Architecture is Not Something You Can Understand Just by Looking at the Apparent - III

You are now about to read the third part of my Stockholm series in which I try to merge the information I gained from various sources with what I understood from the city and what my personal experience has been, collected under four topics: Sunlight, Water, Life Style and the State. “When the visible things in cites are abstracted from the invisible relations, we lose the deep perspective with regards to the meaning of the place,” I wrote in the first part, aiming to define a contextual frame. You can read the “Sunlight” section here; and the second part about “Water and Lifestyle” here.

The State
In the previous installment of the series, I briefly talked about the economic organization of the city, and the life of its citizens, centered on a sense of trust between the state and the citizen. The creation processes of the city, like most of everything else in it, are under the strict control of the government. I should remind you that even though the economic system is under pressure to undergo changes by the current neo-liberal policies, it wasn’t until very recently that people were given the right to private property in the city. That knowledge should not lead you think that the life led at the time lacked certain securities. It is almost impossible to deport a tenant citizen residing in buildings belonging to the state or to the private companies, who is often paying rather reasonable amounts in rent. Moreover, as the tenant, your children can inherit the right to your rented property. These policies free people from a profit-oriented life; and force us to question the merit of our constant money-making in the system we live in, a system that dictates your only sense of security to come from material wealth.

This strict control over the residence production in the city makes the city center extremely valuable. You can be on the waiting list for years to rent a house in certain neighborhoods. The unique qualities of the present economic system, though controlled, still cause a level of socio-economic disintegration. A significant symptom of such disintegration can be seen in the demographical differences between the city center and suburbs. Other symptoms include the high number of people who live on the streets in the city center, and the beggars you encounter almost anywhere.

With the state that turning its aesthetic policy that aims at “accessible and functional creations” into tradition that shapes the life in the city; the high standards set for construction works and the frequency of auditing mechanisms have enabled in Sweden testing grounds for plenty of different and qualified creations that reflect the architectural approaches of their time. This tradition of creating a city goes beyond the aesthetic of assembled DIY furniture. Sweden is an advanced country in research methods and as well as in applications of constructional technologies, with dozens of private education and research institutions specializing on sustainability and energy.

19th century historic buildings, modernist “social residences” from the 1920s, the post-World War II social housing estates in suburban areas called “the Million Program”, and post-modernist residences and offices downtown… Cultural institutions, shopping malls and bazaars, all shaped by different contemporary architecture practices and styles of their relevant historical periods. Despite the heated discussions and occasional protests at the construction and destruction of these buildings, all these layers coexist side by side with each other, intertwined with one another, and always together.

Stockholm is getting ready for an intense new construction period, similar to ones it went through in the early days of the 20th century and in the days following World War II. The plans aiming to intensify different neighborhoods in the city center and the suburbs and to create new urban spaces are currently being shaped by bargains between the government and the construction companies, with various shareholders included in the process. From what I heard from many people, however, it is not really possible to say that the process is proceeding in a desirably transparent way. The construction companies are trying to reshape the city through structural changes via detailed plans in putting state properties to use while avoiding possible debates; these stories remind one of the situations in Turkey.

In the Stockholm example, however, the legal mechanisms that inspect these processes are quite preemptive, and give more power to the hands of citizens and institutions involved. The instruments have been standardized in the internal structures of many municipal organs, allowing citizens to actively participate in the planning and managing processes. Those who partake in these instruments are trained public servants, academicians and people from relevant professional fields like design, planning, psychology, law and other fields needed by the process. The long-term experiences in these matters give those involved a chance to learn a lot on participating in local governance through various case studies.

Stockholm, in the middle of nature, becomes stronger through the richness of its sectors focused on technology and design. The life and fashion style labeled “hipster” is not a role taken on by people, but a natural result of the current life in the city. The Nordic aesthetic revered by social media accounts is not a forced creation built on shaky grounds, but a formation that erupted from a life of complex emotional relationships.

The character of Stockholm resembles the character of its own citizens: It is relaxed and friendly on your first encounter, but difficult to form a sense of long-term sincerity with. Yet this situation becomes an invitation to further explore its ways rather than discouragement not to do so.