Archinect - News

White Arkitekter’s Våga water tower stuns in coastal Sweden

2024-12-11T11:26:00-05:00

Våga, a new modern water tower designed by White Arkitekter has sprouted in Varberg, Sweden. The stunning concrete structure is designed to stand for hundreds of years and serve the surrounding villages with a vital connection to drinking water without ever "diminishing in beauty."

Photo: courtesy of Anna Kristinsdóttir

Photo: courtesy of Anna Kristinsdóttir and Joacim Winqvist

Architects Per Hultcrantz and Agnes Orstadius explained this is meant to create a monumental spectacle. It spans 187 meters (613.5 feet) while being just 9 meters (29.5 feet) wide to take full advantage of the site’s hillside placement and loom over the landscape surrounding Träslöv.

Photo: courtesy of Anna Kristinsdóttir

Across are nine pillars, each supporting concave cast-in-place panels. The design’s shape, repeated wave motif, and looming mass on the hill’s crest create a landmark impression allowing it to be "perceived differently" from up close or the far off E6 motorway depending on your vantage point an...

Swedish audio company Transparent debuts Brutalist Speaker in time for the holidays

2024-11-29T10:46:00-05:00

With the holiday season right around the corner, it’s time to look at a unique gift idea that is sure to inspire fans of Brutalism from the trendy Swedish audio company Transparent.

Their new Brutalist Speaker is designed especially to utilize the geometry of indoor spaces to boost the already high-frequency sound produced from two 3” tweeters that are placed at 90° angles and reference the porthole windows commonplace in Brutalist residential structures in the '60s and '70s.

Image courtesy Transparent

Transparent’s co-founder Per Brickstad says the designs of Fritz Wotruba and sculptural work of Hans Aeschbachers in particular served as inspirations for the stylish creation.

Image courtesy Transparent

The 23.5-inch-tall, 26.5-pound speaker has a Bluetooth 5.2 capacity and 24-bit audio output and is made from 70% post-consumer recycled aluminum materials. Certain components such as its wireless module can replaced to keep apace with the advancement of technologies in the future. Pric...

Two Scandinavian companies will recycle data center heat for food production

2024-11-22T15:32:00-05:00

A new project aimed at developing a circular economy in Scandinavia will build two large commercial greenhouses that run on waste heat taken from nearby data centers. The projects will be located in Varde, Denmark, and Östersund, Sweden. The project will increase domestic food production. The agreement between WA3RM and the Vinga Group is worth $908 million. It could also set a valuable precedent.

As Dutch academic Marina Otero noted after her win of the 2022 Wheelwright Prize: "The huge scale of the operations of the data industry and its pervasiveness and increasing importance in the contemporary world — coupled with its openness to innovation and concurrent pressures to find better socio-ecological models — creates a fertile environment for experimentation and action."

Henning Larsen’s ‘forest canopy-like’ World of Volvo opens in Sweden

2024-04-16T11:52:00-04:00

The Henning Larsen-designed World of Volvo has opened in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Housed under an expressive timber canopy, the 237,000-square-foot building will serve as an experience center for the car brand Volvo, designed around “Scandinavian values of freedom of movement, access to nature, and openness and inclusion.”

Image credit: Rasmus Hjortshoj

The main timber structure is formed of glulam and cross-laminated timber, designed as three tree-trunk-like columns that fan out to carry the entire load of the roof while “enveloping visitors in a welcoming forest-like canopy.” The center’s round structure is intended to encourage visitors to create their own journeys through the building’s interior and exterior.

Image credit: Rasmus Hjortshoj

Inside, a series of spaces are contained to host cultural events, talks, and conferences, accommodating up to 1,100 people. Anchoring the structure is a 485,000-square-foot exhibition space...

Swedish companies unveil low-carbon wall system 60% lighter than traditional concrete

2024-03-15T12:45:00-04:00

A group of materials companies in Sweden has collaborated on a hybrid wall element with a lower carbon footprint than conventional concrete wall elements.

The joint venture, comprising concrete element manufacturer Heidelberg Materials Preca and engineered timber manufacturer Metsä Wood, is now rolling out the element for live construction projects.

Image credit: Heidelberg Materials Preca / Metsä Wood

The wall consists of a facade element in a sandwich construction with an outer layer made of 'climate-improved' concrete, intermediate insulation, and a load-bearing inner panel made of strong, material-efficient laminated veneer lumber. According to the group, the wall module has approximately 30–50% less of a climate impact than an equivalent traditional concrete wall while also being 60% lighter.

