Daily insights for city builders, delivered every morning at 6 AM ET. I’m Brandon Donnelly — a Toronto-based real estate developer and founder of Globizen. I’ve been writing here since 2013.
This stool, Stool 60, was originally designed in 1933 by celebrated Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. And it’s pretty much perfect, which is why the design has remained untouched for almost a century. But here’s an interesting collaboration. Wood Wood — a Danish streetwear and design company — approached Artek — the furniture company that Aalto, his wife, and others founded — to see if they could experiment with different color stains for the stool. The objective was to still allow the natural grain of the birch to come through, but to also add some color, so as to get people to relook and what is for many people a very familiar piece of furniture. The result is three new colours: bothnia blue, powder pink, and factory yellow. I think they’re beautiful. There is also a good story behind them. And isn’t that often what we end up buying — a narrative?
Feargus O’Sullivan is back with another Bloomberg CityLab article about “the iconic home designs that define our global cities.” In this recent article he focuses on the Barnrikehus of Stockholm (and also talks about Sweden’s housing market in general). Originally built in the 1930s, the slab-like midrise buildings were largely intended to address two pressing problems: 1) the need for affordable housing and 2) Sweden’s incredibly low birthrate (supposedly the lowest in Europe at the time).
The Barnrikehus template was deployed on the edges of Stockholm and other Swedish cities. The designs were/are fairly simple. Very little ornament (this is Scandinavia). Four or five storeys usually. And no more than about 12 meters deep. This allowed for better natural ventilation, which was important for stymying the spread of tuberculosis. The rents were also heavily subsidized and declined even further with every child in the family. In other words: the more kids you had, the less rent you had to pay.
The suites were fairly compact, with many around the 430 square foot mark. This kind of space might have housed a family of six according to O’Sullivan. But compared to the other available housing options at the time, this was a significant improvement. Perhaps not surprisingly, these “child-rich houses” (which is how the name translates) developed the same kind of social housing stigma that was prevalent in many other countries and cities around the world.
But that perception changed over time and, today, these rent-controlled apartments are apparently highly sought after. (Here’s a listing to give you a taste of what they’re like.) Originally on the fringe of cities like Stockholm, they are now very well located and offer a high standard of living. (You also can’t go wrong with white walls and pale woods.) To learn more about the evolution of Stockholm’s depression-era housing, click here.
I love the Junction. I’m planning to move to the Junction. And we have a development project in the area called Junction House. So know that I am entirely biased when I talk about this neighborhood.
One spot that wasn’t on the list is the Italian restaurant, Nodo. Big fan of this place. Great pastas. Great negronorum. Yes, the plural of negroni is allegedly negronorum.
Many people only think of it as civilized airport travel. But it also provides an incredible inner city service. It shows you the potential of Regional Express Rail in this region. We need more of this.
We’ll be providing an update on Junction House very soon and I’ll be sure to blog it. So stay tuned.
A new treehouse at the Treehotel in northern Sweden just opened up this week. (Their website wasn’t working at the time of writing this post.)
It was designed by the Oslo and New York-based Snøhetta. All 6 of the cabins at the Treehotel were designed by Scandinavian architects.
The treehouse is clad in charred-timber (on trend right now) and is raised 10m (~3 storeys) up into the air to provide views out to the landscape. The underside of the treehouse, which is visible as you walk up its stairs, is finished with a black and white image of a forest. According to Dezeen, the architect calls it the sixth facade.
Below is what that looks like. (Photo by Johan Jansson via designboom.)
The net you (hopefully) see in the middle of the treehouse is so that you can sleep outside and stare up at the aurora borealis. The treehouse itself is 55 square meters (almost 600 square feet) and is designed to accommodate 5 guests. It has 2 bedrooms. I guess the 5th person has to sleep outside on the net terrace.
Seeing this project has me excited to be back in the mountains next month.
