Gamla posthus med ny funktion -- "post-Post". (Swedish)
In: Bebyggelsehistorisk Tidskrift, 2012-06-01, Heft 63, S. 39-58
academicJournal
Zugriff:
Old post office put to a new use -- "post-Post" A couple of years into the 21st century, the Swedish Post Office, Posten, was thoroughly transformed. Purpose-built post offices were superseded by in-store counters. Meanwhile Svensk Kassaservice had been formed to provide cash, banking and giro services, leaving letter and parcel post as Posten's core operation. At about the same time, Posten's management decided to sell off its real estate company, Postfastigheter AB. These changes aroused strong feelings, even though the import of diminishing post volumes and over-the-counter payment transactions was clear for all to see. Criticism was levelled, not least, at the closure of post offices, which in turn highlighted the physical connotation involved: the Post Office had been a building. Bricks and mortar also provide the starting point of this article. What became of the buildings which, until just a few years ago, were something as commonplace as post offices? This article pleads the case for a public service like the post office being an important part of our cultural heritage, possessing both physical and intangible qualities. Three post office buildings are investigated, commissioned by Posten at various points during the 20th century. After placing them in their respective "genetic" contexts, we go on to describe their subsequent fates. Is their previous function as post offices in any way marked or highlighted? The observation that continued use is what keeps a building alive, and that, accordingly, the ongoing life of a building is part of its history, has played an important part in the argument propounded (Stewart Brand, Aldo Rossi), but how is this fact relatable to questions of preservation and commemoration? The enormous Stockholm Central Post Office, built in 1903 and now a ministerial building with locked doors, is still pointed out as a post office. It was erected as the main Stockholm post office but also as an official building, headquarters of the General Directorate of Posts (Generalpoststyrelsen). The architect, Ferdinand Boberg, has his appointed place in the history of Swedish architecture, not least by virtue of his decorative ability. When the building came to be put to new use, as an office block for the Swedish Government Offices, architectural history provided a copious wellspring of ideas. One recurrent epithet was that of brevborg ("mail castle"), a name which once focused on the ordinary (letter post) and signalled a landmark. The epithet is neat, but somewhat regrettable. If a landmark building like this is dubbed "post office" but the more everyday versions are not, an important aspect of post offices as a built social environment gets lost. The new Boras post office building, geared to the town's mail order processing, was completed in 1946. This was one of a series of post offices built up and down the country in the 1940s and 1950s, nearly all of them designed by the Lars-Erik Lallerstedt practice and signalling a governmental presence long before Corporate Identity became a Swedish catch phrase. The complex layout amply demonstrates the expansion of Post Office responsibilities. The architectural idiom expresses an everyday dignity and authority, with rectangular volumes, most often built of yellow or red brick and with a striking amount of care devoted to materials and detailing. The airy main concourse with its staggered tills can be seen as epitomising the importance which the post office acquired as the cash counter of welfare society. Since it was sold in 2001, the building has housed a variety of restaurants, small shops and a bank. Clearly, the post office formerly constituted the centre of things, whereas the building today feels rather sidelined. The small post office building in Kvissleby, dating from 1986, was the outcome of a project for devising standard buildings for small communities. Designed by Jan Gezelius, it can be seen as betokening an interest in cherishing a more native architectural tradition, as instanced by the wooden architecture of the early 19th century. This project is interesting in that, during these years, Posten expressed ideas of the significance of the post office as a meeting point. Today the building is occupied by System-bolaget (Sweden's alcohol retailing monopoly). A thoroughgoing rebuild has left it looking humdrum and barn-like. Kvissleby also exemplifies the latter-day phenomenon of the in-store postal department, now incorporated in the shopping centre's ICA food store. Amid the combination of cafe, tobacconist's and betting shop, the postal service is just one function of many. Finally, with reference to ethnologist Maria Andersson, we consider the importance of physical buildings as intermediaries for the projection of memories. Recent decades have witnessed a distinct enlargement of built environments "deserving of preservation" in favour of the more everyday scene. At the same time, one cannot help noticing the almost complete absence of one category, namely buildings formerly housing public services. This was an outstandingly important sector in 20th century Sweden and, moreover, comprised workplaces with a predominantly female workforce. In this connection it is perhaps worth pondering the fact that the former Boras and Kvissleby post offices are not perceived as such; they have been effortlessly filled with new content. This, in its way, could be seen as a quality. But who remembers that there used to be a post office here? Post-war architecture, with its occasional subtleties and understatements, can sometimes be hard to grasp. Perhaps one day the Swedish post office will be seen as interesting and worth discovering. The former activity of these buildings can live on as traces, but traces which only words and knowledge can articulate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Titel: |
Gamla posthus med ny funktion -- "post-Post". (Swedish)
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Karlsmo, Emilie |
Zeitschrift: | Bebyggelsehistorisk Tidskrift, 2012-06-01, Heft 63, S. 39-58 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2012 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
ISSN: | 0349-2834 (print) |
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