Public Projects
THE CLOWN WITHIN US
The work with the clown is almost finished. Now she is resting for a while to get her final patina. Nature takes care of it entirely on its own. The square where the sculpture will be located is under construction and the planned deployment will be later in 2023.
The sculpture is in many ways a reaction to my own thoughts about respect, power and the fact that we all tend to be to be easily offended. These rumination led me to make this sculpture, which will be erected in Kråkbergsparken in Österåker. A monumental work in cast iron weighing 1300 kg. The name of the work is ”Clownen inom oss" (The clown within us) and is implicitly about a number of questions. The sculpture alludes to our times and how we relate to each other. An affirmation of something that we might need to do more often: Bring out our inner clown, dare to laugh with each other, at each other, and ourselves. To be kind and then again, avoid being too easily offended. Simply, dare to put on the red clown nose now and then!
Project: Illuminated Sculpture, landmark
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Photo cred: Johan Ferner Ström
Category: Public art, Illuminated
Location: Kråbergsparken
Client: Österåker muncipality
Thanks to: Saga Bolin Ström (portrait model), Joakim Målare/Nioform and Tierps Järnbruk
CAPSICUM ANNUUM
This sculpture contains a certain amount of illumination, which is appreciated in a country with a lot of darkness. To create secure environments is something that has been highly prioritized and is an important part of contemporary urban planning.
Over the years, I have worked with form elements that are similar to fruits. Not as solitary works but more as play sculptures.This is an illuminated sculpture in Vilbergsparken/Norrköping. The park is rebuilt by City of Norrköping and the sculpture is located on a hill known as ”Paprikabacken” (The Bell Pepper Hill).
Project: Illuminated Sculpture, landmark
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Photo cred: Johan Ferner Ström
Category: Public art, Illuminated
Location: Vilbergsparken/Norrköping
Client: City of Norrköping/Bjerking Landskap
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
Thanks to: Joakim Målare/Nioform och Jerry Tranberg
CHESTNUT LIGHT
The chestnut has an interesting shape. At first glance, it has an inhospitable exterior with its thorns to protect its heart. The chestnut nut itself. The one we all collected and had in our pocket where it was polished into a smooth and soft object that gives calm and feels de-stressing to just hold in the hand.
The chestnuts in Tora Dahl's park are difficult to carry in your pocket with their 160 kg. However, my hope is that they will spread another type of heat through their light.
The chestnuts are made of cast iron and fiberglass, which they have in common with Ekollonen in Rudbecksparken.
The material choices are simple. The cast iron fits very well for the sculpture's casing. It is a recycled material that gives character to the prickly casing. The nut is made of fiberglass-reinforced polyester which provides good light transmission while being a very strong material. The patination is naturalistic brown while the cast iron is left to oxidize.
Project: Chestnut Light (Illuminated sculptures)
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström
Category: Light sculptures
Location: Tora Dahls Park/Stockholm
Client: City of Stockholm
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
PUCKELBOLL MALMÖ & STOCKHOLM
Puckelboll is the title of an interactive art project from 2003. The piece is an artistic impression of the phenomenon of football and how it resembles the playground of life which is neither equilateral nor level. The ball doesn’t go where you want, the halves of the field are not the same length and the goals are made so that they are not the same size or shape either.
The football field’s injustices, are negated by the varying skills and strengths of the players.
Unevenness of the playing field makes the game fair in a remarkable way which invites a more imaginative way to play. The possibility to play, girls and boys, old and young, skilled against unskilled, on equal conditions are encouraged.
The project is primarily an art project. But it is also an interesting experiment how a new condition can stimulate the creation of a new way of playing.
I have taken the most popular of popular sports and through simple changes in the playing conditions, created a new idea of a game, or a new kind of football where one does not have to be the best to win, because the elements of serendipity and luck is constantly present in the play.
