This chained figure in the new city hall, once the old court house is a reminder that the guilty were once hung in chains. Or perhaps it just warns people off a dangerous staircase. … Continue readingChained figure
Round images
The old district court on Gustaf Adolf’s Square has been refurbished and will now accommodate the city council. The new city hall was opened to the general public on the weekend of 12-13 April when these photos were taken.
Above: Wooden clock face in one of the meeting rooms, formerly courtrooms.
Below: Golden lamp in one of the meeting rooms, formerly courtrooms. … Continue readingRound images
In the new city hall
The old district court on Gustaf Adolf’s Square has been refurbished and will now accommodate the city council. The new city hall was opened to the general public on the weekend of 12-13 April when these photos were taken. The original building was opened in 1672. The extension (which is the part that had has been renovated and had the open day) was designed by Gunnar Asplund and opened in 1936.
Above: Interior of the newer building looking out onto the courtyard that separates it from the original building. The long staircase to the first floor. The rise from one step to the next it very low to give the people who use it – in the past, judges, lawyers, witnesses and defendants, in the present city councillors – time to think about the grave issues they are here to consider.
Below: The stairs again – from beneath. … Continue readingIn the new city hall
Striped gloves in the rain
A pair of striped gloves lost in the rain near the Lundby sports stadium on Hisingen … Continue readingStriped gloves in the rain
Chalmers stilt-walkers
Stilt-walkers. Sculpture at the main entrance to the Chalmers Technical University campus. A man and a woman on stilts in painted bronze. The sculptor is Stephan Balkenhol and the sculpture has stood here since 2003.
I can’t decide if the idea is that engineers and scientists are particularly able to walk on stilts (because of their ability to calculate how best to balance), or if the sort of jobs you can get after graduating from Chalmers are so precarious it’s like walking on stilts.
This is the sort of photo one takes when one has taken the wrong tram, got off at the wrong stop and realised one has ten minutes to kill (in the cold, cold morn) before the next tram back comes along. I’ll try for a better photo on a sunnier day later in the year. … Continue readingChalmers stilt-walkers
The Door to Moria
Fractures in this rock seem to trace the outline of a doorway, perhaps it’s a back door to Moria, the dwarvish kingdom under the mountains of Moria in The Lord of The Rings. I tried speaking “Mellon” (“Friend” in the elven tongue according to Tolkien), but that wasn’t the password. … Continue readingThe Door to Moria
Flowering magnolia in the rain
Two young magnolia trees in the park off Kronhusgatan, blossoming in yesterday morning’s April rain.
My eyesight is not what it was (and, let’s face it, it never was great). At a distance I thought these were cherry trees or apple trees in blossom, but closer inspection showed they were flowering magnolia. … Continue readingFlowering magnolia in the rain