Fire as construction method

What does a home smell like? How does a public square feel? What if neighborhoods were designed with sound, light, flexible spaces, and architecture that supports daily life? Will future generations experience this?

Lövholmen, once an industrial zone on the edge of Stockholm, is being transformed as the city expands. As industries move out, landowners and the city seize the chance to build expensive housing, using the area’s industrial past and waterfront as a selling point. Most of the land is privately owned, and plans include 2,000 high-rise condominiums, with factories largely demolished. The proposal relies on nearby public services and parks but offers little beyond housing, deepening inequality and dividing communities. The Lövholmen project has been in development for over 20 years, with delays raising costs, and landowners likely pushing for higher prices.

But Lövholmen’s story is more than just about creating housing. Its industrial history—from candle-making to machine guns, and more recently, arts and culture—offers the potential for something more vibrant.

One of the area’s factories, Kolsyrefabriken, produced carbonic acid for dry ice and carbon dioxide. On June 30, 2021, the closed factory was destroyed by fire. Despite fire brigades from across Stockholm responding, the building was reduced to rubble by morning. Much like the fires that ravaged the stock exchange in Copenhagen or Notre Dame in Paris, questions arise: What happens now? And who gets to decide?

Fire, as an element, has long been a symbol of both destruction and renewal. It’s often used to clear the old and make way for the new—whether it’s a building, a car, or barren soil being revitalized. In Lövholmen, speculation around the fire immediately turned to the possibility of arson, as the area had been waiting for large-scale urban renewal. The police investigated, but any evidence there might have been was lost to the flames, and the case was closed.

Fire doesn’t just destroy—it shapes the future, just as it has always shaped the built environment. In the case of Lövholmen, it asks: What will rise from the ashes?