The Puckelball field© was established 2003 and is design protected since 2004
PRV: 7786, OHIM: 278296
Project: Puckelboll the unfair playground
Team Stockholm: Johan Ferner Ström, Dan Johansson SAR. From the city: Rune Ney, Sara Heppling Trygg, Sofia Brydolf
Team Malmö: Johan Ferner Ström, Anders Dahlbäck. From the city: Sten Göransson & Emma Johnasson
Photo cred: David Puig Serinyà/Glósóli Ateljé
Category: Public art, interactive
Location: Kroksbäcksparken/Malmö/Sweden, Skärholmen/Stockholm/Sweden
Client: City of Malmö, City of Stockholm
Awards/Recognitions: *Making space Award/Scotland: Shortlisted *Siena Price/Sweden
*UN Habitat/Medellin The project is included in, “Public space toolkit”
Exhibited: *Vandalorum/Värnamo *Design Museum/Denmark *Designmuseo/Helsinki
*Making space exhibition/Edinburg *Designcenter/Malmö *Nordic Gardens/Stockholm
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
THE SQUIGGLES
A conceptual thought experiment where the squiggle as an artistic object has been given its rightful place. Not only artists, have always made squiggles. Freed from thought and intention have strange forms
grown on pieces of paper, notepads, book pages, newspapers but also in sculptural form where one
paper clip or a piece of steel wire suddenly gets new life and new form.
But what exactly is a squiggle? Perhaps it is a question that is really unnecessary to answer. A squiggle is a squiggle is a squiggle. A common denominator is possibly that it has come into being without any specific thought and is rather a product of hand movement only. A kind of free form in its absolute purest
expression. We think this should be recognized and celebrated through its own park. A squiggle park!
Project: Sculptures, play scape
Team: Johan Ferner Ström, Tor Svae
Category: Public art, playscape
Location: Malmparken Sollentuna
Client: Sollentuna municipal
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
GLOWNES
On behalf of Landscape architects at Taggen Miljö och Landskap, I prepared a proposal for a public artwork for Svenska Bostäder.
The design process resulted in a number of enlarged pine cones. This to correspond with the existing tall pines meant to be preserved in the area. The installation was inaugurated in the spring of 2009.
The light is time-controlled with brighter lighting in the dark part of the year.
In addition to the aesthetic balance, the sculptural effort also offers an associative dimension.
The sculptures are casted in fiberglass-reinforced polyester which has been properly saturated to hide the roughness of the material during transillumination. The polyester used is, unlike others, very clear
and later dyed.
Project: Glowing Cones
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Photo cred: David Puig Serinyà/Glósóli Ateljé
Category: Public art, Light sculptures
Location: Mälarhöjden/Stockholm/Sweden
Client: Svenska Bostäder/Taggen Miljö & Landskap
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
KRUBBAN HISTORIC PLAYSCAPE
The proposal addresses the history of the place in an artistic and very playful way. It relates, adapts and uses the conditions of the place with a hill and the small trees that enrich it and give it such a nice scale. An interplay that allow the landscape to interact with facades and sculptural objects.
The facade expression has architecturally varied from century to century. An interesting idea was to work with facade gables as scenery where we connect them with different play functions.
The creative starting point of the proposal was to work with period gables from
17th century to the present. A time travel where you can start in the 17th century and play
your way to the present.
Down the hill you can run to a series of facades that represent different centuries with their different architectural styles and expressions.
Project: Art playscape
Team: Johan Ferner Ström, Tor Svae
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström
Category: Public art, playscape
Location: City center Stocholm
Client: City of Stockholm
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
ACORN LIGHTS
As a paraphrase of The ”Glownes” located at Mälarhöjden, glowing between two buildings,
a few acorns have strayed down from the oaks at Vita liljans väg/Bredäng in Stockholm.
They finally landed on the grass to spread a warm light for residents and visitors in the area.
The challenge has been to get a patina that is interesting in the daytime but also gives a good light transmission and a warm, safe lighting at night.
The choice of material was finally a combination of cast iron and cast polyester.
