More retro Swedish postcard goodness for all of you to enjoy. There were a large number of postcards produced from the late 1940s to early 1980s here in Sweden. The future looked optimistic, new buildings were popping all around the country and of course it had to be depicted on a postcard to that you could send it to your near and loved ones - even though many of the buildings were horribly boring and unattractive. Below are some examples of better cards.

Ultra Swank continues to collaborate with British lifestyle magazine Chic Today and today the second article from me was published in their magazine. It is called A New Skyline and focuses its attention on the architectural changes in the western harbor in Malmö, Sweden. Not more than 20 years ago it was a rural and industrial area. Today it is a upscale and chic residential area with a 54 story designers dream skyscraper as its crown jewel. Comments are as always much appreciated.

Oh and by way, Ultra Swank celebrated its 3 year anniversary on September 1st!

Chic Today Issue 19 - Vanishing Worlds (Online version)
Chic Today Issue 19 - Vanishing Worlds (PDF version)

Here are two postcards showing the old NK department store in Malmö, Sweden. NK (Nordiska Kompaniet / The Nordic Company) is one of the oldest merchandise companies in Sweden. The first, and biggest store opened in Stockholm in 1915 and featured Sweden's first escalators. Soon NK also had stores in Gothenburg and Malmö. The department store in Malmö was opened in 1963, but it was short lived due to very high maintenance costs. I remember visiting NK in Malmö when I was younger in the mid 1980s, I believe that the store was closed just a couple of years later. The building still stands there today, but it has been converted to a indoor shopping arcade called Hansa Compagniet - a very boring and typical looking shopping place.

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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