Image credit: Heidelberg Materials Preca / Metsä Wood

To test the wall, the team constructed a home using the elements. The structure was equipped with moisture sensors to monitor the wall ...

Researchers use cellulose and algae to create 3D printed architectural material

2024-02-09T13:46:00-05:00

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have published their study into how materials made from nanocellulose and algae can be used as sustainable architectural materials. The research, conducted in collaboration with the Wallenberg Wood Science Center, “shows how the abundant sustainable material can be 3D printed into a wide array of architectural components, using much less energy than conventional construction methods,” according to the team.

Nanocellulose, molecules consisting of hundreds or thousands of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, are already used in biomedicine to 3D print scaffolds for tissue and cell growth but have never been used in an architectural material. The researchers, therefore, mixed nanocellulose fibers and water with an algae-based material called alginate to produce a 3D printable material with architectural uses in mind.

“For the first time...

Nordic 'citizen design critics' are gaining influence thanks to their online popularity

2023-08-07T18:07:00-04:00

Founded in Sweden in 2014 as a public Facebook group, [Architectural Uprising] is a collective of citizen design critics who object to what organizers call the “continued uglification” of developments in Nordic cities, and push for a return to classically informed design. [...] The movement’s size and persistence, however, has earned it a seat in the discourse. “When [historians] talk about architecture during these years, [the Architectural Uprising] will be part of that history”

A new report in Bloomberg tells of the staying power of social media-driven architectural criticism. Projects lambasted by the popular (mostly) Scandinavian group include Oslo’s new National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design by architect Klaus Schuwerk and estudio Herreros’ Munch Museum, which Oliver Wainwright also panned.

Its presence has apparently spurred Norwegian firm MAD Arkitektur’s concessions on the Sandakerveien 58 B/C renovation and other projects. Politicians in Norway have even begun reaching out for tacit endorsements in a turn mirroring the "ugly" debate in America concerning the design of federal buildings that has become a charge of late for Republicans in love with the concept of classicism in spite of its racist underpinnings and widely-critiqued past.

‘World’s largest wooden city’ designed by Henning Larsen and White Arkitekter in Stockholm

2023-06-26T11:13:00-04:00

Plans have been unveiled for the reportedly “world’s largest urban construction project in wood” in the Swedish capital. Named Stockholm Wood City, and designed by Henning Larsen and White Arkitekter, the scheme will extend over 2.7 million square feet across several buildings.

Image credit: Atrium Ljungberg / Henning Larsen

The development will hold 7,000 office spaces and 2,000 homes through what the team calls a “vibrant urban environment with a mix of workplaces, housing, restaurants, and shops.” Spurred by the European Union’s wider European Bauhaus environmental movement, the team believes the prevalence of timber in the development will improve air quality, reduce stress, and increase productivity among users.

Image credit: Atrium Ljungberg/White Arkitekter

"This is not only an important step for us as a company but a historic milestone for Swedish innovation capability," says Annica Ånäs, CEO of the project’s developers, Atrium Ljungberg. "Stockholm Wood City manifests our fut...

Henning Larsen details computational design process behind mass timber 'World of Volvo' center

2023-05-02T17:30:00-04:00

Henning Larsen and Volvo are working on the design of a new consumer-facing experience center called The World of Volvo ahead of its debut early next year in the automaker’s hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Henning Larsen computational designer Leonardo Castaman recently explained on LinkedIn some details related to the project team’s seven-step process using the Kangaroo and Galapagos plugins on Grasshopper to create the wooden superstructure of the 236,800-square-foot building.

The design incorporates computer-fabricated glulam beams and columns with locally-sourced CLT floor slabs. The materials were selected to promote a circular economy in line with the philosophical notion of “Allemansrätten,” a Swedish concept that essentially translates to “leave nothing behind.”

Image courtesy Henning Larsen via LinkedIn

Castaman describes his workflow on the project as follows:

First, the plane...

Henning Larsen unveils new mass timber 'World of Volvo' center in Gothenburg

2022-05-03T12:58:00-04:00

Henning Larsen has revealed their design for a new experience center called World of Volvo in the Swedish automaker’s hometown of Gothenburg.

Touting a “deep connection” to the design heritage and rich natural landscape of Scandinavia, the massive 236,800-square-foot new facility offers itself as the combined home of Volvo Group and Volvo Cars and will function as the host for a slate of events, including exhibitions, talks, conferences, and music as well as dining and retail, according to Volvo’s CEO Magnus Wrahme.

