The godliness of small things

Martin Hallberg, Red Dot-winner and sound designer, on the magic of sleeping in the countryside and sniffing liquorice smoke.

On the Norwegian island Sandhornøya, the architects Rintala Eggertsson have erected a temporary exhibition space in the form of a traditional fish drying structure. This is where the cultural festival Salt will take place. Next year, it will go on an Arctic tour.

As the new acting director, Kerstin Brunnberg’s job is to clean up the most mismanaged museum in Sweden. What went wrong, and what happens next? Bo Madestrand and Lars Tunbjörk snoop behind the scenes at Arkdes, formerly known as the Architecture Museum in Stockholm.

Even the smallest thing can change the course of the future. Here, six designers describe how the details became their best friends.

Dynamite Alfred’s fortune was bequeathed to prizes within science, literature and peacekeeping. In the spring of 2014, a new prize was awarded – the Nobel Prize in Architecture. The winners are David Chipperfield and his colleague Christoph Felger. And the prize? To build a Nobel Centre in copper and glass on the Blasieholmen in Stockholm.

The dream of China starts and ends in Mehedeby. After ten years of disrepair, the Swedish-Chinese trade centre Dragon Gate is to be resurrected. Ola Bergengren and Bo Madestrand visit a ghost town that would have been better off left alone.

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In Sweden, PISA ratings are hitting rock bottom and school architecture is off the political radar. But things are happening in the Nordic region. Sofia Hallström goes on a Denmark tour, where architecture has become a part of the school politics.

K2S prefer not to be visible, but their architecture is all over Helsinki. At the moment, they’re designing the new “Silicon Valley of sports”. Salka Hallström Bornold travels to their headquarters inside the iconic arena, Helsinki Olympic Stadium.

Not everyone get discovered by Lady Gaga, or become hailed as stars before they did their local catwalk debut. Sebastian Lööv talks to the unusual designer Isabel Yalda Hellysaz, one week before the applause.

Through the student project X-Works, Lammhults once found the designers they would collaborate with for over 20 years. Now, the Swedish furniture manufacturer searches for new stars in the younger generation. It’s time for X-Works 2.0