We asked Swedish architect and sustainability specialist Elise Grosse, to nominate three places in Stockholm that align with the second chakra.
WATER
Saltsjöbaden—Outdoor Bath, Stockholm Archipelago
To bathe in community, in nature, is a deeply embedded practice in Swedish culture. Our many bath hotels, outdoor spas, and saunas set the stage for this tradition. Such structures are not in themselves objects of desire; instead, they contain an invitation to bathe (often naked) within a natural environment. They frame an experience of blissful sensuality, in a setting free from guilt and are places to connect deeply to ourselves, to others, and to the elements.
GUILT
Riksbanken (Sweden’s central bank) Brunkebergstorg 11
Less than one hundred meters from the city’s main axis, you’ll find a high concentration of flow, creativity, guilt, and sex. Stockholm’s phallus, “the Sergel-stick,” is surrounded by a hectic urban flow of moving cars and people. It pushes out from a gurgling fountain in the shape of a super ellipse, in which unclothed young people jump and splash to celebrate school graduation. To its right is the mecca of creativity; the glass-enclosed, transparent Culture-house. The shaded backside of the very same building contains the hoarded guilt of the Swedish National Bank, which faces the city-square formerly best known for prostitution.
EMOTIONS
Skogskyrkogården (The Woodland Cemetery) Sockenvägen
The mighty architecture at the Woodland Cemetery is like scenography executed with nature. As you move through different graveyard scenes, your inner actors, your emotions, will come into play. You become the creator-playwright and supporting actor, in the everlasting play of Life and Death. Exiting this theater, you will be unable to leave unaffected.
WATER – SALTSJÖBADEN
For thousands of years in Swedish architecture, wood has been at the very core of building tradition.
WATER – SALTSJÖBADEN
The building is the frame or portal; you enter the painting and become part of nature.
WATER – SALTSJÖBADEN –
Warm to the touch, wood gives a comforting scent while you lean back and face the heat of the sun.
GUILT – RIKSBANKEN
Until recently, the bank stood witness to the goings-on in the city-square best known for (illegal) sex trade.
GUILT – RIKSBANKEN
The recent cleanup was initiated to increase visibility and movement into the square.
GUILT – RIKSBANKEN
The patterns on the facade dominate the surrounding buildings.
GUILT – RIKSBANKEN
Male virility is potently expressed in squares and dark rock.
EMOTIONS – SKOGSKYRKOGÅRDEN
The temporality of everyday life is contrasted by the monumental design of the Woodland Cemetery.
EMOTIONS – SKOGSKYRKOGÅRDEN
Pines grown tall over centuries, bearing witness to the passing of time in front of the Resurrection Chapel
EMOTIONS – SKOGSKYRKOGÅRDEN
Tallum Pavillion is saturated with the mystery of trancendence—from dust to dust.
EMOTIONS – SKOGSKYRKOGÅRDEN
The vastness of an elevated meditation grove.
EMOTIONS – SKOGSKYRKOGÅRDEN
Giant firs stand guard, marking the years with every cir cle traced upon their trunks.
EMOTIONS – SKOGSKYRKOGÅRDEN
The heavy stone wall separates the Underworld from a busy highway on its other side.
