Braided Concrete

In the park behind the National museum at Blasieholmen in Stockholm there is a new building. Two architect firms worked on this project, and the brains behind it was Stefano Mangili. But the real heroes here were the people from Strängbetong if you ask me. And apparently it is still a secret how they made the braided concrete pattern. I showed you a couple of photos last Summer from here and I remember Judith wanting to see more of the wall, so here it is.

Training Ships

HMS Antares and HMS Astera passing by the Gröna Lund amusement park on their way to Skeppsbrokajen. Two training ships belonging to the Swedish Naval Warfare Centre, or Sjöstridsskolan in Swedish. Photographed from Fjällgatan, a popular lookout point on Södermalm.

Fotografiska

I don't do museums, but I have of course been to this one, although the fika experience wasnt much to write home about. This is the Fotografiska museum at Stadsgårdskajen on Södermalm in Stockholm. Started by the Broman brothers. Photographed from Fjällgatan. And as I am a real photographer I shot this as a panorama, so this is a couple of photos stitched together. I think Fotografiska have six galleries/museums all over the world by now. The building itself was designed a century ago by the famous architect Ferdidand Broberg.

Artist at work

I was checking up on a few construction sites on Södermalm. Ersta Diakoni are building a new hospital, and on the same property, underground, a new Metro station is also in the works. And while at Ersta I walked in to their old property where you have an amazing view over Stockholm. And that is where I found her. The Artist. Totally ignoring the wonderful view and focusing that smartphone on her "fika". Coffee and a cinnamon roll. I had to constrain myself not to laugh. Then again, she was up there so she probably had a good look at the view and maybe she had already photographed it when I arrived.

Dodecahedron

A sculpture at Reimersholme. The man that made it was not a professional sculptor. He was an architect that worked a few years in Stockholm before moving to Västerås. After retiring in the mid 1980s, he lived his last years in Stockholm. His name was Hans Floderus. Oh, and yes, that is the same woman walking by the sculpture.

Tulip time

Two recent tulip photos. I had to show them to you, as William is up and running with his loooooooong series now. Taken with the mirrorless Canon on different days at two different parts of Stockholm. I found the first scene where I knew it would be. At the park at Vita Bergen. The White Mountains on Södermalm. Close to a church that sits high up on the hill. The park itself below and around the church is very popular year round. The second photo was more unexpected. There are, (still), a few places in the Capitol that I almost never visit. Reimersholme is one of those places. But I was there with a camera the other day, so chances are that you will see a few more photos from there soon. Anyhoo, the tulips were planted along the scenic beach promenade on this little island.

Maria kyrka

St. Mary Magdalene Church and cemetery, Bellmansgatan, Södermalm. Construction started in 1588. A very quiet spot in Stockholm, but at the same time just a few meters from the busy Hornsgatan street. On my recent visit, I counted maybe 7 people here. One guy reading from a bench. Three locals discussing current events. One woman just using the cemetery as a shortcut, and two people talking at the door to the old church. I decided to photograph a few headstones, and this is probably the most famous people resting here. The beloved troubadour Evert Taube, and his wife Astri.

The Seven Wells Way

Back at the Woodland Cemetery, or Skogskyrkogården. This is the 888-meter-long Seven Wells Way. Sju brunnars stig. It starts on the top of the Meditation Hill, Almhöjden, behind the group of people that you can see in the distance. It ends just behind me at one of the big chapels at the cemetery. As they walk towards the chapel, it gets darker and darker around them because of the different trees planted along the path. All thanks to the two architects that designed this World Heritage Site a century ago.

Stockholms stadsbibliotek

A famous building along Sveavägen in Stockholm that sees around one million visitors annually. The Stockholm Public Library. Designed by Gunnar Asplund, the same architect that designed the Woodland Cemetery that I have shown you quite a few photos from lately. Asplund also designed the park here, some of what you can see in the second photo. There is a big fountain in the park, but there was no water in it on this visit, so I will have to go back for that photo. I have read a couple of articles about the state of this old library recently, and one word stands out in those articles, and that word is Scandal! A lot of people want Stockholm to build a modern library, just like our neighbors have done in Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Oslo. And they want to see serious renovation plans for this classic building.