Project: Illuminated sculptures
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Category: Public art, Light sculptures
Location: Bredäng, Rudbäcksparken, Skärholmen, Lidingövägen
Client: Svenska Bostäder/Nyréns Architects, City of Stockholm, Skärholmen Stdn
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
THE FRUIT PARK STOCKHOLM & WAREN MÜRITZ
When I first created "Sebastians playful fruits" in 1998, I had the opportunity to realize my idea of creating Sweden’s first themed playground. I did not think for a minute that the park itself has become one of the factors that are taken into account when families with children choose where they want to move to. Furthermore, I would never have imagined from the inauguration in spring 1998, until the twentieth anniversary 2018, over 4 million visitors have enjoyed the site. To me this is proof of what happens when you focus on, and have the power to enforce a vision. The fruit playground meets current safety standards (SS 991010 - 17).
The fruit playground was in many ways a reaction to the playgrounds of that time, where I think that the functional aspects of the playground were given too one sided priority at the expense of appearance, color and shape. For me, a playground is not just a set of tools, it is a place that should stimulate play and imagination, with objects that are exciting to see and touch. This was the starting point when I started working with Fruktlekparken. At the same time, my ambition has been to create a playground that serves as an interesting meeting place for the people in the area and which also adds an aesthetic value to the surrounding environment. The fruit playground will thus be a meeting place for children and adults, for play and art, for play experience and art experience.
2017 I had the opportunity to create a sister park in Waren Müritz for EDEKA. I was contacted by Ingolf Schubert with the question to build a sister fruit sculpture playscape outside his newly built head office in Waren. The area is open for public use and provide a fantastic meeting place for children in the area.
Project: Sculptures, play scape
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Category: Public art, playscape
Location: Liljeholmen Stockholm, EDEKA/Waren Müritz
Client: City of Stockholm, EDEKA Waren
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
CHERRY LIGHT
Cherry lights is a sculpture group that has emerged from a series of light sculptures that I worked with during some years. The Nordic countries are dark most of the year, so I started working with illuminated objects.These can also work in contexts where one in urban development processes discussed
security and well-being.
In the series I have worked with Glowing Cones (Glones) in Mälarhöjden and Acorns in Bredäng and Skärholmen.
Working in an urban environment also places certain demands on to integrate. In Ursvik, I have taken note of it the fact that the landscape architects have proposed cherry trees then will amplify the effect below
the amazing flowering there the cherries will lie under the trees as enlarged illuminated berries.
Project: Cherry light
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström
Category: Public art, Illuminated Sculptures
Location: Ursvik, Sankt Göransparken, Rinkeby.
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
ELLEN KEY's PARK
Quite early in the creative process, we started thinking about Elle Key's home, "Strand".
An open interior with objects taken from the ideas she had in terms of design, beauty and simplicity, which are described in the book "Beauty for everyone".
The idea is simply based on the fact that we have removed walls and ceilings in Ellen Key's home where we then expose fragments of an interior. Parts of a living room and a library where important objects and have been given some strange proportions and the placements are not completely obvious. There is a rug, there is an armchair and there are books, teacups and possibly a stove. The books that in Ellen's case were an important ingredient have taken up a lot of space and become a house where you can go in and discover. There is also a floor lamp to clarify that light was an important ingredient in Ellen's philosophy.
Project: Play gallery, Play sculptures
Team: Johan Ferner Ström, Tor Svae
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström
Category: Public art, playscape
Location: Ellen Keys park/Jarlaplan Stockholm
Client: City of Stockholm
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
URBAN BEACH
Urban Beach water play, is an interactive play surface where water is the overall element. The combination of design and function permeates the entire project and contributes to a work of art with play functions.
10 showers shaped like "Flamingo necks" are placed in a terrazzo surface. The surface is surrounded by artificial grass and plantings with i.a. palmer. Diagonally across the lawn cuts a long sun deck formulated as a sun bench. Three sun parasols shade parts of the bench. In connection, two "dunes" in rubber with play equipment have been built up.
The flamingo showers have different nozzles with everything from water mist to wide rapids. The terrazzo surface also has features such as a foaming water volcano and a water pillars that is pushed up into the air. Everything is regulated with control technology which enables variation and surprise moments. When you think you are starting one specific shower, another one starts and so on. You newer no when or who’s going to get wet.
