Sweden's smörgåsbord of Architecture
Sweden is an astounding country being the home of Ikea, smörgåsbord, ABBA, Max Burger and incredibly successful in Eurovision. Today is the National day of Sweden, so what better way to celebrate than to delve into the top five picks of architecture throughout this stunningly modern Scandinavian country.
Words by Lauren Beeching
The Treehouse Hotel MirrorCube - Harads
Scandinavian design has a status for being cool, understated and discreet, so it's fitting that the unique Mirrorcube room forms part of one of Sweden's trendiest hotels. Based about 50km outside of the city of Lulea in northern Sweden, Treehotel is a breathtaking eco-friendly hotel poised of five uniquely designed 'treerooms', each created in corporation with top Scandinavian architects. The most famous and sought after room is 'The Mirrorcube' which was designed by Tham & Videgard, and is an indisputable hideaway. The cube, measuring 4x4x4m is covered in mirrors which reflect the surroundings of nature, concealing the man-made residence from the natural landscape that surrounds it. The design worked almost too well and created problems. Being unnoticeable from certain angles, its designers had to invent a way to stop birds from flying into it and came to the solution of covering the walls with infrared film which is invisible to humans but highly visible to birds.
Image by @iyhellysaz
Restaurant Tusen - Ramundberget
Hidden deep away in the stunning snow peaks of the little picturesque Swedish ski resort Ramundberget, this round restaurant created by Murman Arkitekter Studio merges flawlessly with its untouched surroundings. With the clever use of untreated birch logs which frame the structure giving it a natural bird's nest look, the restaurant's design was inspired by the indigenous Sami people who built huts for centuries in Sweden..
Turning Torso- Malmö
Situated in Malmö, Sweden, the HSB Turning Torso is the tallest skyscraper in Sweden and also of all the Nordic countries. When the structure was completed it was also the tallest skyscraper in Scandinavia, the highest residential structure in the EU and the second tallest residential building in all Europe, with the primary building being the Triumph Palace in Moscow. The name of the building and its design were inspired by a sculpture called Twisting Torso created by the same artist of the building Santiago Calatrava, a famous engineer, architect and sculptor.
Image by @chocfrogs
Scandic Victoria Tower - Stockholm
This impressive looking 34-story hotel is not only the tallest in Stockholm, but in all of Scandinavia. Designed by Wingårdh Arkitektkontor, the Victoria Tower stands out among its neighbours and acts as an icon of the surrounding area. A mirage of carefully arranged colourful glass prisms helps present a fusion of Scandinavian modernism. The Victoria Tower incorporates eight different types of glass distributed randomly over the surface so that no regular pattern can be detected, giving it the incredible feature of looking different when seen from altered angles. It is definitely a stand out piece of architecture when visiting Stockholm.
Image by Björn Viktor Ängerfors @angerforce
IceHotel - Jukkasjärvi
The world's first Ice Hotel was created in Sweden, known as the melting hotel; it is 200km north of the Arctic Circle, founded in 1989. Different artists and ice experts create new rooms during an eight week period between October and December each year. The hotel itself consists of around 1000 tons of ice which is cut from the frozen Torne River in Jukkasjärvi and on average takes three months to melt and return to Mother Nature every spring. This is what makes the Ice Hotel even more joyful, you get a new hotel and art installation every year.
Image by @evelinahj
Glad Nationaldag på er!
