Page 117 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Stockholm

KUNGSHOLMEN  115

4 Rålambshovs­ of Lake Mälaren. German
parken experts dominated the
architectural competition
Map 1 B3.  Fridhemsplan. @ 1, 4, launched in 1930, but their
40, 56, 57, 62, 74. S plans were imple mented by
Swedish architects and
Rålambshovparken was created engineers, and the bridge
in 1935, when the Västerbron was was completed in 1935.
built. It adjoins other green areas, The attractive design blends
including Smedsudden and well with the landscape. The
Marieberg and Fredhäll parks. bridge is built in two spans of The Orb (1970) by Elli Hemberg in front
These open spaces attract 168 m (551 ft) and 204 m (669 ft) of Riksarkivet
joggers and sun-bathers. In with a vertical clearance of 26 m
summer it is possible to swim (85 ft). It is used by an average copper sculpture, Freedom our
from the beach at Smedsudden of 12,000 vehicles daily. A walk Watchword, made in 1951.
or the cliffs at Fredhäll. to the centre of Västerbron is The offices of Svenska
When the city celebrated its rewarded with a magnificent Dagbladet are not as richly
700th anniversary in 1953, an view of central Stockholm. decorated as their neighbours’,
amphitheatre was opened in but they are no less interesting
Rålambshovsparken, and a architecturally. The building was
paddling pool and playgrounds 6 Marieberg inspired by Pirelli’s high-rise
were added. The park has been Map 1 A3.  Thorildsplan. @ 1, 49, offices in Milan and designed by
enhanced with Elli Hemberg’s 56, 62. Riksarkivet Tel 010 476 71 00. Tengbom Architects in 1960–2.
sculpture The Butterfly, Eric The third interesting build ing
Grate’s Monument to an Axeman, The area at the northern end in Marieberg is Riksarkivet, the
Judgement by Egon Möller- of Västerbron, Marieberg, was state archive. It was built in 1968
Nielsen and Lars Erik Falk’s once known for its porcelain by architects Åke Ahlström and
Colour Tower. factory and military installations. Kjell Åström. Riksarkivet is one of
But since the early 1960s it Sweden’s oldest public bodies,
has become the city’s main dating from the Middle Ages. At
newspaper district and the the entrance is Elli Hemberg’s
home of three of the four iron sculpture, The Orb. The
Stockholm dailies. main hall, which has 56 seats for
The architect Paul Hedqvist’s researchers and 18 individual
98.6-m (323-ft) high building for study rooms, is dominated by
Dagens Nyheter and Expressen is Lennart Rodhe’s tapestry,
one of the city’s landmarks. Symbol in the Archive, created by
The neon sign that tops the the Friends of Handicrafts. In an
building at Gjörwellsgatan 30 adjoining room the public has
Rålambshovsparken on the north side was designed by P O Ultvedt, access to archive documents,
of Västerbron who also created the relief at microfilm and microfiche.
the entrance. Works of art Among the archives is one
5 Västerbron include Lennart Rodhe’s walls of the world’s largest books –
made from glazed stoneware, the accounts for the province
Map 1 B4. @ 4, 40, 74.
Day and Night, and Arne Jones’ of Östergötland dating from
As Stockholm expanded and car sculpture Nova. Some older 1813. It has 12,390 pages,
use increased in the 1920s, it works of art were brought from weighs 42 kg (93 lb) and is
became necessary to build an the papers’ original building in 1.13 m (3 ft 8 inches) wide.
additional bridge between the the central Klara district, Guided tours of Riksarkivet
northern and southern shores including Stig Blomberg’s can be arranged.

Meaning “The Western Bridge”, Västerbron opened in 1935 to link Kungsholmen with Södermalm across Lake Mälaren

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