To build this facility on a terrace floor above the subway and shops has met several technical challenges. We managed to build it without limiting the original idea.
Project: Urban water play
Team: Johan Ferner Ström, Joar Sörman
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström
Category: Public art, playscape
Location: Skärholmsterrassen Stockholm
Client: City of Stockholm
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
DRAGON EGGS
The Dragon Egg were set out during the reformulation of Drakenbergsparken in Stockholm. The park was in need of updating. However, Ulf Sucksdorff's dragon made in 1975 would of course remain. The question was how to create a possible addition to the sculpture. Something that will be interesting but also offers a careful play value and a function at night. My proposal was illuminated dragon eggs. Something for kids to climb on during the day, and gives a blue-green light at night.
The project was very successful and the park is frequently used by children in the south part of Stockholm.
Project: Dragon eggs (Illuminated sculptures)
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström
Category: Light sculptures
Location: Drakenbergsparken/Stockholm
Client: City of Stockholm/Nyréns Architects
This project is registered under: BUS. Visual artists copyright in Sweden
TIME
”Where all possibilities exist – there are no longer any possibilities” (Beuys). Where all time exists – there can be no time. The mass media output grows larger and larger. Clever teams work in shifts in order to find new ways to access your very time. So my question goes – “Is it possible to think one soul original thought?” In a timeless environment, with the primordial force of a bale of straw as a background, I manufactured and mounted 100 station clocks as a reminder of mortality and the continual cyclic event which is constantly present.
The indoor exhibition consisted of six bales of straw where I had assembled TV monitors. I showed four video films where I zapped through the channels aimlessly. I had placed the channels in a sequence of various ways, something which changed the feeling in the films tangibly. One exciting parenthesis is that our memory functions in such a way that we remember different images depending on which images are shown before or after a main image. For instance the sequence could be – news + porn + children’s program + advert + bingo lottery + thriller etc. One of the films showed censured film clips in a long sequence, with the last film showing only waves breaking on a beach. Sound effects accompanied the exhibition; the sound of a heart beating above a clock ticking filled the room. The mixture of the sound from the TV, together with the other sounds, raised the tension.
Project: Time
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström
Category: Public art installation
Location: Österlen Sweden
Curator: Susan Bolgar
LIMITATI LIMITATE
The more limited you are as a person, the more you limit others. Filled with life remnants and memories that we sometimes are not able to see or even less have time to process the sandbags constitute a hindrance to our development and our ability to communicate.
Art installation 7 by 12 meters.
Five seated figures in straitjackets.
Twenty sandbags.
Five concrete crosses, two with black water, three with a plant.
Blue painted pergola construction.
Project: Limitati-Limitate
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström
Category: Public art installation
Location: Simrishamn Art hall
Curator: Susan Bolgar
THE PUCKELBOLL BOOK
In the beginning of 2019, I had the opportunity to realize my ambition to write a book about the Puckelboll project. One of Europe's largest works of art that occupied my time for a number of years. The idea of an unfair football field came about in 2004 but was not completed in Malmö until 2009. The book describes the whole process from idea to finished work of art with all the difficulties and moments of joy during
the process.
The book was nominated to book of the year 2019 in the category, architecture and urban development with the following motivation:
"A book that takes a curious approach with an educational and nice format. Here, the reader is invited to an exciting story that sows the seeds of new ideas. The book inspires thinking outside the box and changing inherited behaviors to contribute to a society with a human focus. Here, convention and regularity are challenged by the freedom that art gives. And this with sport as an arena."
Project: Book by Johan Ferner Ström
Publisher: Svensk Byggtjänst Helen Strandgren
Photo cred: David Puig Serinyà
Editor: Thomas Schiöler
Art Director: Anki Björklund
Authors: Johan F Ström, Sten Göransson, Gunnar Ericson, Dan Johansson, Susan Bolgar.
Thank's to: Ingemar Lindahl for philosophical feedback. Rune Ney and Sara Heppling Trygg for
important text elements.
