DOI issue:
No. 391 (October 1925)
DOI article:Wernstedt, Melchior: The Stockholm City Hall
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21403#0212
THE STOCKHOLM CITY HALL
CEILING DECORATION IN
THE SOUTH PORTICO
STOCKHOLM CITY HALL
surprising after our wandering through the
others. The window doors with the
leaded panes open out towards the '* Blue
Hall/' and we step out on to the balcony.
Here a still greater cube strikes our eye.
The red brick of the walls gives warmth to
the huge space. The surface treatment of
the brick (after being laid) by means of
the stonemason's tools has given a faint
relief pattern to the walls, and this has
given a delightful freshness to the great
surfaces. The balcony, the floor and the
stairway are light grey and green marble
and the grey granite of the pillars forms a
pleasing contrast to the redness of the
walls. 000000
On the occasion of great festivities this
hall forms the great meeting-place, to
which the guests come direct from the
cloakrooms placed under the banqueting
hall. 000000
Decorative art and handicraft have had
great tasks to perform in the elaboration
of the details and the adornment of the
building in general. During the process
of building workshops for modelling, art
smith's work, coppersmith's work, furni-
ture and textiles, etc., were laid out on the
building site, where they were under the
direct supervision of the architect. The
intimate co-operation which was thus
made possible between the architect and
the other artists has certainly very greatly
contributed to elevate the quality of the
206
craftsmanship and has made it easier to
work out the details in material and shape
in harmony with the general effect of the
structure. The sharp division between the
different arts or their specialization often
makes it difficult for our time to equal
the art epochs of the past, the Middle
Ages and the Renascence, in creating a
rich and exuberant architecture. Painting
and sculpture must not stand aloof from
architecture when they are used for a
decorative purpose. Art handicraft is
required in architecture for the creation
of the intimate details just as much as for
gaining an effect on a large scale. Indus-
trialism not only increases production but
makes it mechanical, while handicraft falls
back more and more and loses its creative
"ST. GEORGE." FROM
STOCKHOLM CITY HALL
CEILING DECORATION IN
THE SOUTH PORTICO
STOCKHOLM CITY HALL
surprising after our wandering through the
others. The window doors with the
leaded panes open out towards the '* Blue
Hall/' and we step out on to the balcony.
Here a still greater cube strikes our eye.
The red brick of the walls gives warmth to
the huge space. The surface treatment of
the brick (after being laid) by means of
the stonemason's tools has given a faint
relief pattern to the walls, and this has
given a delightful freshness to the great
surfaces. The balcony, the floor and the
stairway are light grey and green marble
and the grey granite of the pillars forms a
pleasing contrast to the redness of the
walls. 000000
On the occasion of great festivities this
hall forms the great meeting-place, to
which the guests come direct from the
cloakrooms placed under the banqueting
hall. 000000
Decorative art and handicraft have had
great tasks to perform in the elaboration
of the details and the adornment of the
building in general. During the process
of building workshops for modelling, art
smith's work, coppersmith's work, furni-
ture and textiles, etc., were laid out on the
building site, where they were under the
direct supervision of the architect. The
intimate co-operation which was thus
made possible between the architect and
the other artists has certainly very greatly
contributed to elevate the quality of the
206
craftsmanship and has made it easier to
work out the details in material and shape
in harmony with the general effect of the
structure. The sharp division between the
different arts or their specialization often
makes it difficult for our time to equal
the art epochs of the past, the Middle
Ages and the Renascence, in creating a
rich and exuberant architecture. Painting
and sculpture must not stand aloof from
architecture when they are used for a
decorative purpose. Art handicraft is
required in architecture for the creation
of the intimate details just as much as for
gaining an effect on a large scale. Indus-
trialism not only increases production but
makes it mechanical, while handicraft falls
back more and more and loses its creative
"ST. GEORGE." FROM
STOCKHOLM CITY HALL