The Malm Konsthall

Author(s): Adam Caruso, Olle Svedberg and Sune Nordgren

Source: AA Files, No. 41 (Summer 2000), pp. 30-39
Published by: Architectural Association School of Architecture
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29544189
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JANUVELIUS

The

Adam

Malm?

Konsthall

Caruso

I have
Malmo

seen

in the
three very different exhibitions
In each, the manner
inwhich the
Konsthall.

work was

the way inwhich the fabric of

to accommodate
the
modified
subtly

installed and

the building was

show made
the experience
of the art powerful. Yet
this reciprocal
between
the physical
relationship
a
and
the
work
installed
within it
of
presence
gallery
flies in the face of current

design

designed galleries provide

a minimum
built with
or assemblies

the relationship

30

between

about

the

art

of contemporary

materials

orthodoxies

space. Many
recently
size
spaces of maximum

of

tectonic

that might make

detail.

Any

ambiguous
the installed work and the

this is an improvement on
gallery are avoided. Whilst
many gallery designs of the previous forty years (a
that were
by gallery-machines
period characterized

their own architectural

adept at expressing
the art that they
manifestos
than in accommodating
were designed
to house),
of large,
the production
more

dematerialized

The
Hallen

within

amongst

already

existing

success

the Chinati

articu?

goes against
artists for working

galleries

lated preference
characterful,

a widely

of spaces
Foundation

f?r neue Kunst

an interest in art's

non-art

spaces.*

such as PS 1 in New
in Marfa,

Texas

York,
and the

is testimony to
interaction with varying scales of
in Schafmausen

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In a study carried
in advance
of the Bankside
the T?te
project,
100 contemporary
art
asked over
whether
practitioners
they pre?
in existing spaces or
ferred to work
art spaces.
A maj?
purpose-built
a
for
ority expressed
preference
working

in

existing,

adapted

buildings.

AA FILES 41

facing page: Gallery interior,

March 1994 (following the
restoration byWhite Architects).
this page: The gallery roof during
(1971-76).

construction

and varying material

conditions. The highly
between
the physical context of
specific engagement
these places and the work installed within them also

enters the Konsthall,

space

through the thinnest of

an
from
exterior
thresholds,
space formed by a small
inflection in the facade, a wooden bench cantilevered

provides a richness of experience for the viewer that is

rarely achieved within the large, even architecture of

and a simple canopy. Passing

the
doors
of thewind lobby one enters
through
glazed
art
into
the
lack of mediation
space. The
directly

the purpose-built

art institution. Yet, in a new build?

one provide a spatial richness that is

ing, how would

to that of an
equivalent

barracks

existing school,
complex or factory? How specific can an art space be
if it ismade for temporary exhibitions? The Malm?
con?
Konsthall
is one of the very few purpose-built
temporary art spaces to engage with these issues.
Klas Anshelm's design for theMalm? Konsthall
said to have

is

inspired in part by a bus garage.

slight presence of the building within

been

The

extremely
the flat, expansive space of the city, together with the
unremitting blankness of its horizontal-board-marked
concrete

facades

tive, perverse

are,

from

contemporary

formal decisions

major public building. Although

ment of architectural expectations
what Anshelm

perspec?

in the design of a
this offhand treat?

is probably exactly
the exterior reticence and

intended,
informality of the building has a significant effect on
one's experience of its interior.

One

from the concrete wall

between

the space of the city and the gallery interior

is only possible because of the protective carapace of
the closed concrete exterior, an enclosure that serves
to insulate the art within from the unacceptably

large
and complex scale of the city. And yet, the points of
contact between interior and exterior
the entrance
- are so
a
out
to
and
the park
long window
looking
that the interior is none the less
thin and membranous
charged with an informality and lack of decorum that
is a direct result of the abrupt manner
of the
enclosure of the building.

shock of entering directly into the gallery

is
and
space
compounded
by the expansiveness
brilliant whiteness
of that interior. Its scale and
The

purposefulness
meandering

is effectively masked by the low and

A
of the concrete
enclosure.

line

generalized,
large-scale shed would not necessarily
facilitate the installation of small- and medium-sized

SWEDISHMUSEUM
OF ARCHITECTURE

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3i

AA FILES 41

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a result, Anshelm has introduced barely

a
perceptible complexities that allow for rich range of
inhabitation within this simple enclosure. The open
plan is charged by three kinds of ceiling that establish

work. As

room-like
produce
not
is
divided
the space
by walls.
The firstof these ceilings is a neutral grid of small roof
ensure that
lights. The grid is sufficiently fine to
rather than providing a visual connection to the sky,
spatial
overlapping
attributes even when

the hundreds

fields and

of domes

undermine

the substance

of

the large-span roof structure and fill this part of the

interior with a brilliant and even light. The second
by a monumental
ceiling territory is dominated
pitched
Serving

volume
almost

is glazed on its north face.

