Narratives: City Block Episodes /
Berättelser: Kvartersepisoder
Stockholm Architecture Triennial 2024
Date: August 31 - November 24, 2024
Location: Färgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden
Program: Exhibition
Curator: Karolina Keyzer
Collabolators: Richard Poland, Guy Liogier, Alva Bäckman Sanne
Material: Eco-certified OSB-3 panels
Organic paint: Toniton
Narratives: City Block Episodes is an urban narrative exploring rhythm, diversity, and nuance through an expressive, formative composition of a city block. The approximately 2x2x2m model depicts the character of a Stockholm city block and is composed of three distinct volumes rendered in three corresponding colors. The Stadskvarter volume is placed on its side, revealing the contrast between the volumetric diversity of the inner yard and the ordered, unified character of the outer surface. This contrast is typical for Stockholm blocks: to the external viewer, the image appears reduced, ordered, and monolithic; to those with access to the inner yard, it reveals a more complex, spontaneous, and diverse environment.
The volume forms a cubic shape composed of 222 units representing apartments, layered in six rows—representative of six floors. Stadskvarter contributes to the iconic cityscape image of Stockholm, while many architects challenge the dogmatic urban structure of the Stockholm city block.
Constructed from eco-certified OSB3 boards and painted with biodegradable, VOC- and microplastic-free organic paint by Toniton, the installation emphasizes a commitment to sustainability, circularity of materials, and innovation in the building industry. Color plays an important role, highlighting the introduction of a building scale within the block structure, with a palette characteristic of the Stockholm context.
The model’s structure also responds to the peculiar context of Färgfabriken’s big hall. On one side, oriented toward the wall, the model is solid with three large openings that relate to the exterior windows of the hall. On the other side, the model is largely transparent, composed of finer elements that reflect Färgfabriken’s intricate structural framework.
© Johan Österholm
The important part of the installation is its afterlife following the exhibition, changing its ‘scale of domesticity’: the model is disassembled into 36 composite units which are repurposed as domestic furniture and shared with the fellow Stockholmers.
