Your story in few lines
I was born in a small academic town in southern Sweden. Spent endless summers by the sea. Studied everything under the sun and fell in love with architecture. Went to London a couple of years but eventually arrived in Stockholm. Bought a small sailing boat and started to explore the archipelago. Got rooted with house and children. Started my own architect’s office and began to explore the possibilities to create a better society through innovative architecture.
Can you tell me more about the way you design social and residential housing and which is your keen focus on sustainability? Do you also design interiors?
It is never a fixed formula, but it always start with gathering information and insights of the context. You always need to solve a lot of technical and functional problems, but the real challenge is to combine it all into a poetical sequence of spaces. Sustainability, especially in the social sense is the most difficult and interesting area for me right now. I do interior design depending on how important it is for the overall experience.
You’ve also a blog on your website (in Swedish): which kind of topics do you explore?
It is usually fragments from encounters with exciting phenomena’s and interesting people. Images are equally important as the words to me.
How hard is it to start and keep on an entrepreneurial activity today in your city, or in general?
It is easy, it is common and it is highly appreciated. I have my office at Impact Hub Stockholm, an international network of social entrepreneurs that is a truly entrepreneurial and international environment. When I listen to my friends here, nothing seems impossible.
Which encounters do you normally have in your daily work routine? Please make a portrait of one of these
On the last day before summer I had a discussion with an African woman about a political event in Stockholm and another discussion with a French woman about activism as a trigger for social responsibility. A constant shift of perspectives and topics is the norm at the Hub.
Which is the most important achievement after so many years as architect and urban planner?
I am most proud of the network of skilled and engaged professionals that I can turn to when I need something amazing to be done.
How do you combine the slowness of the family life and the schizophrenia of your particular activity?
It is challenging and a constant struggle where urgent matters are overshadowing things that are more important.
Describe a fantastic happening you, as father, have had in recent time?
It is always the small precious things, and very difficult to describe without sounding banal.
What your city is giving to you and vice versa?
The intensity, the beauty and the constant presence of water makes this an exiting place to be in. In my work I try both to be respectful of the existing qualities and make contemporary and meaningful additions to the city fabric.
Can you share your favourite cooking passion?
I like collaborative cooking, trying to make my small contributions as close to perfection as possible.
Which is your favourite wine or drink?
I like a wide variety of beers and wines but noting compares to freshly squeezed, moderately chilled juice from raspberries.
Which is your music or the book(s) with you now (and on which kind of side table or desk the book(s) lies down now)?
Esbjörn Svensson Trio is a long-term musical companion in my earphones and Jonathan Franzen’s ‘The Corrections’ have spent an embarrassingly long time on my bedroom table by now.
In which way do you try to live “slow”, if you like to do so, in a city as yours?
To fully immerse oneself in a task takes seclusion and is a perfect antidote to the buzz of the city life.
Which talent do you have and what talent do you wish you had?
I really enjoy learning new things, so lack of a desirable talent often ends up in more or less successful attempts to master it. Most of the joy and challenges has to do with different musical instruments.
What have you learnt from life until now?
It’s full of endless possibilities and is best enjoyed with humble curiosity.