One of those days

Sköna maj. That means May, the beautiful. Winter is gone. Spring has arrived, and there is a hint of Summer in the air as everything turns green just like that. Everyone is happy, life is good. Here are four recent snaps from Stockholm. From The Kings Garden at Norrmalm. Götgatsbacken on Södermalm. And two shots from Skeppsbrokajen in Gamla stan.

Erlanderhuset

This is a fun building, at least for me as a photographer. It is known by a few different names. Dragspelet is one of them. That means Accordion. It was built back in 1962. The architect was Henning Orlando. It has just over 200 apartments. It is located up on a hill at Marieberg on Kungsholmen. One of the first people to move in was the then Prime Minister Tage Erlander so that is why the building became known as The Erlander building, or Erlanderhuset in Swedish. He lived in a five-room apartment on the seventh floor. It was shaped like this to give as many people as possible a good view from their apartments and balconies

The Graffiti Bar

Opening soon. Graffiti Kök & Bar at Tanto on Södermalm in Stockholm. Managed by Astrid Hultberg and Gabrielle Söderberg. Designed by the graffiti artist Brain, real name Lee Spångberg, (and a few of his mates), who were spraying around the corner when I snapped these photos a couple of days ago. There is a legal graffiti wall nearby, and previous owners of this café had a lot of problems with graffiti, so the new owners solved that by inviting the graffers to decorate the bar. The third photo might look like just another face, but it isnt. It's made by the street artist Martin Monet. And it depicts The Årsta Lady, who kept a diary between 1793 and 1839. If you understand the local lingo you can read some of what she wrote in the book Årstadagboken. She was friends with Bellman btw. Oh, and the face in the second photo is of Avicii. And yes, that is my ebike in the photo.

Långholmen

The old prison wall at the island of Långholmen, as well as a the prison itself can be seen in the top photo. Photographed from the Reimersholme island bridge. All the Spring colors exploded last week, which was nice. Entering the island you will often see a group of people playing boules, weather permitting of course. The third photo shows a property called Murhörnet. Translated to English, the wall corner. Also part of the big prison complex, this was the cleaning facility. Built in 1882. Today it houses a wood shop. Notice the prison bars on the first floor. The fourth shot shows the facade of the Kronohäktet. Also known as Långholmens centralfängelse. It housed up to 500 prisoners. More pleasant today as a hostel and restaurant. Just a few meters from the old prison there is today a little beach.In the background Karlhälls gård, a popular place for weddings and what have you. The last photo for today shows Sofieberg. Also known as Gröna huset, the green building. It dates back to around 1850, the style is often described with the Swedish word "Snickarglädje", you might have to Google that.

$54.5M Aircraft and a 16 photo collage

Hey I'm out plane spotting! Not really though. I was on the ebike riding over a 600 meter long arch bridge in Stockholm known as Västerbron. It can be a tough ride on windy days at least if you are not on an ebike. There are a few sections on the bridge and you can turn off the bridge at the Northern section and go over to an island called Långholmen and that is what I did. Everything turned green this last week and I wanted to beat the crowds at this little island with a rich history and many beaches. More of the history to come, but here is a Gulfstream G 550 and sixteen views from the island. Most of the buildings are on Kungsholmen, but you can also see Riddarholmen, Södermalm,Gamla stan and Norrmalm.

The Tourists

I parked the ebike on the bridge at Helgeandsholmen, a small islet that sits between the Royal Castle and Norrmalm. It houses the Parliament building, (seen here on the blog before), and down by the water, Strömparterren, (also shown here a while back), from where you can also enter the Medieval museum. The area close to the water is popular with fishers and tourists. Making my way around the area I spotted two tourists shooting selfies like crazy and when they saw me they asked if I could take one of them with their smartphone, which I of course did. A couple of minutes later they were still shooting selfies, this time from a bench outside the museum, so I walked up to them and snapped this portrait.