Kulturista - Cultural Experiences in West Sweden

C U LT U R E E X P E R I E N C E S I N W E S T S W E D E N 26 GERT WINGÅRDH ARCHITECT Sweden’s best-known architect. Born in Skövde and now working in Gothenburg. Wingårdh won Sweden’s prestigious Kasper Salin-Priset for his design of Öijared Golf Club’s clubhouse way back in 1988. How would you describe your foremost quality as an architect? “Perceptive. We give our clients the things they didn’t know they wanted. It’s a bit like psychotherapy; listening is the most important part. We then use what we’ve learned to draw conclusions and, in doing so, help our clients transform a dream into a building.” How many West-Swedish buildings have you designed? “No idea. It’s difficult to say. The AstraZeneca complex in Mölndal consists of a great many buildings, for example. In all, I might have been responsible for around 50 buildings, perhaps.” Can you mention some of those that you are most proud of? “Universeum (2001) and Kuggen (2010). Universeum because it’s such a public building, having welcomed 7 million visitors to date. It’s fantastic. It’s also a very accessible building, intelligibly composed of different materials – wood and glass. And almost everything on the inside is governed by a precept we devised. The result is a building with countless dimensions. Kuggen is my favourite thanks to its rich colour scheme and general air of joie de vivre.”