as a cupola within the gallery as a
which

whole, the large area of glazing faces skyward and is

to a swathe of nineteenth
both frame and window
century buildings located across the street, powerfully
affecting the character of the space below. The last

territory is formed by the arcade-like space that runs

to the long, floor-to-ceiling window at the
parallel
west of the building. The soffitof this space is flat, so
that one is drawn

to the trees and wide

street outside.

If, in thisway, the park is drawn into the gallery, this

'shop window' also permits the gallery to be projected
into the city.

top: Klas Anshelm's

spatial types are not simply diagrammatic

of the building is sus?
The
arrangement
concepts.
inten?
tained and extended by a coincident material
These

designs.

bottom: The Konsthall viewed

from the park during a project
by Barbara Kruger, 1994.

sity that is equally

aa files 41

subtle and carefully judged. Whilst

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being struck by the size and lightness of the interior,

one also notices the timber floor that runs con?
tinuously through the art spaces. A spanning structure
of raw, untreated spruce boards,
it establishes the
extent

generous

of

factory

floor.

The

matte,

un?

treated surface is redolent of the wood-block

floors
that are still common in northern European
industrial
buildings. The twice yearly washing with lye soap is
- a
almost palpable
in the light, scrubbed surface
surface that is clean but somehow never finished.
Anshelm was proud of the flexibility and often

exploited potential of the building's suspended floor,

but it is its rawness, its presence as structure, that
most powerfully contributes to the provisional and
character

open-ended

of

the art

space.

Along with the floor, the hundreds of domed roof

lights are themost significant tectonic element of the

gallery interior.White-painted
plywood sheets, fragile
and thin, have been stressed into a slightly concave
shape to form the interior of the lights. The stressing
of the surface gives a consistent shape to the hundreds

and is evident from the exposed corner L

and
the gaps at the edges of the sheets that
clamps
hint at a hidden volume above. The
air-supply
diffuser, socket outlet and simple exposed lightbulbs
further emphasize that this is an independent floating
of domes

layer, enclosing a structure and services zone, rising

up to meet the glazing elements and providing a
ceiling to the gallery. What could easily have been a
case of too many things happening
in too small a

space, instead becomes a surface of great control and

delicacy, radiant with an ethereal, almost Islamic

light.
As is the case inmany other temporary exhibition
galleries, thewall linings atMalrno have a provisional
and used quality
timber boards that have obviously
been repeatedly overpainted, cracked joints at times

such
separating and coming out of plane. While
details are distracting and might seem to be defects in
other buildings, here they are consistent with the

whole, quietly proclaiming the robust flexibility of this

art space. You can do a lot to this space without
its quiet dignity, its particular

negating

character

of

place.

There
is very little about the Malm?
Konsthall
or factory.
that is literally like a garage, warehouse
Structure is completely hidden, servicing elements are

discretely and flexibly integrated into the simple

is no hint of
linings which form the interior. There
making

a representation, or pastiche,
has made
Instead, Anshelm

of an industrial

a space of an
for
equivalent character,
production, a place
can
that
be robustly engaged with and altered.
space.

a place

above: Model by Klas Anshem;

the gallery at night; gallery
interior.

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Olle Svedberg
In 1970 Sigurd Lewerentz moved next door to Klas
Anshelm. At the older architect's request Anshelm
(1914-80) designed a small atelier in Lewerentz's

to satisfy the requirement that no

garden.
one should be able to look at Lewerentz while he
worked, Anshelm produced a black box of asfaboard
In order

in the roof alone. Anshelm

with windows

too was a man

liking for privacy. He

shared this

of fewwords and

did he display
retiring habits. Only
occasionally
visible eccentricities such as driving around in a huge
1930s Horch

financial

cabriolet

also, of his

(a demonstration,

success).

of the buildings designed by Anshelm

- are
located in and around
about one hundred in all
Most

in southern Sweden. Having

the town of Lund,
from
there shortly after his graduation
in
Chalmers School of Architecture
(1940),
G?teborg

moved

his own office (1947) and remained in

the town for the rest of his life. In general, Anshelm

he established

stuck to the design principles of the 1940s and the

majority of his buildings are large brick structures that
repeat

more

or

less

the

same

formula.

