KST - the roof, the view and the building.

[Swede]

A few (few for having a digicam) shots from when I went up to the top of KST this saturday. Plus a few bonus photos

As usual during my lectures/lessons/pic showings - please interupt me at any point for questions. Remember - there are no stupid questions, only stupid people

the building...









the roof...













the view...



































There's a model of the plan for Kista in the lobby...







some mood-shots to send you on your way, [Apu]please come again[/Apu]

[wolkenkrabber]

my borhter just lvie a stone throw away from these buildings


GREAT SHOTS gurra!!! but GOd it looks commyish ! anways your zooming seems great and blåkulla looks like a monster if looking towards down town

[AtlanticaC5]

Impressive pics!

Why does the elevator-sign say 32? Hasn't KST got 34 floors?

Btw - which building is this? (in the foreground, next to the chimneys)

[Swede]

@wk - Jakan, eh?

@AC5 - 34 is including the basements. 32 only includes the garage levels. 29 is entrence level -> roof.
@AC5.2 - that's Friluftsvägen 29-31 in Sumpan (formal name: Sundbyberg). If you look closely you'll see that it has one(1) balcony on the hither side. There are a few urban legends associated with that.

[AtlanticaC5]

@Swede: Ah OK, I just wondered 'cuz it says 34 floors on S.com...
@Swede.2: Yea, now I recognize it! Would you mind to tell any of those legends? I guess the view of KST from it is good.

[John]

Nice
Although KST looks very lonely there without any company.

[Swede]

@AC5 - No, it doesn't That's all been adjusted now.
@AC5.2 - Here's how one goes: The project was being planned during the "reign" of the last mayor of Sundbyberg (the position of mayor was discontinued in Sweden in favour of a less heirarchial organization). He used his influence to make sure he had a nice pad to retire too, calling dibs on the corner appartment towards the lake in the park right next to the building. Using some more infleunce (in unofficial ways, of course) he got them to make a balcony for said appartment a part of the plans.
Most of the legends follow similar formats.

@John - it is VERY alone. the next tallest buildings in Kista are about as tall as the shorter parts of KST. Check out this diagram for the Stockholm metro: http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?8356223
The closest one to KST is probably Turebergshuset at about 2-3km.

[PornStar]

The itself tower sure looks great, but I really hate that weird box/spire on its roof.
Otherwise - Gosh I miss some snow like I see here ===> Goin to Austria in 4 weeks=> Yay!!!!

[Monkey]

Originally Posted by wolkenkrabber

but GOd it looks commyish !

Lol, precisely my feelings, wolkenkrabber! Especially upon seeing thise one:



Thanks for the show, Swede! The views from KST are quite something, especially in winter!

I won't hold all those commies against you personally. On the other hand (and I don't hold this against you, either) I hope you'll be able to use your not inconsiderable influence to make at least SOME of those buildings in the models sport real roofs rather than turning into mere flat-tops?

[Swede]

It is very commieblock-dense. First of all this whole area was built either during the "Miljonprogram" in the 60s-70s or just after. Secondly, the low-rise (mostly detached single family buildings) areas tend to look pretty much like the forest from sngles like this. Less than a km behind those commieblocks (Tensta) is such an area (Spånga) that's got about as many people. But since only 2 or 3 of those buildings are over 3 storeys and there's plenty of trees in there it just doesn't show in the pic.
Same goes for the pic wk quoted, the forest behind those high-rises ain't a wilderness, it's a suburb (btw - what looks like an empty road in the foreground there is actually an old airstrip, once an airforce base, pre-WW2 iirc).

As for Blåkulla - there's a reason it got that name. Big & blue high up on a hill. I think only the 1 or 2 lowest floors are obscured, so they do stand out more than they would if Sthlm was flat like, say, Chicago.

And regarding the all those new flattops (only the white buildings are planned, rest are built already), all new plans are open to public critiqe for a couple of months so I could start dissing the low density, lack of true urbanity and horrid 70s-style flat roofs.

[Monkey]

Originally Posted by Swede

And regarding the all those new flattops (only the white buildings are planned, rest are built already), all new plans are open to public critiqe for a couple of months so I could start dissing the low density, lack of true urbanity and horrid 70s-style flat roofs.

Now that would be a noble task to engage in, Swede! Give those places some individuality and CHARACTER!

[Oberleutnant]

KST is the definite underdog of S&B forum. A great tower that rarely gets mentioned anywhere. Until now I had been under the false assumption that the gray box thing on top was simple concrete, glad to know that this isn't the case.

Second of all, I have to say that every time I see pictures of Stockholm's concrete suburbs, their vastness takes me by surprise. Have you any data of how much people in Sthlm live in the suburbs built as part of the "Million Program" and aftewards?

[Swede]

The Miljonprgram (million-program) was built to provide modern housing for a million people. Quite ambitious, but the housing shortage in Sweden was pretty extreme. One thing most people don't know is that the commieblocks only make up about half of the program, the rest are rowhouses & semi-detatched houses. You can see an area of that type in the shots showing Kista itself. IMO the program was an overall success; loads of new affordable housing that helped raise the standard of living greatly. Like here in Kista all appartments have triple glazing, "area heating", central TV-antennas, showers (2rooms+ have bathtubs). Which compared to the appartment blocks from the 1800s is friggin' amazing (those have all been renovated since afaik).
Don't know where to find good numbers about that, but I'd estimate at least 3-400 000 in metro Sthlm alone live in commieblock areas.

Re the Box. Yesm it was plain grey concrete for a fairly liong time, but they clad it in black last year (after the antenna went up iirc). Did improve the look of it imensly.

[Bardamu]

Originally Posted by Swede

The Miljonprgram (million-program) was built to provide modern housing for a million people. Quite ambitious, but the housing shortage in Sweden was pretty extreme. One thing most people don't know is that the commieblocks only make up about half of the program, the rest are rowhouses & semi-detatched houses. You can see an area of that type in the shots showing Kista itself. IMO the program was an overall success; loads of new affordable housing that helped raise the standard of living greatly. Like here in Kista all appartments have triple glazing, "area heating", central TV-antennas, showers (2rooms+ have bathtubs). Which compared to the appartment blocks from the 1800s is friggin' amazing (those have all been renovated since afaik).
Don't know where to find good numbers about that, but I'd estimate at least 3-400 000 in metro Sthlm alone live in commieblock areas.

Re the Box. Yesm it was plain grey concrete for a fairly liong time, but they clad it in black last year (after the antenna went up iirc). Did improve the look of it imensly.

Wasn´t one million apartments in ten years, 1964-1974. As I know they succeded as well. That means more than 100.000 apartments per year in average. I think the record was more than 120.000 in one year. Beat that...

[Swede]

Yepp, it was done in ten years. Kista was built afterwards (late 70s), which is why it looks so different - post-commieblocks instead of commieblocks.
Considering the population of Sweden at the time (7-8M) it is an amazing achievment.

Was it one million residential units? Yes it was.
Some stats from that page:
1/3 are row/semidetached/detached houses, only 27% are 6+ floors, most are made of bricks, only 16% have concrete facades.

[Nightsky]

Unfortunately, I just see red X:es...

[Swede]

^they're on SSC's gallery - hence the red Xs.