Gert Wingårdh facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gert Wingårdh
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Wingårdh in 2015
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| Born | 26 April 1951 Skövde
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| Nationality | Swedish |
| Alma mater | Chalmers University of Technology |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Awards | Kasper Salin Prize 1988, 1993, 2001, 2006 and 2007, ECSN European Award for Excellence in Concrete 2002, Prince Eugen Medal 2005, Mies van der Rohe Award nominee 2006, American Architecture Awards 2007, World Architecture Festival Award 2008, 2012 and 2013. |
| Practice | Wingårdh arkitektkontor AB |
| Buildings | Öijared Executive Country Club, Lerum, 1988, Astra Zeneca R&D Site, Mölndal, 1993-, Swedish Embassy, Berlin, 1999, Universeum Science Centre, Gothenburg, 2001, Auditorium and Student Union at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, 2001, Housing at Bo01, Malmö, 2001, Arlanda flight control tower Arlanda, Sigtuna, 2001, Aranäs Senior High School, Kungsbacka, 2006, House of Sweden, Washington, D.C., 2003-06, Vällingby shopping centre, 2008, Stockholm, Müritzeum visitors centre, Mecklenburg, 2008, Citadellbadet swimming baths, Landskrona, 2005-07, Malmö Arena, Malmö, 2008, Building 10, Kista, 2010, Sven-Harry's Art Museum, Stockholm, 2005-11, Emporia shopping center, Malmö, 2007-12, Spira Concert hall and theatre, Jönköping, 2006-11, Naturum Tåkern, Mjölby, 2008-2011, Victoria Tower, Stockholm, 2008-11, Aula at Karolinska Institutet, Solna, 2006-13, Naturum Laponia, Gällivare, 2009-13, Kuggen at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, 2011 |
| Projects | Victoria Olympia Stadium, Stockholm, 1996, Scandinavian Tower, Malmö, 1997, Dalsland Lodge, 2002, Breath of Life, Östersund, 2003, Glaskasten in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia, 2005 |
Gert Wingårdh (born in 1951) is a famous Swedish architect. His company, Wingårdh arkitektkontor, designs buildings all over the world.
Contents
About Gert Wingårdh
Gert Wingårdh was born in 1951 in Skövde, Sweden. His father owned a cement factory, and their house was built on a limestone mountain. These materials, cement and limestone, later became important in Gert's own building designs.
When Gert was ten, his family moved to Gothenburg. He became interested in art and movies as a teenager. Today, Gert Wingårdh lives near Marstrand in Kungälv Municipality with his family. His home is an old cottage, which is very different from the modern, sharp-edged buildings he designs.
His Education Journey
In the 1970s, Wingårdh studied economics, art history, and architecture at Gothenburg University and Chalmers University of Technology. He has said that visiting the ancient Pantheon, Rome, in Italy made him decide to become an architect. Before that, he thought about owning an art gallery. He earned his architecture degree from Chalmers in 1975.
Gert Wingårdh's Career
Gert Wingårdh started his career in the 1970s by designing interiors. After finishing his studies, he worked for another architecture firm briefly before starting his own company in 1977. He became widely known as an architect in 1988 with his design for the Öijared Executive Country Club near Gothenburg. This building even won him a special award called the Kasper Salin Prize.
Wingårdh has worked on many projects in the United States and Germany. He designed the Swedish embassies in Washington and Berlin. However, most of his completed buildings are in Sweden, especially around Gothenburg. In 2007, he won a big international competition to design a new shopping center in Malmö. That same year, seven out of twelve major building projects in Stockholm were designed by his firm.
Some of his most exciting ideas, like a conference center on top of a mountain in Östersund called "Breath of Life," were never built. But ideas from these experimental projects sometimes show up later in his real buildings. For example, the curved glass front of the Emporia shopping mall in Malmö (built in 2011) came from earlier ideas.
Many people consider Gert Wingårdh to be the most famous living Swedish architect. This is because of his amazing skills, how often he gets media attention, and the many awards he has won. He is known for supporting skyscrapers, which has led to some discussions among other architects in Sweden.
In 1999, he received an honorary doctorate from Chalmers University of Technology. In 2005, he was given the Prince Eugene Medal, a high honor for artists. In 2007, Gert Wingårdh became a professor of building design at Chalmers. His company had about 170 employees in 2022.
His Architectural Style
Gert Wingårdh began his career in the 1980s as a Postmodernist. This meant he moved away from the very strict Functionalist style that was common in Scandinavia for a long time.
He is known for quickly adopting new trends in architecture. He then uses his own unique style to make buildings that fit well with the surrounding landscape. His buildings don't stick to just one style. Instead, they are designed to suit the specific project and the environment around them. He combines Sweden's tradition of building with wood and its focus on being eco-friendly with modern technology.
Wingårdh himself has called his architecture "high organic," meaning it mixes high-tech elements with natural, flowing designs. Some people describe him as a "maximalist" instead of a "minimalist," saying his buildings are like a "modern baroque" style. He has been influenced by famous architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry. People also say his buildings are both "playful" and "strict."
One of Wingårdh's special tricks is to surprise people who visit his buildings. He often makes the entrance small and then creates a huge, dramatic feeling when you step into the main rooms. He also pays great attention to small details and understands complex building structures. This shows he knows a lot about how people use spaces and behave in them.
Awards and Recognitions
Gert Wingårdh has won many awards for his amazing designs:
- His Öijared Executive Country Club building in Lerum won the Kasper Salin Prize in 1988.
- The Astra Zeneca R&D Site in Mölndal won the same prize in 1993.
- In 2002, he received the ECSN European Award for Excellence in Concrete for the Arlanda air traffic control tower.
- Other award-winning buildings include the Universeum Science Centre in Gothenburg (2001) and the auditorium and Student Union at Chalmers University of Technology (2001), which also won the Kaspar Salin Prize.
- In 2006, the Aranäs Senior High School in Kungsbacka received the Kaspar Salin Prize.
- He was awarded the Prince Eugen Medal for architecture in 2005.
In 2006, Wingårdh was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award for Mimer's house in Kungälv. The House of Sweden in Washington, D.C., won the American Architecture Awards in 2007.
The Washington embassy also received the Kasper Salin Prize in 2007. This was Wingårdh's fifth Kasper Salin Prize, making him stand out among Swedish architects.
At the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona in 2008, Wingårdh won in the shopping category for the K:fem building in Vällingby, Stockholm. In 2012, his Victoria Tower in Stockholm won in the hotel category at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore. And in 2013, the Emporia shopping center in Hyllie (near Malmö) won in the shopping category at the same festival.
Images for kids
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Citadellbadet in Landskrona, Sweden
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Citadellbadet in Landskrona, Sweden
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Müritzeum visitors centre in Germany
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Müritzeum, facades of burnt wood
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The Piano pavilion in Lahti, Finland
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Headquarters for Gina Tricot in Borås, Sweden
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House 10 office block in Kista, Sweden
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Department store K:fem in Vällingby, Sweden