But

he

also

designed a number of villas and cultural institutions in

a highly individual
these are the
style. Amongst

Malm?

Konsthall

(1973) and a somewhat

older art

gallery in Lund (1956).

Prior to the construction of theKonsthall

the only
of
capable
holding large
located some way
exhibitions was an old museum
from the town centre. The city's cultural reputation

venue

inMalm?

was poor

that was

in comparison

to Stockholm, G?teborg

and

even

the nearby

university town of Lund. Conse?

the late 1960s, there was an urgent

quently, during
need for a new art gallery that would
status as Sweden's
keeping with Malm?'s

be more

in

third largest

250,000 people).
city (inhabited by approximately
The costs, size and site of the Malm?
project were
the new building would be erected
pre-determined

on an area of flat land in the south-western corner of

side of this space was an
informal park and, hidden behind some trees, a semi
the big Town Theatre
classical edifice of the 1940s
Lewerentz.
Buildings of various
designed by Sigurd
are
structures of
of
which
red-brick
ages (themajority
the old town. On

thewestern

the early nineteenth century) stood on the eastern and

- one
of these, a small
northern edges of the site
into an office and
school building, was converted

store, and connected to the rear of the new gallery.

To the south there was a parking area.
Anshelm's

response

to these

rectangular building of concrete.

were dominated by a glass wall

was

conditions

low,

Its external features

that faced

the park
entrance - a

and by a huge triangular lantern. The

I-beams
faced
portico of red-painted

south and

projected at a 450 angle from the wall. To hide the

parking area a simple formal garden was arranged
near the entrance. Nearby, a long bench was fixed to
the sun. As a final touch, Anshelm
the outer concrete walls covered by
ivy, instead of leaving them in the rough 'Brutalist'
state that they are in today.
the wall

to catch

intended to have

Inside,

the visitor encountered

an open, white

right: The main entrance.

AA FILES 41

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hall (75 x 30 m). Its floor was constructed of

10
unpainted spruce boards with exposed nails; the
a
number of
metre-high lantern was surrounded by
washed

smaller ones. It looked like a workshop or factory

rather than a temple of art and the reaction to this
was as one might have expected: sharp criticism from
conservatives; enthusiastic acclaim from young left

own
wing radicals. But Anshelm always regarded his
as
to
in
be
discussed
something
left-wing sympathies
a political
private, he never intended the gallery to be
an
was
arena
his workshop
concept
merely
architect's response to artistic problems of the day.
an architect, Anshelm also
as he called
non-figurative sculptures, 'artefacts'
them.Whilst designing theMalm? Konsthall, he was
In addition

made

to being

planning an exhibition of these works (ranging from

obsolete pieces of old cars to geometrical illustrations
for arithmetical problems and models for large-scale

water fountains) at the art gallery in Lund

that
Anshelm had designed in 1956. The spaces in that
use - too
gallery, he now thought, were difficult to
and as a result, Anshelm's
limited and too divided
became an open, undivided hall.
design forMalm?
site at Lund had been a rectangular market?
with
brick buildings on either side, one being a
place
medieval house with stepped gables.
detached
small,
initial sketches the gallery's plan was
In Anshelm's
The

faithfully adjusted to the traditional courtyard struc?

ture - four blocks framing a closed right-angled area
but gradually the design became more free and
even the trademark
open in character. Ultimately
red-brick facade was altered.
was
This modernization

The small roof lanterns, main

entrance porch and door handles
the Malm? Konsthall.

at

in part due to two

of
Anshelm's
members
staff,Bernt Nyberg
younger
and Stefan Romare, who belonged to themovement
against

'New

ornamental

Empiricism'
mixed

surfaces,

and

its pitched
and

colours

roofs,

materials.

stylewas typical of the 1940s, and was intended

to create a popular
and national architecture as

This

opposed to the functionalism of the pre-war decades.

own rejection of ornament and multi?
Anshelm's

his young colleagues

(to
whom
such things were nothing but sentimental
as the
to the same generation
kitsch). Belonging
looked
Smithsons and Team X, Nyberg and Romare
on
admiration.
modernism
with
back
radical
They
to
to
box
and
brick
the
Anshelm
change
inspired
coloured

effects attracted

reorganize

both

transforming

the

interior

and

the

exterior,
de Stijl-like
and vertical window strips.

the latter into an almost

composition of horizontal
The large windows and stepless entrance made

access

to the gallery much easier, and in doing so furthered

the aims of social-democratic
politics: to eliminate
and
traditional cultural barriers
bring modern art to
the people.
Inside,

the Lund

Art Gallery

was

lit by

large

The exterior and main entrance door

handles of the Lund Konsthall.