Visualization by Kvant-1

Henning Larsen’s design is based on the Swedish concept of “Allemansrätten,” a kind of folkway that endorses individual free movement and a delicate consideration for their place in nature similar to the American environmentalist idum “leave no trace.”

Visualization by Kvant-1

Its circular form expresses an empathy towards these two interconnected tenets and is composed of computer-fabricated glulam timber reinforced by internal metal connectors w...

Foster + Partners-led team chosen to design new mixed-use Stockholm Central Station

2022-01-18T14:51:00-05:00

A team led by Foster + Partners in collaboration with Swedish firm Marge Arkitekter has been unveiled as the winners of the competition for the development of Stockholm Central Station in Stockholm, Sweden. The pair is joined by LAND Arkitektur, Thornton Tomasetti, Ramboll, Wenanders, and TAM Group. Together their proposal will see the creation of an integrated transport hub for a new pedestrian-friendly mixed-use urban district.

“As the world’s collective focus shifts to more sustainable ways of living, working and traveling, it is vital that we enhance and redevelop our transport nodes and repair and connect the urban fabric around them,” said Luke Fox, Head of Studio at Foster + Partners. “We look forward to developing these proposals with Jernhusen, Trafikverket and the City of Stockholm over the coming months.”

Originally opened in 1871, Stockholm Central Station sits in the heart of the city, serving as Sweden’s largest transportation hub. The new district will accommodate fut...

White Arkitekter's new mass timber tower opens as the world's third tallest wooden building

2021-09-28T17:23:00-04:00

A new Swedish tower is pushing boundaries for mass timber design in an effort to create a “public living room” for one small city just south of the Arctic Circle.

The Sara Cultural Centre is the second tallest wooden building in any Scandinavian country and the third tallest in the world behind Voll Arkitekter’s 18-story, 280-foot Mjøstårnet near Oslo and the 276-foot HoHo Tower in Vienna.

Located in Skellefteå, the 246-foot Centre plays host to an art gallery, museum, library, and theater in a multi-volume carbon-negative building that also features welcoming amenities like a high-rise restaurant, hotel, and spa.

Image courtesy White Arkitekter

Two different construction systems were developed by White Arkitekter to complete the tower using a combination of glue-laminated columns and beams together with CLT cores, modules, shear walls that work together to distribute the shear load using as little material as possible. According to the architect, the combination of the two systems...

The world's first fossil-free steel

2021-08-23T16:52:00-04:00

Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB has announced that it has produced the world’s first fossil-free steel. As part of a trial delivery, the steel was sent to its first customer, Swedish automaker Volvo Group.

The first-of-its-kind steel was developed through HYBRIT, an initiative formed in 2016 between SSAB and state-owned firms LKAB and Vattenfall, who specialize in energy and mining, respectively. Its aim was to develop a technology for fossil-free iron and steelmaking.

The group was able to replace coking coal, the process traditionally used for steelmaking, with fossil-free electricity and hydrogen. The result is a porous material called sponge iron, which is a combination of fossil-free hydrogen and iron ore. This past June, the team showcased the successful execution of this process at HYBRIT’s pilot plant in Luleå, Sweden. Volvo plans to experiment with the initial batch of steel through the production of prototype vehicles and parts.

This candle holder is the first object mad...

Cobe unveils book-inspired winning design for Gothenburg University's new library competition

2021-06-05T15:00:00-04:00

Plans for a new library at Gothenburg University have been revealed after a search by the Swedish consulting firm Akademiska Hus to add what is now the newest chapter in the long architectural history of the nation’s second-largest city.

Göteborg Universitetsbibliotek. Photo courtesy of Cobe

Danish firm Cobe won the commission with a fitting design meant to mimic the curvature of a book’s pages in an imposing 16,000 square meter space adjacent to Gothenburg's most important cultural institutions.

The new building, which will replace smaller libraries serving different academic departments in arts and humanities, uses extruded white ceramic panels to create a volume interposed with vertical patterns that work the building’s profile into an eight-story literary metaphor Cobe founder Dan Stubbergaard feels is central to its function and educational mission.

Göteborg Universitetsbibliotek. Photo courtesy of Cobe

“The book serves as the inspiration and point of departure for the design,...