MALMÖ MEMORIAL SITE
A while ago, I picked up a newspaper article in Sydsvenskan. It was about what to do with the old sports arena, Malmö Arena.
Discussions had taken place to demolish the arena because the "new arena" was completed in close proximity to the old one.
The citizens of Malmö, however, had a different opinion and thought that it should be possible to reformulate the arena in some way because it had a certain architectural value.
I managed to get architect Dan Johansson interested of the article and we decided to make a proposal which we later presented to City of Malmö.
Our idea was a memorial site. A framed park area which one goes to for a quiet moment in contrast to the traditional experience when you visit a football arena. A place for reflection and contemplation that is inclusive for all people, regardless of age, background and cultural heritage.
Creating a place for memory in the arena transforms and preserves a unique structure while the transformation of the function gives the place a new meaning.
Project: Memorial Site
Team: Johan Ferner Ström, Dan Johansson SAR
Category: Urban Design
Oeriginal location: City of Malmö
FIRST NATION TATTOO
For a period of time, I worked with a group of creative professionals in architecture, urban planning, landscaping and cultural strategy. A fantastic group that (given the opportunity) could move a
few mountains.
Architect Dan Johansson and myself decided to participate in a competition where the combination, architectural knowledge and artistic competence were in demand.
The assignment was to sculpturally design one of Norwegian Statnet's pylon masts that carries the company's high voltage lines through northern Norway. A very exciting and educational assignment.
In the proposal, we focused on mythology that are dominant in the Sami landscape. An attempt to pay homage to the forms that characterize the people in this region every day and where the wild and barren meet the sophisticated in traditional craftsmanship.
The sculptural form element was a 32 meter high reindeer horn made of concrete. In combination with this, we worked with gilded porcelain spheres through which the cables pass.
The sculpture would be illuminated and serve as a landmark in the Heia area.
Around the lower part of the sculpture about 0-3 meters, older signs and traditional written language are carved in. A kind of tattoo or statement for the region's traditions and a memorable meeting place for visitors to experience, which extends over time.
Project: Competition proposal
Team: Johan Ferner Ström, Dan Johansson
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström, Dan Johansson
Category: Public art /Architecture
Original location: Heia Norway
Client: Statnet Norway
THE DOORS
When we had the conditions for the competition, the Corona pandemic broke out. We had to start up by looking at pictures and movies and with the map functions of smartphones - get acquainted with the surroundings and nature of Lillängen. We realized quickly that we wanted to move towards the sea to work in its vicinity. The dense vegetation offers difficulties but also great opportunities to create something interesting.
The idea was to work with views, perspectives, frames and the desire to discover. To arouse imagination and thoughts and at the same time allow ourselves to be playful. We chose the door as an artistic object. Three open doors in their frames. An open door is welcoming and can be interpreted as the beginning of something new for those who dare to step over the threshold.
It also creates views frames the landscape. The framed motif change with the seasons and come to life when someone enter the door and becomes part of the motif.
With a careful and conscious tree thinning along the beach, we want to strengthen or create new views of the landscape that the doors open to. We allowed ourselves to change the scales. One door is abnormally large, like a 3 meter high gate, while another is shrunken and reaches only 1.70. The choice of material is steel that can be rusted to a vibrant reddish-brown surface. Light strips are folded into the frames for a soft, warm light for visible even during the dark hours.
Project: Competition proposal
Team: Johan Ferner Ström, Fredrik Ekroth
Category: Urban Design
Original location: Lillängen Mariehamn/Åland
Client: City of Mariehamn
DOUBLE MOON
A while ago, I was short listed to submit a proposal for a public artwork in Askersund. A nice little town by the lake Vättern in Sweden. The assignment was to create a work of art in connection with the newly built school with aesthetic orientation. Preferably the artwork would interact with the school's focus and become a brand builder for the school and the area. I thought, Ok i will give them something that puts Askersund on the map forever.
I had spotted a small island situated 75 meters out in the water right in the schools view. The geographical direction corresponded perfectly with the moon so I called my proposal "Double Moon".
