Cycling home from my short visit to the Tyresta National Park recently I decided to bike home via Brandbergen where I took one, (1), photo. Of a newish apartment building close to the mall. Called Tornet. The Tower. The jury is still out whether it is cool or just ugly. I have heard both opinions, but my photography eye likes it.
Cycling home a few days ago I decided to stop at Brandbergen in Haninge. This is a newish apartment building just a short walk down the street from the rebuilt shopping mall.
I took a walk at a newly redeveloped area in Haninge two days ago. Brandbergen. A place with a bad reputation. This new apartment building looks kinda nice though. A few more snaps from here to come, stay tuned.
This is Tornet. The Tower. It is an 18-story-high rise, currently under construction at the Brandbergen mall in Haninge. Last time I was here, there were no balconies, so I guess that counts as progress! In total, there will be six new buildings here with around 400 apartments. The architect firm is Urban Couture.
Part of the new building, Tornet "The Tower" at the Brandbergen mall. This part of the building looks like it will be 10 stories high. The real tower will be constructed next to it and will be a bit higher. Built by Savana.
Cycling through this ugly underpass at Brandbergen a couple of days ago I noticed two workers standing there looking at the blue sign that they had just put up. Translated it reads: I will play in the future. Looks like it will be lit up so maybe it looks better at night. I'm guessing it is part of the ongoing project to light up dark passages around Haninge. Cycling back later they were busy with another sign nearby so I will check out that one later.
Another photo used in a Facebook quiz. The top photo that is. I figured it would be tricky, but someone figured it out. A gable at the new retirement home,(second photo), in Brandbergen. It is called Villa Tjädern,(wood grouse). In the foreground, you can see the miniature golf course at Haninge Bangolf.
Around 11 000 people live in Brandbergen. A suburb in Haninge that was part of the Million Programme. Half a century later it is time to renovate the mall and build new apartments. This was the big parking deck at the mall up until a few weeks ago. I was last there last Summer shopping for a BBQ at Villa Blåmes. I remember discussing how badly the place needed some renovation while we were driving up the uneven ramp, and now it is finally happening. The architects are Koen Kragting & Louise Jalilian at Urban Couture Arkitekter.
Sixty new apartments under construction at Vendelsömalmsvägen. The builder is Danator. In the background the new retirement home Villa Tjädern that will open up next month.
The miniature golf course at Brandbergen. The background has changed a bit since I was last in the area. It used to be a parking lot where a couple of times every year a travelling tivoli would set up shop. There have been a few arson attacks here in the last few years. A car dealership was destroyed in a fire. The area was declared more or less unsafe by the locals. A man was found dead in an old caravan next to a preschool. Vattenfall's building was left abandoned before it was demolished. So quite a lot of bad news. But now Danator AB are building a four storey retirement home here and also sixty apartments. So I guess that is good news. The area will also get a new walkway and bike path.
Brandbergen in Handen was part of the million programme. The architect who designed the suburb was Gustaf Lettström. The name Brandbergen comes from a big fire here back in the 1940s when this was just a big forest. Around 12 000 people live here today. This is by far the ugliest tower block here and it really needs a face-lift!
There's a big forest in Handen. It is popular with joggers as there are lots of different trails here. I have used it a few times, but it was a few years ago now. There's a little hill here and from the top you can see a few local landmarks, including the renovated water towers and old city hall, also renovated and turned into apartments. And on that hill you can also see these poles and wires with the high rises in Brandbergen as a backdrop.
The most brutal park bench I have found on my photo excursions around Haninge. And it is facing the wrong way, away from the soccer court/basketball court.
This type of border stone in known as a Gränsröse in Swedish. You will find this one in Brandbergen in Handen. Back in the day it was a boundary stone in Österhaninge socken,which was part of Sotholms Härad. The guy in the background is my friend Jim. And while I shot this Brenizer Method photo of the gränsröse with my 85mm lens, Jim was busy shooting a 3D type of photo. Also known as Hyperlapse.
I visited the Brandbergen festival in Handen during our National Day earlier in the week. And here are a collage of snaps plus a slideshow with photos from that visit. There was a tivoli with rides for the children. A lot of food were offered. Some of the political parties were presest as were a few local organisations. I watched a dance show, chatted with a few familiar people, including the local Santa!, a clown and a blacksmith. I also met a few new faces, including Margareta Exström (the lady with the hat), and of course the cute police officer.
I had an encounter with the police yesterday. And a very good looking police officer it was. So much so that I managed to forget her name!We met during the National Day celebrations that took place in Brandbergen.
Say hello to Jacko. He is a very good looking White Cockatoo. I met him and his human outside the Brandbergen mall a couple of days ago. Jacko didn't say much, but he did like the attention he got. He was sitting on the shopping cart so I'm guessing that he was going shopping for seeds and fruits with his human.
I visited a Summer Festival on Saturday. In Brandbergen. That's where I met Jacob and Åsa. Two police officers working from the Brandbergen station. It was a warm and sunny day, and everyone seemed happy, so it wasn't a very hard day for the officers. But they were in fact bribed during the day. I happened to overhear that conversation, so I demanded the same bribe, and a minute later we were all enjoying a free ice cream! I also met the new Mayor Martina Mossberg and we talked about politics for a while. I mentioned that I would blog about the festival and Martina told me that she had seen some of my photos. Two good bands were playing. Indoors you could listen to The Taxi Stand Steel Band. I have seen them before and they are always fantastic. The other band I saw was Doktor Krall. They play music from the 50s and 60s. They were joined by a singer called Tess Mercedes. Everyone gets hungry during a festival so there was a BBQ run by a local association called Samarkand. They got a bit exited when they noticed my camera, and a bit disappointed when I wasn't shooting for a newspaper. You could also enjoy African food. I took a portrait of a young man called Hesam, he is a police volunteer and a future police offer, we discussed photography which is one of his new hobbies. I also snapped a photo of a colorful clown who was busy making balloon animals for visiting kids. To see all photos (including a mishap for the police offocers), check out the slideshow above.
