Vasastaden, Stockholm
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Vasastaden, or colloquially Vasastan, (
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
for "Vasa town") is a 3.00 km2 large
city district A City district is a designated administrative division that is generally managed by a local government. It is used to divide a city into several administrative units. City districts are used in Russia (raion), Pakistan and Croatia ( hr, gradsk ...
in central Stockholm, Sweden, being a part of
Norrmalm Norrmalm is a city district in Stockholm, Sweden. History Norrmalm is part of the larger borough of Norrmalm (''Norrmalms stadsdelsområde''). The southern part of the district, Lower Norrmalm (''Nedre Norrmalm''), also known as City, cons ...
borough. The major parks in Vasastaden are Vasaparken and Observatorielunden near the centre and Vanadislunden and Bellevueparken in the north.


History


Vasastaden proper

The city district, most likely named after the street Vasagatan, in its turn named after King
Gustav Vasa Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksför ...
in 1885, was still a peripheral part of the city in the early 1880s. Before the end of that decade, however, some 150 buildings had been built and only the properties along
Odengatan Odengatan is a major street in the districts Vasastan and Östermalm in central Stockholm. It is connected to Vallhallavägen, from where it passes Stockholm Public Library, Odenplan, Gustaf Vasa Church and Vasaparken up to S:t Erikspla ...
remained vacant. The expansion was preceded by a city plan established in 1879, a slightly more modest edition of the 1866 intentions of city planner Albert Lindhagen, in its turn largely a continuation north of an original 17th-century plan. Like the Baroque plan, the new plan took little or no account of local topographic variations, and where the two failed to reconcile, sites were simply set aside as parks or for major structures such as the
Sabbatsberg Hospital Sabbatsberg Hospital ( Swedish: ''Sabbatsbergs sjukhus'') was a hospital in Vasastan in Stockholm. It was opened in 1879. In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was pronounced dead at 00:06 CET on March 1 at Sabbatsbergs Hospital, after havin ...
.Andersson, ''Stockholms årsringar'', pp 65-67 Compared to central Stockholm, streets were widened to 18 metres, except for the main east-west-bound street Odengatan which was made 30 metres wide and adorned with plantings after continental prototypes. In accordance with construction charters from the 1870s, building corners where filleted and building heights adopted to street width and limited to five floors — embellishing proportions intended to bring light and air into the urban space. The
Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...
plaster architecture of the middle class residential buildings in southern Vasastaden is highly reminiscent of the
Ringstraße The Vienna Ring Road (german: Ringstraße, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic Innere Stadt (Inner Town) district of Vienna, Austria. The road is located on sites where ...
in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
; the ground floors are dominated by horizontal elements with columns and
pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
s above, while accentuated cornices closes the vertical compositions. Later architects failed to appreciate these Neo-Renaissance buildings and freed many of them of most of their decorations.


Sibirien

The north-eastern part of the district is called ''Sibirien'' (Siberia in English). The area borders
Östermalm Östermalm (; "Eastern city-borough") is a 2.56 km2 large district in central Stockholm, Sweden. With 71,802 inhabitants, it is one of the most populous districts in Stockholm. It is an extremely expensive area, having the highest housing ...
but has historically been a stronghold for the working class. The origin of the name Sibirien (Eng. Siberia) originates from a time when the area was inhabited by the poor, who could not afford heating. People started to say that the area was "as cold and as far away as Siberia", hence the nickname.


Birkastaden

In the north-western corner of the district are eight blocks forming
Birkastaden Vasastaden, or colloquially Vasastan, (Swedish for "Vasa town") is a 3.00 km2 large city district in central Stockholm, Sweden, being a part of Norrmalm borough. The major parks in Vasastaden are Vasaparken and Observatorielunden near the c ...
, named after the 9th century settlement
Birka Birka (''Birca'' in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö (lit. "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of the European continent and ...
, sometimes called Rörstrandsområdet (the "Rörstrand Area") which forms the compact northern frontier of Stockholm's historical city centre. As described above, Lindhagen's original intentions for the elevated area was to keep it as a park featuring the 17th century
avenue Avenue or Avenues may refer to: Roads * Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees) * Avenue Road, Bangalore * Avenue Road, ...
of
Karlberg Palace Karlberg Palace () is a palace by the Karlberg Canal in Solna Municipality in Sweden, adjacent to Stockholm's Vasastaden district. The palace, built in 1630,Solna: Huvudsta today houses the Military Academy Karlberg. In the palace park are fou ...
. In the city plan of 1879, however, the area was divided into two large blocks, which on a request from the local landowner, porcelain factory
Rörstrand Rörstrand porcelain was one of the most famous Swedish porcelain manufacturers, with production initially at Karlbergskanalen in Birkastan in Stockholm. History The Rörstrand waterfront site was first documented in the 13th century, whe ...
, in 1886 were split up into smaller properties. This resulted in a new city plan which was adopted to local topographic variations and therefore features non-perpendicular street crossings.Andersson, pp 73-75 Few buildings were constructed before the start of the 20th century, but construction work soon boomed to culminate in 1905–06, speculation causing many buildings to change owners several times before their completion. Virtually all the buildings in Birkastaden are Art Nouveau, a result of both the brief construction period and the fact that some 50 buildings were designed by architects Dorph & Höög, at the time the largest architectural practice in Northern Europe. The buildings of Birkastan features oriel windows, towers on the corners, rounded
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...
s and bright, plain plaster façades with thrifty decorations. As a result of speculation, the backyards are narrow, and many flats shadowy. From the start, however, Birkastan was a mixed area shared by both low and high income earners.