An 8 meter high sphere that have landed softly on the small island. The sculpture would be illuminated from the inside with opportunities to project patterns and images and should have been visible together with "the real moon" throughout Askersund and the surrounding neighborhood. From the shoreline, I placed an illuminated footbridge out to the island for those who wanted to see the moon up close.
Well, I may have been a little too ambitious here. For various reasons, I didn’t get the assignment but the idea is fun and still possible to implement. So if somebody knows someone who knows someone who wants a very large moon in the backyard, don’t hesitate to give me a call.
Project: Competition proposal
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström
Category: Public art
Original location: Askersund Sweden
Client: Askersund Muncipal
PUCKELBOLL SAINT PAUL MINNESOTA USA
In the spring of 2017, I was contacted by an organization in Minneapolis / St Paul called Joy of the People (JOTP). The man who contacted me was Ted Kroeten. Ted had been the coach of the Minneapolis Soccer Team for some years. He had eventually ended his assignment there and together with some football enthusiasts started the organization JOTP. The philosophy of this soccer club corresponded very well with the idea of Puckelboll: Not everyone has the same qualifications and everyone must be allowed to participate. They are against the elitization of sports and work to create conditions for different variants of soccer. Their idea is that, if you come to the training and think it is fun to play, you will automatically get better. Different variations in the game are required and helps not to get bored of training. The decision for kids whether to invest more seriously In training comes much later.
Unfortunately, the project has now been put on hold. The reason is that JOTP leases a small park area from the municipality where their operations are conducted on a ten-year contract. In order for the investment in a Puckelbollplan to pay off, they wanted to negotiate a twenty-year contract instead, which the city of St Paul did not agree to. The result was (for obvious reasons), not daring to make such a large investment. They have been thinking about finding a new place for the Puckelboll pitch but it may take time.
This is about the US adventure. But, as always, it ain't over until it's over.
Project: Puckelboll the unfair playground
Team Stockholm: Johan Ferner Ström
Photo cred: Johan Ferner Ström
Category: Public art (interactive)
Original location: St Paul Minneapolis USA
Client: JOTP Joy of the people
HARSTAD NORWAY
A while ago, I collaborated frequently with architect Dan Johansson. This collaboration resulted in some very interesting projects. One of them is this project.
The assignment was to submit a proposal for a reformulation of the ferry terminal in the northern Norwegian city of Harstad. The assignment also included formulating and modernizing the harbor route.
We discussed three strategies that can be used when you want to achieve urban renewal which I briefly refer to below.
One is to do as in Bilbao, ie. ensure that a new unique institution is established, and thus hope that the attraction of this highlights the area in terms of additional facilities.
Another one is to do it through collaboration, ie. local forces make sure to come together and identify ideas for the future.
The third is to use the area's natural resources to create value from what is naturally given. Every place's completely unique position on earth has from the beginning a potential that can be exploited by those who live there and which is more or less unique.
We chosed the third track in our proposal which where very ambitious and quite complex.
It’s a lot of things to say about this project, but in terms of art, which was my main task in this project I came across an interesting diagram that described the whether conditions in this area during the year. The diagram was visualized with strange graphs looking like abstract bird forms. I decided to pick them up as form element and do them i Corteen steel sheet's like big origami birds. The sculptures should be placed along the harbor promenade.
Project: Harstad 2.0. Competition proposal
Team: Johan Ferner Ström, Dan Johansson
Photo cred: Ateljé Johan Ström, Dan Johansson
Category: Public art, urban development
Original location: Harstad Norway
Client: Harstad Municipal
NOBEL SQUARE
The square has a strong graphic form that gets its image in the park. The starting point was from the beginning a meeting between two pieces of the puzzle. A small part of the big puzzle Malmö city.
The whole red hardened surface has a slight slope to take up existing level differences. The flooring is simple in its material but is given an exclusive appearance through its clear color, which also enhances the square's graphics and identity. The shape of the red concrete surface is reinforced and given life by optical fibers / a large number of small points of light freely placed along the edge towards the green surface. The bright spots cause the surface to change at night, and make it possible to change color and expression with the seasons. Dewatering of the square surface takes place through curb drainage.
