Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

Swedish Googie design

Written by Chris Alm • April 20th, 2006
Swedish Googie design

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.

Source Jörnmark   

Chris Alm

Christopher founded Ultra Swank in 2005. Has a crush on mid-century graphic design, defunct airlines, Disneyland and the Century 21 Exposition. Is a collector of easy listening music from the 60s and 70s and a Swedish expat living in Barcelona, Spain.

Find out more about Chris Alm

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