AKSHAT GOYAL

Preface

This text is written for a class called ‘The Archive of the Stockholm Public Library’ and is taught by Anders Bergstorm at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The texts chosen for this assignment are both by Steen Eiler Rasmussen: the first main text is called “Neuzeitliche Baukunst in Stockholm” (translates to ‘Modern Building in Stockholm’) published in the 1929 issue of the ‘Wasmuths Monatshefte fur Baukunst und Stadtebau’; whereas the other text is the book published by him later in 1959 called “Experiencing Architecture”. 

Before moving further into the text which analyzes and compares these texts of Steen Eiler Rasmussen and his ideas of the Stockholm Public Library, I want to delve into my background and prior knowledge of the library.

I am student born in India; I grew up in Dubai where I got to see a lot of modern architecture and gestural architecture with glass. I study at Illinois Institute of Technology, the architecture college of Mies van Der Rohe in Chicago. This background gave me a chance to really see cities with cars in mind. However, as an exchange program in Stockholm, I can see a city which a lot is more pedestrian friendly and designed more for the average person than for the ultra-wealthy.

I had little prior knowledge of the Stockholm Public Library before entering this course. I was aware of the giant reading room as well as its staircase around the reading room that allow movement up and down the building. I had also previously seen sections of the library when trying to understand it.

Text Research

In embarking on this assignment, I initially delved into the extensive resources of the Stockholm Public Library to gather foundational knowledge. The library’s, along with the links provided by the professor and the lecture at City Archive at Liljeholmen, gave me a solid starting point to explore the library. The point of finding an article from a different nation intrigued me deeply and I wanted to incorporate some of that research into my assignment.

The chosen material was sourced from the KTH library’s online database which gave me an array of resources to choose from. I wanted to choose material that was specifically in a different language or originated from a different country to increase information on the library from the outside perspective. The material chosen is an article from Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst und Städtebau, 1929 issue, a German specialist architecture magazine. The influential Danish Architect Steen Eiler Rasmussen authored this article.

Due to the text being in German and my inability to read German, I had to use Google Translate[1] as a method to understand the text and the relate it to the book “Experiencing Architecture.” The professor recommended the book to understand and compare the author’s views.

The Text

Rasmussen appreciates the library in the text (‘Modern Building in Stockholm’) and finds ways to appreciate Asplund. Rasmussen refers to the “neat subtleties when you touch the fine surfaces,” “calm color harmonies,” “beautiful lighting of the rooms” and mentions the rotunda giving a feeling of peace. He finds the large openings in the library very theatrical as well as finds the staircase (which used to be on the North façade, it is no longer present) a play in contrast.

However, Rasmussen also points out that the building did not fit in its surroundings looking too monumental, however, he does still find a way to appreciate Asplund by saying that Asplund realizes the monumental nature not fitting with the surroundings so opted to “undermine” his building with “thin glass shutters.”

All of Rasmussen’s comments match very well with his later text, ‘Experiencing Architecture.’ In his book, Rasmussen emphasizes various aspects of architecture that he deems as important such as: scale and proportion; textural effects; daylight, color, and hearing in architecture. These elements that he specifies in the book, seem to also be specified in his Asplund text in a comparable way.

In the article, he talks about how the library has interesting scales and proportions, with the entryways (or portals) looking very monumental and having a vastly different scale from the rest of the façade. In the book, he mentions how the giant pillars in Le Corbusier’s Marseille Block were used as a method to show people and emphasize that a ‘massive building’ is being held up by the pillars. In reference to Italian churches in the Baroque period he also says – “The monumental edifice became even more effective when it was placed in a row of ordinary structures.” Both these descriptions tie well with the Stockholm Public Library façade where large portals were made to showcase very clearly the entry point and to showcase very evidently that anyone is allowed in the library and gave the library more emphasis in its surroundings as no other building around had such large portals or had such large openings. He mentions the detailing in the library and how that contrasts with the large scale of the reading room.

In relation to the color, he acknowledges the calm nature of the color harmonies, such as how the lighter color[2] of the wall above the bookshelves meets and greets the mahogany color of the circular bookshelves and how that meets the dark linoleum floor. This gave the room a light and airy feeling. This feeling is mentioned in his book that it makes the visitor aware of the broad expanse from wall to wall, making the room appear even bigger.

 In conclusion, if Rasmussen were to author another article about the Stockholm Public Library, he would have appreciated the library. His views between both the texts seem very stable despite being 30 years in between.

Bibliography

1. Rasmussen, S. (1914) Neuzeitliche Baukunst in Stockholm: Bilder Vo Einer Reise Von Steen Eiler Rasmussen, Kopenhagen. Wasmuths Monatshefte fur Baukunst und Stadtebau, 471-480.
2. Rasmussen, S. (1959) Experiencing Architecture. The M.I.T. Press.

Direct Translation of the text from German to English using Google Lens and Google Translate. “If you are disappointed when you see these famous works, there are others in Stockholm that are much better than you see in the photographs could guess. This is particularly true of the work of E. G. Asplund. His city library had already been published in “Wasmuths Monatheften” (W. M. B. 1929, issue 2, pp. 58 to 65). In the pictures (Figs. 8 to 16) you can easily see the weakness[3] of this building, apart from that, you can recognize the neat subtleties when you look at the touch the fine surfaces, feel the calm color harmonies and experience the beautiful lighting of the rooms. The rotunda may have become too high from the outside, but inside the excessively large, high space, with bright light streaming through the top gives a feeling of peace that is unfortunately rarely found in a library. Above is all white, large expanse of wall, below is a beautiful mahogany box, three amphitheatrically arranged circles of bookshelves on a linoleum floor in dark pattern. And all this wood is really intended as carpentry work, not executed in the forms of reinforced concrete in plywood. The refined small details, brass friezes inlaid in mahogany, and the delicate profiling give the whole an intimacy that you would otherwise find in vain in modern buildings. It is the tension between the grand main form and the exquisite details that gives this room its special value.

In general, Asplund loves such contrasts. His buildings are designed in certain styles but are so original and imaginative that they never seem traditional. The outside staircase behind the rotunda shown here is a characteristic of its type (Fig. 10). Like a large ladder, it stands with its legs apart on the convex wall and gives it a special accent. Likewise, the large portals are certainly deliberately at a wrong scale compared to the rest of the façade. I do not want to say that I love this theatrical effect; but it is much better than in the pictures. The portal is an interior space that turns inside out and a wide collar of finely ground laying stone over the outer walls.

The outside of the building is too monumental; it does not fit naturally into the streetscape. It looks like the artist had the same feeling. After the actual library building was completed, he converted to functionalism that quite literally undermined his building with thin glass shutters (fig. 11 to 13).

Asplund is a wizard who gives shape to dreams and makes the real fantastic. That looks better still in your camera.”

[1] The google translate portion is in the bibliography for anyone who wishes to read what I read.

[2] At the time, the wall above the bookshelves would have appeared darker due to the absence of the lights pointing upwards, yet still lighter than the bookshelves.

[3] I do not think Rasmussen wanted to show us the ‘weakness’ of the building, I reach this conclusion as everything followed the word is in appreciation of the library itself.