AA FILES 41

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above: Malm? Konsthall, plan and

section with proportions indicated by
the author.

earlier
lanterns borrowed
from one of Anshelm's
at
Landskrona built for
the industrial halls
projects
the Landsverk
lanterns was

The construction of the

Company.
a
of flat roof was cut out,
section
simple:

to an angle and the resultant gap filled with

glass. At Lund these lanterns cover two large halls
that run parallel to the facade. Whilst these halls are
raised

two full storeys in height, the connecting structures

are divided into two one storey spaces. The delicate
variations between bigger and smaller rooms with

different light conditions give the Lund gallery a

spatial quality that Anshelm never achieved again.

itwas precisely these divisions and variations that

to preparing
to be an obstacle
his own
proved

Yet

exhibition

in 1972.
Anshelm

the light is perfectly even in every part of the oblong

room. It is a soft light which counteracts
the hard
exterior of the building
anything you might
the word

is swept away the

no vestibule or
with
you step inside,
contrast.
to
In its ideal
the
break
space
mediating
without partition walls, without works
configuration
it consists of nothing but light.
of art or equipment
Anshelm often began the design process with a
associate with

'concrete'

very second

square. He would
square or whatever

then add

another

square,

a half

else was needed, making use of a

classical grid system. One should not be aware of the
grid at the end of the process and to achieve this ithas
to be distorted. At Malm?

the plan

is almost two and

a quarter squares, the large lantern is almost as high

as it iswide - a pattern that is repeated throughout

did not find it easy to create a

- a
solution to these problems
single, large room with
an even, natural
light. Even
though the Malm?

the design. The result is calm and steady without

making the geometry feel dead. Simple as thismethod

enormous

Arkitekters Riksf?rbund's

At Malm?

was a detached building, light had to come

from above, since thewalls were reserved for hanging
works of art, and a large lantern of the Landskrona
illuminate only a small part of the
type could
Konsthall

in some

room. The

other

remainder would

have

to be lit

way.

Anshelm, who had often said 'architecture cannot

be invented', now had to be inventive. He constructed

a small lantern angled slightly to the north and by

setting 230 of these side by side, he created a ceiling of
pure light.Anshelm took great pains to find the right

lean, proportion and curve of the lanterns, which

were made of plywood, and his hard work paid off

may seem, itmust be handled with great subtlety and

thiswas one ofAnshelm's great talents.
Anshelm's achievement at Malm? was recognized
in 1976, when the building was awarded the Svenska
highest honour, theKasper
was
awarded for the building's
prize
An
space without
open
informality.

Salin Prize. The

'refreshing'
barriers of any kind, it imposes no style, whether old
or new, foreign or national. The building has no
regional character and not even the slightest con?
nection

disordered
and

to

its surroundings,
yet it fits into its
location perfectly, thanks to its easy appeal

harmonious

AA FILES 41

proportions.

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Sune Nordgren
is a building constructed of
Konsthall
it is a concrete box with a wooden

The Malm?

basic materials

floor, white walls and beautiful light. But it is also a

blank sheet, open to all kinds of artistic creativity,
born in a time when the contemporary art it was
designed to house could assume any shape and use

in a continuous experiment with new

any material
means
of expression. This was also a time when

'accessibility' and 'flexibility' were highly esteemed

the promise of these words has
words. At Malm?,
been realized in a building which, over the years, has
genuinely proved its ability to adapt to all kinds of
new

art works

performances,

multi?

installations,

a
whilst maintaining
more
a
to
art.
traditional
As
result,
capacity
display
the Konsthall
that is very
provides an atmosphere
welcoming and unfettered by pretensions to prestige.

media

and

interactive works

both

obvious

and

intel?

obstacles,
physical
lectual, to the engagement with challenging works of

Many

contemporary

art

are

easily

overcome

because

of

the

simplicity and evident presence of the building.

is easy and rewarding for its
Whilst the Konsthall

staff towork

in, it is artists in particular who love the

space and this is perhaps because ithas been designed
to be the ideal artist's studio. Indeed, as he designed
the Konsthall, Klas Anshelm had a particular artist's
studio inmind
thatwhich Constantin Brancusi had

built in Paris with his own hands

(and which Anshelm

saw
atMusee
in
its
meticulous
reconstruction
probably
d'Art Moderne
de la Ville). Brancusi frequently took

looking at them you

elements of theMalm?

in his studio and

photographs

all the basic

easily recognize
Konsthall:
the proportions of the
repeated (though on a much bigger
also find the same very high ceiling
facing windows. Anshelm expressed

studio have been

scale) and one can

with large north
the view that since
most art is created in very simple rooms - studios or
it should be exhibited in similarly
rough factories
of his most
commendable
simple spaces. One
is that he has managed
achievements at theKonsthall
a

studio or workshop
atmosphere
its enlargement, has retained a human

to create

that,
scale.
despite
To everyone working in this 'arts factory' and to all
those who visit it, this immediately establishes a direct
to the artwork.

connection

The Malm?

