Chapter 3: Authenticity in Different Degree of Displacement Architecture
3.2 Leisure City as New Destination
3.2.3 Tourism Driven New Vernacular Architecture in Borgholm
activity in the city, the plan was adjusted and concentrated on the outer harbor region.
Parks did not exist in Borgholm prior to the establishment of the resort, but this would change. The sea square, which had lost some of its significance due to the construction of new docks in northern Holland, was converted into a large park, which was eventually named Societetsparken (societet is an old word for the Swedish upper class). (Carlén, 2014, p. 3)
- Borgholm Vernacular and Displacement Leisure Architecture.
Prior to the establishment of the seaside resort, many residences and buildings in Borgholm and its environs were created in the so-called Borgholm style of architecture.
The buildings featured a limestone base that comprised the full first level because the island is composed of limestone, this material was already commonly used. This limestone foundation would typically support a timber structure with a gable or gambrel roof. This construction technique was not new; it had been in use since the late 18th century, when the island was still a royal hunting ground. Due to the fact that the majority of forests belonged to the crown at the time, wooden structures were prohibitively expensive.
(Carlén, 2014, p. 4)
Figure 74 Sjöbergska Gården, example of the Borgholm Style architecture.
Retrieved fromdaochnu.borgholm.se/sjobergska.html
The resort, or as it was referred to at the time, "the bath house," would propel Borgholm forward. At the same period, comparable developments were being erected in other areas of Sweden and northern Europe, and the majority of them were inspired by the Swiss Chalet style, with an abundance of decorative carvings and wooden embellishments. The same would be true for the upcoming structures in Borgholm. The
resort's first structure was a bathhouse. The white wooden structure in the harbor had both hot and cold-water pools with an outdoor space direct access to the water. Most of buildings near to the waterfront at the time were rough and plain in style, this new white edifice produced an interesting contrast and signified the beginning of a new age. The leisure image to summer guests would find the bath resort to be fairly humble, as there are no hotels or restaurants there.
Figure 75 The first bathhouse (1879).
Retrieved from www.bildarkiv.borgholm.se/ResultatStorBild.aspx?ID=3003
This marked the beginning of a string of infrastructural and planning initiatives.
As the city's popularity grew, so did the demand for new building lots, necessitating the purchase of additional land from neighboring landowners so that the city could expand further. In 1886, a new series of blocks were erected to the southern portion of the grid according to a new layout. These private and corporate initiatives boosted the local economy even more and created an effect among the city's enterprises. Just a few years after the completion of the public bath and pavilion, the resort corporation determined to expand once more.
Figure 76 The public bath around 1890.
Retrieved from www.bildarkiv.borgholm.se/ResultatStorBild.aspx?ID=3001
In the center of Societetsparken, in 1885, a city landmark was constructed. The building was named Societetshuset and was a larger version of the pavilion outside the old castle ruin in terms of purpose and appearance. The building would serve as a gathering place for the upper class to mingle, drink, and listen to live music from the tiny music pavilion that would be constructed next to Societetshuset. The building included a big, central, secluded area where gatherings and celebrations could be conducted. A succession of terraces and porches ringed this space, which had entrances in four directions, making it symmetrical and intended to convey a sense of openness and publicness. Societetshuset and the two bathhouses were the most notable buildings for the leisure and tourism development of Borgholm after the introduction of this initial series of displacement architecture. (Carlén, 2014, p. 12)
Figure 77 A crowded Societetshuset viewed from the harbour around 1900.
Retrieved from www.bildarkiv.borgholm.se/ResultatStorBild.aspx?ID=1172
- Different and Repetition of Heterotopia Leisure Space in Borgholm
During the 1890s, the seaside resort would undergo significant changes, which would also mark the end of its management by a single corporation. A fire began the transformation. Eight years after its construction, in 1896, the bathhouse was destroyed by a mystery fire in the midst of the summer season. During the summer of 1897, these two structures were finished and opened. The new bathhouse occupied the same location but was significantly larger. The restaurant's structure was an authentic wooden palace. It was a two-story building with a large, double-height ballroom on the ground floor. The ballroom was surrounded by an inner arcade on the lower level and a balcony on the upper level from which guests could see the various events. The recurrence of health resorts for the
affluent along with heterotopia's contrasting and incompatible activities were applied to the Borgholm, so establishing the degree of displacement in leisure architecture.
