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Stortorget Square Architect: Caruso St. John Location: Kalmar, Sweden “The conception of public space is impregnated with a longing for a place and time in history when these values were real. Like some ancient mythological entity, public space is woven into the fabric of dreams and ideals.” Gabrielsson, 2008 The square, although it has a strong civic and historical significance, had become neglected. In recent times it has mainly been used as a car park. Having once served as a representation of absolute power Gabrielsson (2008), explains that “over centuries the gradual withdraw of its original uses – military parades, church assemblies and markets – has left its sole remaining use of parking.” The issue for Caruso St. John was how the identity of Stortorget could be strengthened, rather than restored. The aim, rather than fixing its fundamental issue, was to revitalise the square. The commercial centre has moved the focus of activity; the aim is not to move it back, but to give the space a strengthened identity. This was achieved by treating it as a large, continuous surface; providing the means for different uses but allowing the domination of none (Gabrielsson, 2008). Treated from the outset as a defined space both architecturally and historically, the proposal referenced the history of the square through its architecture. Gabrielsson (2008) notes that Stortorget lingers between past and present and that it “presents a case where issues of place, space, power and identity are multiplied and blurred.”
Public space, according to Caruso St. John (Gabrielsson, 2008), is “something that stores and transmits information of some kind and that enables communication, a screen on which society projects its lights and shadows, its hollows and planes, its powers and weaknesses”. The traditional square has been pointed out by critics to be a mere representation of power, signifying ideological closure and a false display of harmony and coherence in society. Street signs, traffic signage and kerbs were removed in favour of one continuous, evolving surface which favours the pedestrian, truly making the space to a public square. Treated as one large continuous surface, using the primitive granite stones that were first used in the square, pedestrian routes and sites for public events were accommodated within smoother surfaces of precast concrete slabs and cut granite sets. The square establishes subtle non-hierarchal relationship between spatial conditions through simple spatial delineation and materiality play; where no space is given dominance (Bordas, 2004). Artistic interventions of lighting masts and wells emphasise the presence of the sea and the space above the square. Subterranean waterways deliver the sound of running water to the square above, these are barely audible at busy times in the square but a comforting companion when empty. Bordas (2004) believes the intervention applies a contemporary constructive solution that completes the paving of the square by restoring it to flatness and continuity. In this way, Stortorget both recovers its lost dignity and acquires a new one.