Konsthall

was

both a controversial

I arrived as
and a popular place from the start.When
its third director (in early 1990) this simple building

was

in immediate

more

than well

need

used

of renovation, having been

by over two million visitors

that time, the

during its first fifteen years. Over
wooden floor had never had any proper maintenance,
basic structures were completely neglected, the in
house

restaurant

roof was

had made
the ceiling greasy, the
and
the
leaking
simple glass lantern panels

the

made

whole

space

greenhouse

on

sunny

summer days. Sometimes itwould get so hot that the

exhibitions had to be closed to the public.
The

place

thorough restoration and extension that took

between
1993 and 1994 (and for which I was

left: The gallery following the

restoration in 1994.

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above: The gallery during

exhibitions of work by Bard
Breivik (left) and by Andres
Serrano (right), both of which
took place in 1996.

responsible) has since been both praised and criti?

cized. I began in February
1990, working with Jan
from
White Architects inMalm?,
and by
Holmgren
same
we
of
the
had
made
the
first
year
August
presentation of plans and sketches. The renovation
was an attempt to restore the building in line with
Anshelm's
'original intentions' (as far as we could
read them from his early drawings), and also to
liberate

the building

activities,

among

from

were

which

profitable bookshop
Since the realization

increasingly
a

intrusive
a

restaurant,

growing

and a permanent auditorium.

of a building is always a process

that involves a series of compromises (in this case, not

only with engineers and politicians but also with the

first director of theMalm?

what
were

Konsthall, Eje H?gest?tt)

those original intentions and activities actually
is a matter that might merit some discussion.
however,

Ultimately,
extensive

renovation

in all its essential

was

a real

success,

aspects
adding

the

much

space and public facilities to the Konsthall.

The integrity of the building was not only maintained
but also emphasized,
and the building was finally
needed

given

the total flexibility that was

concern

of fundamental

to its architect.

Itwas

important for us to keep the very strong and

entrance, so that the obvious and direct
route into the art space was not confused and to
a sense of easy accessibility without the
maintain
beautiful

of thresholds, whether mental or physical.

even
Thus,
though the building as a whole is set away
from the busy streets and pedestrian areas of the town
hindrance

we

not to change
agreed
immediately
on
means
the
exterior.
that each of the
(This
anything
who
visit
the
Konsthall
250,000 people
every year
centre,

a conscious decision

have made

was

however,

in

desperate

to go there.) The

need

of

restoration.

roof
We

in the 520 lanterns and

glazing
the
shaft'
up
opened
(without changing its
high 'light
or
These
lanterns, derived from
shape
appearance).
installed

double

Anshelm's

design for a factory in the early 1950s, have

one

become

of his most

we

characteristic

signatures.

retained Anshelm's
fantastic solu?
Naturally,
tion to problems of space
the ability to open up
large parts of the floor and expose the basement. The
an opportunity
to
architect himself never missed
this aspect of his design. When
he was
emphasize
invited to exhibit at the Konsthall,
his vertical

Pendulum

Project used the full height of the building

plus the opened basement. This unique feature has
since been used by artists such as Daniel
Buren,

Robert Morris, Miroslaw Balka and Anish Kapoor.

The
for the generation
of
spaces necessary
revenue and the provision of education - bookshop,
and auditorium
restaurant, children's workshop
were

to the empty house next door and

'purified' exhibition hall by a
beautiful annex, an 'interspace' with tempting shop
windows facing themain entrance.
moved

connected

to the now

is one of Europe's best

Today theMalm? Konsthall
for
It is wonderful to
exhibitions.
spaces
temporary
work in
simple materials allow partitions to blend
with real walls; you can drill or nail into the solid
floor; you can easily support heavy sculptures
from beneath and direct cabling wherever you wish. It
is a trueworkshop that can adjust to any expression of

wooden

contemporary art. It is a container for ideas, friendly

and welcoming, totally accessible, simple and straight?
forward, a meeting place where nothing is impossible.

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