This is the third post in my series about my favorite architects from the golden days of architecture. We are going back to Scandinavian design again, allow me to introduce Arne Jacobsen, one of the forefathers of Danish Modernism and Functionalism.

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This is a continuation of my posts about my favourite architects from the golden days of architecture (this one is for you janepeepshow). Second up is Eero Saarinen, originally born in Finland in 1910. Relocated to the United States when his family emigrated there in 1923, where he began to study sculpture and furniture design. Saarinen however pursued his ambition to become an architect, his resume contains over 20 buildings.

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I have a passion for amazing architecture and special types of buildings. Hard to describe the feeling you get when looking at something beautiful, it is like a gut feeling and it feels pleasant. I have been thinking for quite some time now of getting some posts up of favorite architects from the golden days of architecture, thank you janepeepshow for your inspiration! First off is Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, usually just referred to as Mies van der Rohe.

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Malmö’s first skyscraper (and one of Sweden’s earliest) was built in 1964 and namned Kronprinsen (The Crown Prince). It stands 27 floors tall and features 700 apartments which can house as many as 3 000 people. The cost of building it was a staggering 90 million SEK (approx. $12 000 000). Standing at the top of the building, on the visitors terrace, one could see all the way over to Copenhagen on clear days. Using the binoculars placed there for viewing pleasure, you could probably also see right into the famous SAS-hotel designed by Arne Jacobsen.

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I recently discovered a Swedish website that featured abandoned and disused places, buildings and what not. One of the locations was one of those old motel / restaurant / bar establishment thingies that was a common sight along the Swedish highways up to the 1980s. The interesting thing about this place is the design. It looks like nothing I have seen before, at least not in Sweden and I was delighted to find out that even a small country like Sweden got a touch of the famous Googie design that was very common in California, USA in the 1950s and 1960s. You can also clearly see it was inspired by the American model of combining roadside motels and diners together.

The place is called Brännebrona Wärdshus och Motell (Brännnebrona Diner and Motel) and I guess it is located near Brännebrona on one of the main roads. It is no longer in use and probably haven’t seen a customer for a decade or so, although I hear they are trying to find a new buyer for the place to fix it up (numerous people have tried and failed). I guess the location is not that great.

If nothing interesting happens I assume they will level the place to the ground in a near future. Would be better to leave it as a museum or roadside architecture for people to enjoy and remember a past time, when things were a bit simpler and happier. (Via)

I’ve always had a keen interest in architecture, but nowadays it seams bigger than ever. Probably because I have been lucky enough to find some interesting books at my college library about the modernism and functionalism in Sweden. The modernism architecture was introduced in Sweden during the Stockholm International Fair in 1930 and really set a standard for the design and lifestyle during the following decades. Everything looked clean, simple and functional, hence the word functionalism.

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