West Harbour II

Yesterdays post was about Malmö's Vestra Hamnen (West Harbour) area. The tale continues here.

A hundred years ago there was nothing here. 40 years later this was an artificial island with one of Europe's biggest submarine shipyards with huge cranes and assembly halls and docks. This heavy industry is all gone now and has been replaced in the last 10 years by residences, office blocks and a university.

One of the clauses in the construction contracts states that for every sq. meter of office or residence a proportional area should be laid out as a green area. I confess that I'm a bit envious that the Swedes have managed to create such a lovely area, where we on the other side of Øresund just let the companies build whatever they like. I know that the construction companies in this area have had some heavy restrictions on their buildings, but isn't that exactly what the municipality should do to control the development of its areas? I think so.

In tomorrows post I'll hop back to Copenhagen and show you a coffin that has been debated for the last 13 years.

West Harbour I

The area of Västra Hamnen (West Harbour) in Malmö, Sweden, not only have the Turning Torso from yesterdays post, but also a sprawling city of its own. The houses here were built at the same time as the skyscraper, but on a much lower scale. Even though they were built at the same time, no two houses are the same. It's a mix of one, two, three and four storey buildings with different colours, materials and designs. Among the houses are small playgrounds, gardens and streams to make this a nice place to live.

The cars are mainly left outside of the whole area, so it's a pedestrian heaven. There's a lot of cafés and restaurants along with some nice shops (and a huge mega store), and the promenade gives the casual stroller a wonderful view to Øresund and Øresund Bridge. It even got its very own marina, where some house boats make an alternative living possible.

It's obvious that this is a well-thought-out area. And it's very popular. I didn't notice a single empty flat other than those that were under construction. Tomorrow I'll tell you a little more about Västra Hamnen.

A Turning Torso

I know, this looks like some giant child took his plastic model of a skyscraber and twisted it in a fit of rage, but in fact it's the tallest building in Scandinavia. As I warned yesterday, I would make a bit of a jump. This one is not in Copenhagen, not even in Denmark. It's in Malmö, Sweden, just 30 minutes by train from Copenhagen and just across the strait of Øresund. It's situated in a newly developed area called Västra Hamnen (West Harbour) and is quite a dominant feature here. You can actually see it from Copenhagen on a clear day, so I hope I'm forgiven this deviation from my theme.

The name is Turning Torso and it was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. It was finished in 2005 with a height of 190 m and 54 stories. The bottom two segments are offices and the rest is residential; 147 luxury apartments. The idea was to give Malmö a new skyline after the demolition of shipyard Kockum's gantry crane in 2002.



I'm normally not in awe about sky scrapers but I must admit, this one I love. Though I'm sure it'll be a challenge to furnish these apartments! And I know I couldn't live there, vertigo would set in the second I looked out of the window, so this is a no-go for me.


Tomorow I'll show you a bit of the surrounding area.