Dramatic timber roof defines BIG’s Västerås Travel Center design

2021-05-26T13:51:00-04:00

BIG has unveiled updated plans for a new transportation hub in the heart of the Swedish city of Västerås. Named the Västerås Travel Center, the 17,000-square-meter structure will bring together all of the city’s transport infrastructure in one continuous landscape, under a dramatic, curved roof.

Image: BIG

BIG has proposed a building that unites rather than separates functions. It will serve as the central station for trains and buses while providing a bridge between the city center and the nearby Lake Mälaren, areas currently divided by train tracks. The preliminary plan for the project was initially revealed in 2015. Central to the updated design is a more distinct roof that serves to welcome visitors to the city at multiple points while giving the travel center a clear identity. It is a roof that spreads out, invites from all directions, and creates spatial contexts.

Image: BIG and Playtime

"We have designed the defining feature of Västerås Travel Center, the floating roof, as a r...

IKEA publishes 70-year catalog archive

2020-09-08T14:41:00-04:00

Last month the IKEA's Museum in Älmhult, Sweden opened an exhibition showcasing 70's years of their iconic catalogs. Due to the location, and COVID, the exhibition was limited to a small number of visitors. Fortunately, they have just published their Swedish catalog archive for all to see. Quite fascinating to see how furniture trends have evolved over the decades...

1950's...

1960's...

1970's...

1980's...

1990's...

1997 - Same year that Archinect launched!

2000's...

2010's...

2020's...

Cobe to create new automotive design center in Sweden

2020-05-21T18:38:00-04:00

Copenhagen-based architecture firm Cobe will create the new 14,000-square-meter design center for global automaker Geely in Gothenburg, Sweden. Set for completion in 2022, the new center will house Geely Design, the design and development arm for the Chinese automotive company. The building will function as a site for the development of the new electric car brand Lynk & Co.

The design center will be named Un3 by Geely and be a multi-purpose structure rising four-stories high. The ground-level contains a showroom that can be accessed through a large public square. The middle levels contain a small eating area, meeting rooms, and offices. And finally, the top floor contains the "Chamber of Secrets," a completely sealed off space where designers are free to work on the latest innovations and ideas without fear of the prying eyes of the public.

The top level contains a sunken yard that also acts as the glass ceiling for the atrium of the lower levels. The yard creates a space for design...

Mayors of three Nordic capitals declare their commitment to cleaner construction site practices

2019-10-23T02:00:00-04:00

The push for cleaner construction methods to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution on building sites has increased in recent years due to the worsening climate crisis. Nations across the globe have expressed their intent in finding better solutions for addressing the negative impacts the architecture and construction industries have on the environment.

Earlier this month, the mayors of Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm made a public pledge to enact various policies and regulations to ensure the following issues are addressed. According to a press release from C40 Cities, the mayors promise to:

Purchase biofuels and emission-free machinery for the city’s own use
Demand fossil-and emission-free solutions in public procurement and city supported projects
In Oslo, all city-owned machinery and municipally-owned construction sites will operate with zero emissions by 2025

Executive director of C40 Cities, Mark Watts, shares in a statement, "The world’s cities are growing fast, wi...

IKEA ramps up smart home product development plan

2019-08-23T14:00:00-04:00

IKEA Home smart was initiated as a project in 2012 with the ambition to enrich life at home by incorporating digital elements and technologies into products and solutions. Several launches within the smart home has followed since then and now IKEA has taken the strategic decision to invest even more in the home smart area by establishing IKEA Home smart as its own business unit within IKEA of Sweden.

Björn Block, the Head of the new Ikea Home smart Business Unit said, in a recent press release: "At IKEA we want to continue to offer products for a better life at home for the many people going forward. In order to do so we need to explore products and solutions beyond conventional home furnishing."

IKEA is quickly establishing itself as a contender in the smart home space, challenging contenders such as Amazon and Google. They have chosen to pursue heavier investment in product development and collaboration with their digital partners. The company hopes to intensify this "digital transformation" in the coming years.

Refik Anadol's exhibition of algorithmic streetscape imagery is now open in Stockholm

2019-07-09T18:51:00-04:00

Fotografiska, the celebrated photography museum in Stockholm, Sweden, is now exhibiting a site-specific installation by Turkish media artist and director Refik Anadol.

Scene from Latent History, by Refik Anadol.

