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Interview with Lars Johan Tengner & Asa Conradsson |
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Following the temporary closure of Stockholm's Museum of Modern Art in January 2002, new temporary premises were designed by architecture firm Fr_ne Hederus Malmstr_m. Leading Swedish design magazine Forum gave the firm the Silver Award in recognition of its work on that project. Architect Lars Johan Tengner and interior designer Asa Conradsson played leading roles in the project.
Style-pd:Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?
Asa Conradsson: I am an interior architect. I studied at Konstfack, and I worked for eighteen years since I graduated. I have my own company. Actually, this is one of my most publicised projects.
Lars Johan Tengner: I am an architect. I studied in Stockholm and Copenhagen. I have been working for seven years with lots of different projects. This is the first project focused more on interior.
Style-pd: What is Swedish architecture? Is there any good way to define it?
Tengner: You can see two main lines in Swedish architecture. One is Swedish Grace, which uses light color and light wood. The other aspect of Swedish architecture is the fact that it is very user-oriented. Function comes first. Sweden has been one of the leading countries in terms of functionalism.
Conradsson: And the political climate we have had in the 20th-century also helped. It has been social democratic.
Style-pd: How is the political system and functionalism connected?
Tengner: In the 19th-century, we were a more centralised and old-fashioned country. And in a very short period, we became one of the richest countries from a very poor country. The social democratic system has had a great part in this. The Social Democrat Party was the dominating party in Sweden, but there was a general consensus to radically modernise the country, and functionalism fitted there. Nearly all intellectuals at the time welcomed functionalism.
Conradsson: The way people built houses also developed in the 20th-century, and functionalism was accelerated.
Style-pd: Do you think that your concepts and designs are very Swedish?
Tengner: As for this project, I don't think it is so Swedish. The source of inspiration for this project comes from the original modern museums of the 60's, when there were a lot of things happening all over the world. The Modern Museum of Stockholm was like "the art center" of the world at that time, and all the interesting artists came. We wanted to design a place where the museum can make things happen.
Conradsson: When I worked on this project, I was somehow conscious of being Swedish. For example, the lighting - it was more like a cozy Swedish house.
Tengner (laughs): That was part of our discussion when we were working on this project. Because I was thinking about something more industrial. I think we had a good, meaningful fight, because Asa likes something cozier.
Style-pd: So maybe you can say that you are a less typical Swedish designer, while Asa is a more typical one.
Tengner: Not really. In this project, I was more into something industrial. But I am fond of the traditional Swedish design. I think I always subconsciously work in a Swedish way. Some projects show that more and others show less.
Style-pd: So in this project you were more into something industrial?
Tengner: I would say that we were into Pop Art, and art and design from the 60's and 70's in general, especially the colour scheme. We used strong colour on purpose, to have the place noticed. People might get tired of the colour, but it's okay because when they get tired of this, this museum will be gone.
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