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Architecture and habitat in transformation. ”Olympia” in Helsingborg during 100 years. An aesthetic and social historical study.
The study, paid for by the Gyllenstiernska Krapperup Foundation and The King Gustaf VI Adolf's Foundation for Swedish Culture, has been realized by archival research and analysis of the buildings. I am interested in the changes of the living environment after 1900, when the area was created, until today.
Research leader
Ann-Charlotte Weimarck, Division of Art History and Visual Studies
Status: Completed (2010–2012)
Subjects: Art History and Visual Studies
Department: Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences
Project description
My research project concerns five distinctive residential areas, the so-called ‘bird quarters’: Starling, Lark, Wagtail, Lapwing and Kite in the Olympia district. The area is dominated by large three-storey detached houses with Art Nouveau plastered façades.
The houses were built between 1901 and 1910. At that time there was intensive construction in the area and some thirty white plastered Art Nouveau villas were rapidly built. An urban planning competition was launched in 1904, but this was not approved until 1908, so it was important to begin the building work on time.
The buildings are characterized by rich articulation and compact house volumes. They are equipped with bays and towers that form the façades and corners of the buildings. The Art Nouveau buildings commonly have many large windows to let sunlight into the apartments. The street façades are usually free of entrances, which are instead located on the sides of the houses; there are small staircases to the kitchens and one main entrance to the halls of the apartments.
During the houses’ century-old history, many different forces in society have left their mark and contributed to greater or lesser changes in both the internal and external environments. This is the focus of my study. I follow the buildings over time and also analyse what has happened to the street spaces, gardens, cellars, lofts and tower rooms, just to name a few construction and environmental elements.
Content manager: Ann-Charlotte Weimarck
Page content last modified 16 Jan 2013
Last modified 11 Jan 2012
Architecture and habitat in transformation. ”Olympia” in Helsingborg during 100 years. An aesthetic and social historical study.
Postal Address
Division of Art History and Visual Studies
Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences
Box 117, 221 00 LUND
Internal Post Code 59