The experience when moving on the square surface should feel generous and interesting. The organic shape enables a number of directions of movement as well as site formations for activities. The new design also connects Olof Palme's place in front of Folkets hus with Nobeltorget in a natural and interesting way. The proposal is also an invitation to those responsible for Folkets hus to take advantage of the new design. With the right ideas and commitment, we believe that Folkets hus can become an exciting resource for the place.
Project: Reformulation square
Team: Johan Ferner Ström, Dan Johansson SAR
Category: Urban Design
Original location: Nobel Square Malmö
Client: City of Malmö
PARADISPARKEN UNDERWAY
After being commissioned to reformulate the underpass in Paradisparken, I sat down and examined the conditions thoroughly. The assignment was not so easy because there were extensive restrictions regarding materials, requirements for impact resistance, views from the Swedish Transport Administration regarding access to the underlying concrete structure, etc.
Since the tunnel connects the sports field and the park, my first thought was to set up a long row of pink basketball hoops with equally pink trash cans underneath as a lustification that would also stimulate an active cleaning idea. However, I rejected this for various maintenance reasons.
Well, it is after all about creating a safe and exciting access to the "Paradise Park" and the tunnel in its current form is not directly something you associate with paradise. So what could be more paradisiacal than a sea of cherry blossoms in the spring? A blooming explosion of colors from dark pink to white. To create a wonderful, warm experience in the tunnel as reminds that there will be another time in a few months. A place that for a few seconds makes us forget slush, rag sock gray skies, Coronavirus, melting ice, and elevated sea levels (although the climate in general should not be forgotten).
Project: Reformulation pedestrian tunnel
Team: Johan Ferner Ström
Category: Urban Design
Original location: Paradisparken Borlänge
Client: City of Borlänge
SCULPTECTURE IN UTOPIA
This is the story of a waisted piece of chewing gum. A piece of chewing gum which became an interactive work of art, which became a building, a meeting place, a floating park, and an infrastructure with different functions and public services. One day my colleague, architect Pedro Orenes came into my studio and told me with an annoyed expression that a piece of gum got stuck under his shoe while walking on the street. He asked me if I had any suitable tool to scrape off the misery. After experimenting with more or less inappropriate tools, he managed to get rid of this piece of the city's unwanted DNA. It is hard to imagine that such a trivial incident would become the starting point for such a project.
The sculptecture is a multifunctional sculptural building in a square in Somewhere. A place for meetings and to share experiences where you are involved in deciding on form and content at an early stage.
The stairs: A square surface is prepared with stairs in an undulating shape. The stair shape creates room formations that offer opportunities for activities such as street theatre, music and other street entertainment. The staircase itself is an interesting sculptural object. Place a thousand seats in a city and you will still be sitting on a staircase. On the square surface are energy generating paving stones that contribute to the electricity supply of the site through stepped pressure. The Pillar Hall: Created in polished stainless steel, reflects the everyday events at ground level like a third eye. Considers, registers, reflects, mirrors existence and surroundings but never questions. The pillars also function as a water reservoir, compost tank, access to the upper floor and a room for technical installation.
Upstairs: Depending on the city, this is programmed with different functions. In Stockholm, it can perhaps be a contemplative walk in the city's otherwise noisy environment, an elevated green park space, urban cultivation, greenhouse, ice skating in winter or just a viewing/meeting place.
The roof: Depending on the city, but in this publication, part of the upper park space is covered with a dome of transparent solar cell glass. This glass generates energy at the same time as it provides a greenhouse environment even in winter. The sculpture is self-sufficient in terms of energy. Night lighting and possibly heating of surfaces/seats is provided entirely by the object.
Project: Proposal Floating Garden and Pedestrian walk way
Team: Johan Ferner Ström, Pedro Orenes
Category: Public Art/Architecture. OSS projekt (Open source software)
Locations: Unknown