Masmo Square | Stockholm Sweden | LAND Arkitektur AB

masmo2

In Masmo, in the outskirts of Stockholm, you will find one of Stockholm´s most spectacular subway entrances. An elongated mountain with cliffs and pine trees stands as a backdrop for a square where the entrance to the station is shaped as a concrete cassette pushed into the mountain hillside. Even though the presence of the mountain is prominent and majestic, it is barely visible in the everyday rush to the subway.

Masmo_siteplan

A raised garden bed once dominated the center of the square. Instead, a grand open space is created on which a grid of red and orange poles is placed. Through the verticality and contrasting effect the poles possess, they emphasize the mountain and at the same time prevent unwanted car traffic. A large crevice is used as motive, shaping a crack on the square filled with shattered glass and tufts of grass. The big box, covered in wood is in fact a protecting caisson for district heating pipes.

 

masmo8

masmo7

masmo1

In the evenings, the mountain is illuminated.

masmo10

masmo9

The Masmo square is a project with a small budget. The red poles are standard equipment, granite slabs are reused from the previous design, cheap and recycled material are used as far as possible. It is an attempt to give notion to a place that in the inhabitants mind were almost nothing before and a way of highlight an everyday task – going in and out from the subway.

masmo5

masmo6

Masmo Square | Stockholm Sweden | LAND Arkitektur AB

Location: Masmo Huddinge, Stockholm

Designers: LAND Arkitektur AB

Commissioned by: Huddinge Municipality

Period of design: 2012

Implementation period: 2012-2013

Image & Text Credit |

About Damian Holmes 3253 Articles
Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/