Titled Latent History, the exhibition mainly consists of an interpolation of hundreds of thousands of photos of Stockholm's streetscapes onto a 180-foot-wide screen in Fotografiska’s large exhibition hall. Put simply, the film is "a machine’s interpretation of information from the City of Stockholm’s archives, Stockholmskällan, and the Swedish National Heritage Board’s archive, K-samsök, also known as SOCH (Swedish Open Cultural Heritage)," according to the curators of the exhibition. The film, in other words, images of Stockholm are fed into an algorithm of Anadol's design that 'reveals' the images in between them.

Scene from Latent History, by Refik Anadol.

As Anadol explains, Latent History explores "photographic memories from the past 150 years and offer the viewer a chan...

OMA completes first residential tower for Norra Tornen project in Stockholm

2018-11-08T15:49:00-05:00

The Innovation Tower in Stockholm designed by OMA/Reinier de Graaf has opened this morning. It is the first of two residential towers designed by the Dutch firm that will comprise the Norra Tornen project. Rising 30 and 35 stories high, the twin towers will become the tallest residential project in inner Stockholm.

Photograph by Laurian Ghinitoiu, Courtesy of OMA

The design of the towers is based on a modular system of prefabricated elements made from exposed concrete. In a tribute to brutalist architecture, the towers are characterized by bay windows (a precious asset in a country with scarce daylight for half of the year) and recessed terraces laid out to create a rising zigzag pattern reminiscent of Moshe Safdie's Habitat 67 in Montreal.

Photograph by Laurian Ghinitoiu, Courtesy of OMA

Norra Tornen represents a milestone achievement for the firm, who wanted to introduce a new way of living in a city center with a housing stock large...

An Apple town square? Stockholm says no, thank you

2018-11-01T14:31:00-04:00

Kungsträdgården is the most important park in Sweden, [...] It is the thread that pulls together the historical power of the monarchy with the commercial blocks of Hamngatan and the working-class districts of Södermalm. This is very important for democracy because it has to do with power, symbolically and spatially.

Stockholm, Sweden's beloved capitol is home to stunning landscapes that keep residence and visitors mesmerized. Its cobblestoned streets are lined with amazingly preserved buildings, beautiful open water views, and public spaces. Nestled in the heart of Stockholm is Kungsträdgården, one of the most treasured and valued parks in Sweden. Revered by its inhabitants, once word got out that Apple had plans to "transform" their beloved space by creating a "town square," the people of Stockholm made their voices heard.

We get it, Apple has already taken over our lives by transforming daily communication, productivity, etc. But, does Apple have the leverage to transform public spaces? Town squares are defined as open, public spaces located at the heart of a city. To a trillion-dollar tech company like Apple, their intention of redefining the relationship between public and private spaces is exactly what they are aiming for in build...

Modernism invades a classically traditional Swedish island

2018-05-14T00:37:00-04:00

But recently, a generation of homeowners and architects...have started not just ignoring, but defying the Law of Jante....From cast-concrete bunkers to glass-framed aeries, the new houses shock, subverting long-established order with a cool blast of modernity, while also paying homage to the island’s chilly dignity.

Nancy Hass travels to Gotland, a low-key, summer retreat for Swedes. Traditionally, simple farmhouse vernacular reigned. Yet, now firms such as Skalso, Murman Arkitekter, Deve Architects and Tham & Videgård are exploring a more contemporary idiom.

House of Heroes by White Arkitekter provides space for children with long term diseases

2018-04-12T16:07:00-04:00

Hjältarnas Hus (House of Heroes) is a new facility by White Arkitekter functioning as a temporary home for families with young children suffering from long term illness. The project is a collaboration between the Sweden Västerbotten healthcare council and the organization “Hjältarnas hus”, which will run the day-to-day operations of this new facility. The firm has been involved from start to finish in creating this safe and homely haven, free from white coats and difficult treatments.

Hjältarnas Hus (House of Heroes) by White Arkitekter, located in Umeå, Sweden. Image: Åke E:son Lindman.

Five out of six geographically large hospital region of northern Swede have already had relative homes linked to the larger children's clinics. Now the final region, Norrland, will get their own equivalent located in Umeå.

Hjältarnas Hus (House of Heroes) by White Arkitekter, located in Umeå, Sweden. Image: Åke E:son Lindman.

This home away from home is located in a newly renovated building in the h...

Swedish train gets officially named "Trainy McTrainface"

2017-10-19T17:11:00-04:00

It’s happened again. A public vote to name four trains running between the Swedish cities of Stockholm and Gothenburg has resulted in one of the four being called Trainy McTrainface in an echo of the name chosen by the British public for the new polar research vessel.

