Homo Reflexus

43 Mitt brev till de arkitektbyråer som 2008 tävlade om utformningen av Slussen har förmod- ligen inte haft någon inverkan på det nu aktuella valet av Slussen, men kan ändå vara intressant i sammanhanget. To architects involved in “The New Slussen” at the following agencies: AJN Architectures Bjarke Ingels Group Foster + Partners Nyréns Arkitektkontor Wingårdhs You are selected to present proposals for how ”The New Slussen” in Stockholm will be designed. The mission is to create a traffic solution that meets the needs of the 21th century. There are also requests to further develop Slussen into a unique meeting point for Stockholmers themselves as well as for visitors to Stockholm. Among other things discussed for Slussen, there has been the proposal for a new Opera House and a new City Library. 25 years ago the idea to create an architectural mega-attraction in honor of Alfred Nobel was presented in Stockholm. Today, an incidental exhibition called The Nobel Museum can be seen in the Börshuset in the Old City. An investigation was made by Statens Fastighetsverk about a permanent Nobel Museum in the old military rock cavern under the Skeppsholmskyrkan (the church on Skeppsholmen), in Stockholm. The location at Skeppsholmen poses significant problems with the added disadvantage that it would not influence the skyline of Stockholm City in a positive way. Most policy makers and key opinion leaders, as well as public opinion, believe that Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prize should be presented in a prestigious architectural setting. Today, there exist in Stockholm two centraly located sites, with connection to water, that meet the requirements for placement of a grand architectural feature. One of these is situated close to the new meeting point, Stockholm Water Front, by Klara Sjö, at the Grand Central Station. The other possible location is near Slussen, on Söder Mälarstrand. This last site frames, together with the Old City and the Town Hall, the inner waterway of Stockholm’s Riddarfjärden. Moreover, this setting offers particularly historical significance since Alfred Nobel´s laboratory for experimentation was situated along Söder Mälarstrand, not far from Slussen. In addition, Alfred Nobel´s grandparents lived in the neighborhood on the small island of Långholmen and the family used to passe by this location on their travels to and from Russia. A Nobel Museum/Nobel Center on Söder Mälarstrand could connect to the hillside (steep fault), being built over/across the transport infrastructure (between the hill and the seashore) and finish facing the water at Riddarfjärden. Such a layout would create an extraordinarily attractive site, as well as offer easy availability to the attraction (see attached illustration).