Architecture

White Arkitekter completed this project in 2011. It belongs to the Rezidor Hotel Group, holds 3,000 guests and encompasses offices and a hotel tower. Encased by 21km of stainless-steel bars (giving it the nickname Mälarkronan, or “the Crown of Lake Mäkaren”), it’s one of the world’s most energy-efficient buildings: its glass façade comprises more than 1,000 sq m of solar collectors and the building is cooled with water from the lake. The woody interior is courtesy of RPW Design.

Architect Peter Celsing designed the home of the Swedish Film Institute in 1970. “No ordinary bloody building,” was what institute founder Harry Schein asked for. He wasn’t disappointed.  

The brutalist structure lies north of the Gärdet plain and features two screening rooms – Victor (364 seats) and Mauritz (130 seats) – as well as a restaurant and a library that’s devoted to literature on film. The entire place is shaped like a camera and the rectangular windows were designed to resemble the perforated edge of film. The neon-lit Bauhaus-style lettering on the exterior is a nod to the golden age of Hollywood and the long incline that leads to the entrance helps to raise the expectation as you enter. The interior was recently revamped by AIX Arkitekter.

Considered by some to be Europe’s first skyscrapers and conceived in 1919 by architect Sven Wallander, the 60-metre King’s Towers were completed between 1924 and 1925. Wallander’s design for the north tower was inspired by US architect Louis Sullivan, the “father of skyscrapers”. The south tower was created by Ivar Callmander.