Posthuset blir hotell En studie av Centralposthuset i Göteborg och dess omvandling

Abstract

This essay in Art History treats the former Central Post Office in Gothenburg, Sweden, and its recent transformation into a luxury hotel. The magnificent original building in neo-classical style, inaugurated in 1925, has been supplemented by a twelve stories high tower in postmodern style containing hotel rooms and suites, creating a complex architecture. The approach of this essay is that of “lived architecture”, that is, how people experience and act in relation to the building. It is argued that the history of the building is rewritten in the marketing of the hotel and the management’s concept of creating a comfortable “mini-world” for its guests. This makes it a hyper-real phenomenon in Baudrillard’s sense of the term.