Last year, the British public voted to name its new polar research vessel "Boaty McBoatface"—a decision that the British government quickly overturned in favor of the less comical name "RRS Sir David Attenborough."

Hopefully, Boaty McBoatface's legacy will live on in Sweden, where the public voted to name one of its trains, running between Stockholm and Gothenburg, "Trainy McTrainface"

"We saw pretty quickly that Trainy McTrainface was in the lead in the popular option. There was a bit of international attention on the vote, and I imagine that some people were quite delighted to get some revenge for the Boaty McBoatface thing," said Swedish rail company MTR marketing chief Peter Nasfi.

Proving to have a better sense of British humor than the UK government, neither the train company, nor the Swedish government, repealed the popular vote.

How good can Swedish nature make you feel in 72 hours?

2017-09-30T17:30:00-04:00

This is the question a new case-study, '72 Hour Cabin', seeks to answer. Launched by Sweden, the experiment will investigate the effects of living in nature on health by taking five participants with some of the most stressful jobs and placing them in a custom-built glass cabin.

During the day, they will have access to common Swedish outdoor activities such as swimming, fishing and cooking. Their well-being, measured by stress-levels, problem-solving capabilities and creativity, will be monitored by two leading researchers, Walter Osika and Cecilia Stenfors, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, one of the world’s foremost medical universities. Participants include a broadcaster from London, a taxi driver from Paris, an event co-ordinator from New York, a police officer from Munich, and a journalist from London.

The five glass cabins these participants will be staying in were designed by architecture student Jeanna Berger, who enlisted her brother-in-laws, who run a construc...

UMA proposes a kilometer-long infinity pool for Stockholm's waterfront

2017-05-23T12:22:00-04:00

There’s long lap pools, and then there’s UMA’s design for Stockholm—a kilometer long infinity pool that serves as tourist attraction, recreational facility, and even infrastructure. The idea is to extend a walkway stretching from the northern part of Söderman to the eastern point out over the motorway that currently takes up most of the waterfront.

Perched on a load bearing structure made of a repetitive steel console structure bolted to the bedrock, the infinity pool would contain water pumped from the Baltic Sea and cleaned in a small treatment plant. The water would be heated with waste heat. According to the designers, you could even swim in parts of it during the spring and fall. In the winter, meanwhile, the temperature would be lowered to the point where the water freezes over, enabling ice skating.

According to the designers, the pool would create the illusion of an unobstructed connection between the waterfront and the adjacent Baltic Sea. Dressing rooms, showers and other f...

Is Snøhetta's "7th room" 2017's coolest (literally and figuratively) treehouse?

2017-01-19T14:10:00-05:00

Snøhetta's "7th Room" is an addition to the previously existing Treehotel in Northern Sweden. The tree-canopy-level, snow-blanketed room features a pretty cool assortment of sleek furnishings and views, whether you're standing on the ground looking up, or lounging on the fur-lined chairs looking out.

In addition to the tree that grows through the cabin, the arrangement of the rooms, centered around a netted terrace, gives "7th Room" a hyper-sophisticated treehouse vibe.

Construction begins on major Foster + Partners project in Sweden

2016-07-05T20:35:00-04:00

Construction has started at New Slussen, a major Foster + Partners project in the center of Stockholm. One of the largest urban projects in Sweden, the SEK 12 Billion project is intended to “create a dynamic urban quarter, responding to its historic context and transforming the city centre,” according to the press release.

Slussen was originally built in 1642 as a lock separating the ocean from the freshwater Lake Mälaren before being covered by a concrete “four-leaf clover” structure in 1935. The deterioration of the concrete structure made a new master plan an urgent necessity.

The Foster + Partners plan includes new transportation links as well as new commercial buildings and cultural amenities. The plan is intended to maintain the historic scale of the area, while adding new public spaces as well as pedestrian and bicycle routes. It also will expand the capacity of the lock five-fold to minimize the threat of flooding.

“This is a once in a life time undertaking in a uniquely signif...

Sweden tightens its refugee policy, introduces new restrictions for asylum seekers

2016-06-21T13:52:00-04:00

Sweden, once one of the most welcoming countries for refugees, on Tuesday introduced tough new restrictions on asylum seekers, including rules that would limit the number of people granted permanent residency and make it more difficult for parents to reunite with their children. The government said the legislation... was necessary to prevent the country from becoming overstretched by the surge of migration to Europe that began last year.

As more and more refugees flood into Europe from the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere, once-welcoming countries are increasingly tightening their borders. For more on this, check out these links: