Building history
Fastigheten Grönlandet (tidigare Riksförsäkringsanstalten) ritades av Sigurd Lewerentz, en av Sveriges internationellt sett mest uppmärksammade arkitekter. Byggnaden anses som en av de viktigaste moderna byggnaderna i Sverige.
Den strikta och eleganta fasaden reser sig från gatan med skarpt utskurna muröppningar och djupt liggande fönster, likt svarta hål i fasaden. När du går in genom porten från Adolf Fredriks kyrkogata så kommer du in i ett ovalt atrium, omgärdat av fönster och under öppen himmel– en mäktig upplevelse.
I husets mitt finns en stor spiralformad trappa som leder vidare till välorganiserade våningsplan, där ljusflödet från innergården skänker ljus till rum och korridorer. Plan 9 har terrasser både in mot innergården och ut mot Wallingatan samt Adolf Fredriks kyrkogata.
Fastigheten är Blå-markerad enligt Stockholms stadsmuseums kulturhistoriska klassificering av stadens bebyggelse- därmed ett enskilt byggnadsminne. Utformning ska i huvudsak bevaras. Underhållas så att särskilda värden bevaras och ta hänsyn till byggnadens karaktärsdrag.
2014 förvärvades huset och en omfattande renovering och restaurering av fastigheten påbörjades. 2016 flyttade Marginalen Bank in i fastigheten.
Idag pågår ett nytt liv av modernt kontor, då fastigheten huserar ett antal hyresgäster.
Note: This text will be updated to an english version.
Designed by Sigurd Lewerentz and erected in 1930-32, the building has been ambitiously refurbished. The weighty exterior with its somewhat forbidden grey rendering and its deeply embedded windows, contrasts markedly with the lightness of the elliptical courtyard within.
The Architect
Sigurd Lewerentz (1885-1975) is one of Sweden’s most famous architects internationally. Lewerentz’ long career as an architect included the development of national romanticism from around 1910 until around sixty years later, by which time beton brut, had taken over. During this period, he was a prominent exponent of 1920s classicism, 1930s functionalism and the brick architecture which reappeared in the post-war period. His wilfulness and artistic depth was nevertheless such that he was always going to follow his own path – one where matters of style would never be subordinate. It was the case, in fact, that his stubborn and introverted ways sometimes drew him into conflicts with clients. He never had a large office and, for several years from 1940 onwards, withdrew to his window factory in Eskilstuna. The fact that he had been financially independent, ever since growing up with his parents in their ‘manager’s residence’, certainly made him more able to cultivate his own independence.
The works of Sigurd Lewrentz will be shown in a large exhibition held at ArkDes in 2021. Marginalen bank will be a main sponsor of the exhibition: Sigurd Lewerentz: Architect of death and life.
