Kortedala, Sweden, Europe
Year latitude: ° 0' longitude: ° 0' Period 1953 -56 Initiator(s) Planning organization Nationality initiator(s) Designer(s) / Architect(s) Design organization Inhabitants 10,000 Target population Town website Town related links http://www.spacesyntaxistanbul.itu.edu.tr/papers%5Clongpapers%5C012%20-%20A zimzadeh%20Bjur.pdf http://www.arch.chalmers.se/projekt/sar/html/56-914.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kortedala Literature - Andersson, Caldenby & Tiselius, Kortedala - kort historik och arkitekturguide, 1993; Caldenby et al, Byggnader i Göteborg, 1979; Arkitektur 7/1957 - - http://www.spacesyntaxistanbul.itu.edu.tr/papers%5Clongpapers%5C012%20-%20Azimzadeh%20Bjur.pdf - - http://www.arch.chalmers.se/projekt/sar/html/56-914.html - type of New Town: > scale of autonomy New-Town-in-Town Satellite New Town Company Town > client Private Corporation Public Corporation > policy Capital Decentralization Industrialization Resettlement Economic
Mainly characterised by apartment housing blocks surrounded by lush greeneries, Kortedala is situated north-east of Göteborg (Gothenburg) in the western part of Sweden. With a population of approx. 10,000 inhabitants, the area is typical for the 1950s suburbs and new towns around the city. Kortedala was built between 1953 and 1956, while the neighbourhood of Wieselgrenplatsen close by was developed a few years earlier stressing the making of a continuous infrastructural network of streets. The architects Sven Brorild and Jan Wallinder designed some of the more experimental housing in Kortedala like the triangular 12-13 storey multi-family houses with studio flats on the rooftop at Gregorianska gata from 1956. These triangular apartments with a condensed plan that permits lots of sunlight and the dramatic diagonal view from the moment you enter the apartment, through the living room to the balcony got international attention. The stairs make up a core in the triangular buildings, so that half plan displacements of the windows are obtained. Through the pointy corners the flats almost get a lamella quality with light coming from all three sides at the same time. The simple plan allows more hours of sun than most point houses of the 1950s, while the triangular shape makes the houses slimmer. The two room studio apartments accentuate the height of the buildings. Thus, Brorild and Wallinder were some of the more progressive architects in Gothenburg and designed not only housing areas but also schools. Characteristically for the 1950s, they experimented with new plans in order to attract more light into the apartments. Erik and Tore Ahlséns 85 square meters atrium houses on 160 square meters plots of 1956 are another kind of rental housing in Aprilgatan. Originally two-family row houses were planned, however, through experiments with concrete the architects were able to make one-family atrium houses without further costs than that of a bigger rental apartment. Although Kortedala was constructed in the vein of English new towns around a community centre, only 46 percent of residents visited their local centre for everyday shopping in 2001. Like other of the new towns around Gothenburg, Kortedala has become more segregated in the recent years. source: Signe Sophie Boeggild
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