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Reaktorhallen, KTH, photo: Jann Lipka The Royal W
aiting Hall, photo: Johan Rittsél, AIX Arkitekter Reaktorhallen, R1 Located 25 metres below ground at KTH, The Royal Institute of Technology, close to the centre of Stockholm, Sweden’s first nuclear reactor was built in the late 1940s for scientific purposes. The reactor was in use in between 1954 and 1970, and was demolished in the early ‘80s. A couple of years later The Swedish National Institute of Radiation Protection cleared the building for other uses. The Box, Ralph Erskine, photo: Holger Ellgard, Creative Commons tion. We do follow the concept and guidelines of Open House and are very happy to be one of more than 40 cities to be a part of the organisation. How does a festival like this go about getting access to funding? We work together with partners and sponsors, for example real estate companies, builders and architect offices, who support our organisation. We also work together with the municipality who contribute with cultural funding to our event. We are a non-profit organisation and all the earnings are used in the project. There are so many things going on during the days of Open House, how should one tailor their personal Open House experience? We try to locate our events near each other in the best possible way. This makes it possible for visitors to quickly move between them by walking, bike or public transportation. We want it to be easy to spontaneously visit other events in the near area. For safety reasons some of our guided tours must be pre-booked. Hopefully the public will appreciate the width of our program and find a lot of activities to take part in. What is that one unmissable building on this year’s programme according to you? This is a hard question to answer, because we believe that all of our buildings or activities are unmissable in their own special way. We are happy to present both old and new buildings, guided outdoor tours, infrastructure, workshops and activities for children. And what would be your dream doors to unlock for a future festival? We would love to have government buildings as a part of our future festival. Who doesn’t want to visit the Prime Minister’s office for example? Ralph Erskine’s box British architect Ralph Erskine’s path took him to Sweden (on a bike) in the 1930s where he eventually stayed, studied and practiced his craft. He became an influential figure within architecture in Sweden and internationally, and his Villa in Ekerö is one of Stockholm’s architectural landmarks. Well before that though he had his and his wife’s first home built in the outskirts of Stockholm. Dubbed ‘The Box’, the 20-square-metre house is a great example of ingenious design in small spaces, with a focus on function and flexibility. The Royal Waiting Hall at Stockholm Central Station In the South-Eastern corner of the Central Station there is a hidden entrance to the building that takes you into what was long one of the most secret rooms in Stockholm. Constructed in 1871 but later moved in 1904, the Royal Waiting Hall was a place where the Royal Family could spend some time in private before their train was to leave the station. To make them feel at home there are paintings on the walls depicting their royal castles at Gripsholm, Haga and Drottningholm. These days, train is not their preferred mode of travel and the other use – a place where they can welcome other monarchs and presidents – is probably a very rare occurrence these days too. 13