Stockholm - Göteborg En arkitekturhistorisk jämförelse

Abstract

This essay revolves around the differences in architecture two swedish cities display by the turn of the 19th century, the capital Stockholm and the second largest city Gothenburg. By studying two of the streets in the respective cities the ambition of this essay is to highlight the fact that there are evident variances in exterior architecture. These exists despite the streets having similarities in both time of erection and economic, social and geographical conditions. By studying the charactaristics of both streets and comparing the educational background of the originators behind the buildings an attempt of finding an answer to this peculiar situation is made. Karlbergsvägen in Stockholm is a display of the neoclassical styles commonly used in European cities by the time while Linnégatan in Gotheburg show similarities to architecture used in nothern Germany and Berlin. This is more or less obvious by the use of exposed brickwork in Gothenburg as opposed to the plastered walls of Stockholm. The results show that the answer cannot be derived from one particular reason but instead there are several strong theories for these differences to exist. For example the education given for architects in Stockholm at the time focused heavily on the neo-styles of the 19th century with extensive use of plaster and classical ornaments. In Gothenburg on the other hand the courses given in the general art of housebuilding had an emphasis on construction and natural materials used in building. In a sense a more practical education whilst the students in Stockholm received a more artistic knowledge. The role of the master builder is also a possible explanation since a lot of the master builders in Sweden during this period were immigrants from Germany. In Stockholm the impact of this was not noticable since established architects was already in charge of the buildings embodiment but in Gothenburg, where architects were scarce, master builder often filled the roles of both builder and architect. Thus the conclusion that influences from Berlin and Germany were greater in Gothenburg than in Stockholm can be made alongside with several other possible explanations.