Eight Leading Architects Envision Future Stockholm in ‘Architecture Projects: Skeppsbron’

Eight Leading Architects Envision Future Stockholm in ‘Architecture Projects: Skeppsbron’

In the exhibition Architecture Projects: Skeppsbron, which opens in Boxen at ArkDes on April 26^th, eight of Stockholm’s most talented architects consider the question: What do we want our city to be? Free from the constraints that define most architectural projects, the drawings, models and written statements on display push the boundaries of architectural representation. Each speculatively envisions new uses for Skeppsbron in Stockholm – one of the Swedish capital’s most symbolic, yet undervalued, inner-city sites.

Speculation has always been central to architectural practice, and Architecture Projectscelebrates the architect’s ability to make proposals that help us to see the potential of cities in a new light. Through drawings, models, words and reference objects, this exhibition reveals the beauty, depth and imaginative capacity of Swedish architecture today.

Historically, Skeppsbron has been one of the city’s most vibrant commercial centres. It stands today as a defining image of the capital. At the same time, however, it is dominated by car parking and underused public space, and there is no clear vision for how this area could be used in the future. By bringing the artistic methods and skill of eight talented architects and practices into focus, this exhibition aims to spark discussion about possible futures for Skeppsbron—and other sites like it—as an architectural, symbolic, public landscape.

“We want ArkDes to be a place that nurtures the artistic and cultural discourse of architecture, where we can rediscover the visionary creativity that exists in the field in Sweden. The drawings and models in this exhibition are monumental, and convince me that Swedish architectural culture has extraordinary depths. At ArkDes we believe in the power of the imagination to rethink the city’s most precious sites. We are so happy to be working with eight extremely talented Stockholm-based architects on this project, and we look forward to future speculations in other cities across the country,” says Kieran Long (Director, ArkDes).

Participating Architects/Practices

Esencial – Carmen Izquierdo https://www.esencial.se/ 
Elizabeth B. Hatz https://www.kth.se/profile/hatz 
Hermansson Hiller Lundberg https://www.hhl.se/ 
AT–HH https://at-hh.com/ 
OKK+ https://www.okk.nu/ 
Krupinski/Krupinska http://www.kkark.com/ 
Nilsson Rahm http://nilssonrahm.se/ 
Tor Lindstrand https://www.kth.se/profile/torl

“As Stockholm’s oldest quay, Skeppsbron and Skeppsbrokajen has a unique history as the ‘storefront’ of Sweden: a hub for the import and export of goods, a marketplace, a thoroughfare, and a metaphorical bridge between the city and the rest of Europe. Between people, ideas and goods, this was Stockholm’s foremost site of exchange,” says James Taylor-Foster, curator of the exhibition.

He continues: “In a wonderfully complex and historically-charged place, this collective effort from a group of world-class architects and practices—each bringing different approaches to and experience in the field to the table—celebrates the capacity of architecture as an imaginative force that can help us think radically and practically about the future city.”

Architecture Projects: Skeppsbron will open in Boxen at ArkDes on April 26, 2019. The vernissage will begin at 17.00 with presentations of the projects from the participating architects. The exhibition will be inaugurated at 18.00 and open thereafter with music and a bar in Café Blom.

Participating Architects: Esencial – Carmen Izquierdo, Elizabeth B. Hatz, Hermansson Hiller Lundberg, AT–HH, OKK+, Krupinski/Krupinska, Nilsson Rahm, Tor Lindstrand
Curator: James Taylor-Foster (Curator, Contemporary Architecture and Design)
Project initiated by: Kieran Long (Director)
Exhibition Design: Erik Törnkvist, ETAT ARKITEKTER
Graphic Identity: Studio Reko

About Architecture Projects

Architecture Projects is a rapid-response platform for architects to engage with the city, responding to broader discussions in which architecture has a central role. The project offers space for architects and practices of differing size and experience to be visionary: to speculate, consider and imagine the role of the architectural project in affecting different scales – from that of the interior to that of the city.

More info: https://arkdes.se/en/utstallning/arkitekturvisioner-skeppsbron/