Sergels torg, Stockholm

I had to choose this particular photo over a couple others because "researching" the location led me to the geometric concept of "superellipse," http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Superellipse.html

Since I couldn't find an official Swedish page on Sergels torg, wikipedia will have to do, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergels_torg » “Sergels torg (in English: Sergel's Square) is the most central public square in Stockholm, Sweden, named after 18th-century sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel, whose workshop was once located north of the square.

“Sergels torg … is divided into three distinct parts:
1. A sunken pedestrian plaza furnished with a triangular pattern (colloquially referred to as Plattan, "The Slab") and a wide flight of stairs leading up to the pedestrian street Drottninggatan, connecting south to Stockholm Old Town and north to Kungsgatan.
2. This plaza is partly overbuilt by a roundabout centred on a glass obelisk and by the concrete decks of three major streets.
3. North of this traffic junction is a considerably smaller open space overlooked by the high-rise façade of the fifth Hötorget Building from where the avenue Sveavägen extends north.

“… Together with the underground mall east of the pedestrian plaza and the T-Centralen metro station and other continuous underpasses west thereof, Sergels torg forms part of a continuous underground structure almost a kilometre in length.

“[I]t is not dissimilar to but larger than the public space in front of Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and much like its French counterpart remains the most popular space in Stockholm for meeting friends, for political demonstrations, for a wide range of events, and for drug-dealers. This includes the fountain, in which people celebrate every major victory by a Swedish sports team.

This newly introduced centre-piece resulted in a proposal for a fountain with a monument above it. For the shape of this fountain, Helldén consulted his friend, the mathematician and artist Piet Hein, who in less than in minute found a curve with a ‘continuously varying bending’ and immediately named it the superellipse. Before presenting his final proposal in 1960, Helldén added the triangular pattern to the pedestrian plaza and the wide stairs on its western side.

A contest for the central monument in 1962 was won by Edvin Öhrström, with the 37 metre tall glass obelisk which was named Kristall - vertikal accent i glas och stål ("Crystal - vertical accent in glass and steel"). The sculpture, finally completed in 1974 and since haunted by technical problems, never was able to deliver the intended visual output and - quoting Hall - ‘thus adds itself to the many projects within the [reconstruction of central Stockholm] that didn't endure confrontation with reality.’ The artist favoured by Helldén, Olle Baertling, started to work on a sculpture for the square in 1960 but never was invited to participate in the contest.”

Our day began with our group leader giving us an overview of Sweden's history and then leading a bus tour from the mainland part of the city to Södermalm, stopping for a nice view of Gamla Stan (and Gröna Lund); a short stop at Stockholm's City Hall (we'll have a full tour on Monday); and finally stopping at the Royal Palace on Gamla Stan. She walked us around the area a bit before lunch at Mårten Trotzig on Västerlånggatan, http://martentrotzig.se/en/ Clare & I had [Swedish] meatballs and it was delicious! My back was to the window on “Mårten Trotzigs gränd (Swedish: ‘Alley of Mårten Trotzig’). … [T]he width of its 36 steps tapers down to a mere 90 centimetres (35 in), making the alley the narrowest street in Stockholm.”

For the rest of the sunny day, Clare & I walked around Gamla Stan and back to Drottninggatan (Queen Street), having a beer with dinner at a pub just off Drottninggatan.

1 year ago (“From Edie’s garden”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2014-10-24
2 years ago (“Back in the greenhouse”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-10-24
3 years ago (“8-frame day…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-10-24
4 years ago (“New lake. New views.”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-10-24

[ IMG_6619e05ccwS12x8B+20C+20tm :: f/6.3 :: 1/100" :: ISO-400 :: 18mm ]

[Jane Anderson]

Very impressive! It reminds me of Rockefeller Plaza somehow. My husband does drawings for all manner of things like this, and the more complicated the math is, the better for him.

[Danette Thompson]

Seems like a photo from the 60's, maybe because of the geometry.

[Rick Schies]

I am loving the pattern