Röda bergen

Röda bergen ("Red Mountains"), the hilly area just north of Birkastan, was unsuitable for the regular and perpendicular street pattern envisaged for Vasastaden, but proved excellent for the new city planning ideals where the terrain was allowed to govern city plans. The plan for Röda Bergen was designed by P O Hallman, who during the 1910s also produced similar plans for
Lärkstaden Lärkstaden (Swedish for "Lark City") is an urban area within the city district of Östermalm in central Stockholm, Sweden. The name originates from the large block "Lärkan" which used to dominated the area before the present buildings were ...
inspired by the ideas of Austrian architect
Camillo Sitte Camillo Sitte (17 April 1843 – 16 November 1903) was an Austrian architect, painter and urban theorist whose work influenced urban planning and land use regulation. Today, Sitte is best remembered for his 1889 book, ''City Planning According to ...
. His plan for Röda Bergen was adopted in 1909, but because of World War I most of these plans remained unrealised until the 1920s. In 1923 the plan, slightly modified by
Sigurd Lewerentz Sigurd Lewerentz (29 July 1885 – 29 December 1975) was a Swedish architect. Biography Lewerentz was born at Sandö in the parish of Bjärtrå in Västernorrland County, Sweden. He was the son of Gustaf Adolf Lewerentz and Hedvig Mathild ...
, was finally established.Andersson, pp 109-111 The buildings facing the surrounding blocks are traditional 5–6 floors residential buildings forming a wall around Röda Bergen. From the monumental eastern entrance, an avenue (Rödabergsgatan) leads west to a round elevated space where a church was originally planned. Perpendicular to this avenue, the heavily trafficked Torsgatan cuts through the area. The blocks within Röda Bergen are limited to 2–3 floors and most of the backyards are open in one end, which allows for plenty of sun light and series of spaces appealing to the eye. Hallman's design was a sharp break with the contemporary narrow, dark, and often filthy backyards. In contrast to them, the involved architects — including Björn Hedwall,
Paul Hedqvist Paul Hedqvist (21 July 1895 Stockholm - 23 June 1977) was a Swedish modernist architect with many official commissions in Sweden through the 1930s, including housing projects, major bridges, many schools, and urban planning work. His practice e ...
, and Sven Wallander — carefully detailed the façades and gables facing the interior with simple classical ornaments and warm red and yellow colours. Of the 2.500 flats in the area, many included novelties such as warm and cold water, WC, and even bath tubes, but most of them were small — half of them was a single room with a kitchen or even less.


Atlas

The area next to the Sankt Eriksbron bridge was until the turn of century 1900 a heavily industrial district. The Atlas Area, east of the bridge and named after industrial company Atlas AB whose workshops used to occupy the area, presents features unique to Stockholm. The plan for the area was passed in 1926 and construction works immediately followed. In contrast to the newly built Röda Bergen, much of which was built by HSB, the builders at Atlas were private entrepreneurs. While this resulted in a much criticized high exploitation, the city building committee in 1926 concluded the area could boast an intelligible order and a regularity the neighbouring Rörstrand Area still couldn't present notwithstanding recent redesign attempts.Andersson, pp 117-119 The most striking feature of Atlas is the level difference between the surrounding streets and the area itself. Like at Röda Bergen, the buildings delimiting Atlas form a coherent wall where the exterior façades are six floors tall while the interior façades are nine floors tall. The buildings inside the area are 5–6 floors, concealing the dark narrow backyards while separated by widened streets with plantations. The difference in level was solved by mean of monumental flights of stairs resulting in the tall porticoes leading into the area. The flats in Atlas were small — 1–2 rooms and a kitchen — and dark — a result of exploitation and the wide building volumes — but featured modernities such as central heating and bathrooms. The reduced classical ornamentation and the perpendicular plan has, however, given the area a monumentality which is characteristic for the National Romantic Swedish architecture of the 1920s. The contrast between the heavily trafficked surroundings streets and the calm interior of Atlas, brilliantly exposed through the large porticoes, still makes Atlas a popular area.


Notes


References

* {{Authority control Districts of Stockholm