961. As in Borgeby, they were given a makeover by Wingårdhs some ten years ago.

Episode 175: Lorensbergsparken

District: Lorensberg

Photo date: 5 June 2021

When I was a kid, my parents used to go dancing at a place called Sophus, named after the last and famous restaurateur at the Lorensberg entertainment complex, much written about by Fredberg. Almost nothing remains of it today, other than the Lorensberg Theatre and the name of the whole district. And a small play area with circus horses…

The big hotel was designed by Nils Einar Eriksson in 1948, to house visiting industrialists. It still looks much like it did when it opened but the city library has been given a facelift designed by the Erséus bureau. The theatre was designed by Karl M Bengtsson but when it was turned into a cinema in 1934 it was redesigned by R O Swensson and H Widlund. In 1987 it was turned back into a theatre which it still is. For now.

Kvarteren Häggen, Hasseln, Högskolan, Örebrohus, Trollenäs

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Episodes 166 to 170 stroll around the Vasa Park.

Episode 166: kv Häggen

District: Vasastaden

Photo date: 16 May 2021

Who designed Edvard Svensson’s imposing corner house at Aschebergsgatan 1? There is a discussion on page 189 in ”Vasastaden-Lorensberg”. Sedenmalm is rather dismissive of the ”small builders” who had worked their way up constructing landshövdingehus. The styles are variously Neo-Renaissance, as was popular at the time. The Old Gothenburg site also collates the entries about this block in that paper – quite handy. And CRA Fredberg offers lively vignettes about life and times in the general area.

Episode 167: kv Hasseln

District: Vasastaden

Photo date: 22 May 2021

When the old farm Brantdala, Steep Dale, had to give way to modern development in 1910, the area was planned by Albert Lilienberg. He put his mark on large parts of the then-city and although he was rather reviled by the following modernists, he has in later years become something of a celebrity, it seems. Books and articles mention him often.

As the area is very hilly, it had been too difficult to build on it until now, when dynamite made everything so much easier. The Domesticity house Föreningsgatan 32 was built in 1911, in a sort of Jugend / National Romanticism mix. Björner Hedlund designed it together with his father Hans. The northwest corner of the block was built a few years later and by that time fashions had shifted radically towards 1920s Classicism.

Episode 168: kv Högskolan and Vasaparken

District: Vasastaden (formerly Lorensberg)

Photo date: 27 February 2021

The old university building is listed but still in use, for representation and administrative offices. I’ve attended a couple of public lectures there, one by an adventurer who described his expedition to the Nazca geoglyphs. It was like being transported back in time a hundred years, when explorers toured the lecture circuits to finance their new expeditions! Amundsen, Hedin, Shackleton spring to mind.

The Vasa Park and its convoluted gestation is described in all my sources, a popular subject. Photos of small boys on sleds tobogganing down the steep terrain are obligatory.

Episode 169: kv Örebrohus

District: Vasastaden (formerly Lorensberg)

Photo date: 29 May 2021

The blocks around what became the Vasa Park were built around 1890 to 1900. The posh new inhabitants must have disliked the shanty town between them intensely. Likewise the other shanty town to the north, Flygarns Haga. Luckily, the authorities soon had them ”moved along” and the first wave of gentrification in Gothenburg was completed.

Örebrohus is Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Gothic rohbau, but the younger houses are starting to look at the interesting new style called Jugend.

Episode 170: kv Trollenäs

District: Vasastaden (formerly Lorensberg)

Photo date: 29 May 2021

Here is another block built and designed by firms that had started out making landshövdingehus. By now they had made enough money to spend on lavish decorations for their Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Gothic facades, as described on page 284 in ”Vasastaden-Lorensberg”.

Instead of brick and plaster, they could spend on limestone, granite and sandstone. Two members of SGU, the Swedish Geological Survey, recently wrote an excursion guide to the geology of Gothenburg cladding.