LÅNGBORD

2024

This is a competition proposal for Mellan-rummet, a 72-hour competition, calling for a spatial installation at Hedmanska gården, in Malmö, Sweden. Långbord was designed together with the architect Emma Broberg and is a spatial installation out of wood. The project is set to be built in the summer of 2024 and to be demounted and rebuilt during the summer of 2025.

ABOUT THE SITE

Hedmanska gården (courtyard and the farm) has historically been an attractive place with a lot of life and activity, as the site is located next to one of Malmö’s two market squares, Lilla torg. The site today consists of five buildings that span from the 1590s to the 1890s. The oldest buildings consist of half-timbered houses in brick and plastered facade (korsvirkeshus) with an entrance towards Lilla Torg. The granary from the 19th century is built out of brick and consists of a higher and a lower building. Hedmanska gården is well-preserved with carpentry, interior design and that tells the story of the development of craftsmanship and building in Sweden. The site is still a market place today with a commercial and public program. The public programs surrounding the courtyard consists of a restaurant, a few arts and crafts stores, and Form/Design Center, in Sädesmagasinet.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

In comparison to Lilla torg, which used to be one of Malmö’s larger market squares with lots of life and activity,

Hedmanska gården is smaller in scale and almost an enclosed courtyard, even though it is a public place. With its small scale and framed courtyard, Hedmanska gården can be seen as a small public living room more than a square. In order to enhance the historical identity of the site, we have chosen to furnish the public living room through our spatial installation, Långbord.

Långbord is a tribute to half-timbering technology, which should reinforce the site’s identity and history of construction and craft development. A tribute and an interpretation of craft history and the material wood, where the design of wood and the development of wooden details have been in focus. Key words for Långbord have been small scale, playfulness and circularity for both the design and  the program. 

Långbord is “long table” in swedish and is a symbol of gathering, meetings and celebrations. With Långbord, we want to open up for spontanous gatherings and meetings, by setting up the long table with integrated boardgames where anyone is welcome to sit down and play a game of chess, ludo, tic-tac-toe or backgammon.

The construction principle for Långbord is inspired by the half-timbered house, Hedmanska gården, in its design language and in its material, but well adapted and reinterpreted for its purpose. Instead of a timber foundation in oak, which is used for half-timbered houses, pine is used in the form of wooden studs and angle fittings, which should simplify the production, assembly and dismantling of the structure. Circularity has been the focus – all construction components must be able to be dismantled and easily reused on site or another site without affecting the quality.

Photo: Daniel Engvall, Form/Design Center