Figure 78 The restaurant building shortly after its construction with societetshuset.
Retrieved from www.bildarkiv.borgholm.se/ResultatStorBild.aspx?ID=3029
Royal interests and effects on displacement
Princess Victoria, daughter of King Oscar II, visited the city in the summer of 1901. Her father, who was known to be lobbying for the establishment of a seaside resort in Borgholm, disclosed a few days after her visit that he intended to construct a vacation home for his daughter in a suitable location in Borgholm. The house's architecture was a major source of inspiration for the design of her current home in Borgholm.(Carlén, 2014, p. 11) The completed structure, named Solliden, was very modest in comparison to other royal structures. The structure was constructed using brick that was then bleached to give it a genuine Mediterranean appearance. The home was surrounded by a vast park with a variety of aesthetic and design elements. There is a geometrically robust Renaissance park, an English park with expansive grass and tree areas, and, of course, an Italian garden. In 1926, for instance, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands presented Queen Victoria with a gift of a Dutch park, which was to be established by Dutch gardeners. This coincidental development of the affluent culture of a healthy beach resort and the differentiation in displacement architecture defines the new level of displacement in Borgholm.
Figure 79 Solliden, Displacement architecture from European culture as it looks today.
Retrieved fromwww.swedishgardens.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/solliden1.jpg
The erection of this royal building inspired ambitious ambitions for the city of Borgholm. Numerous of these proposals would not be carried out. Then, however, two significant infrastructural projects were completed. Two railroads intersect at Borgholm.
The infrastructure brings the people to the beach, as it has in England, Europe, and the United States in the past, with the arrival of the Swedish public's desire for true recreation and the displacement of architecture from the warmer beaches of southern Europe. In 1939, when half of the bathhouse was converted into a 40-room cheap hotel, the increasing significance of hotels over pensions became even more apparent. The hotel was given exotic name Venezia.
Figure 80 Hotel Venezia (1939).
Retrieved from www.bildarkiv.borgholm.se/ResultatStorBild.aspx?ID=3243
The guests at the seaside resort became increasingly restless. Up until this point, they had been contenting with simply relaxing and spending peaceful days in the various bathhouses and restaurants. Attempting to stay active throughout their summer
vacations was becoming an increasingly prevalent practice. People desired activity, not mere inactivity. To meet these demands, the city of Borgholm initiated a number of initiatives. A beach was constructed one kilometer north of the city center, along with a route leading to the beach. This would become a popular spot throughout the warmer months.
As tourism from classes other than the upper class began to visit Borgholm and Oland and the automobile became increasingly prevalent, a new sort of tourism began to emerge. Tent campers Although a minor camping site had been in Borgholm since the 1930s, its significance increased during the 1950s and began to affect the cityscape. After the age of prosperity, the period of decline follows, as the exotic experiences of the late 19th and early 20th centuries are no longer able to provide visitors with an authentic experience. The ancient bathhouse and Hotel Venezia were destroyed by fire in January 1964. Although the hotel had not functioned as a hotel for several years, it remained a Borgholm landmark until its demolition. This catastrophe was followed in 1966 by the destruction of another old hotel. All of these dreadful catastrophes were followed by maybe the worst of them all. One that would definitively end the age of seaside resorts. In the late summer of 1973, the old restaurant structure was destroyed by an enormous fire.
The old timber palace was extremely dry, and the fire spread rapidly. (Carlén, 2014, p. 18) This meant that, with the exception of a few private residences and a tiny pavilion, practically all of the structures from the heyday of the seaside resort were gone. Either destroyed by fire, severe weather, or simply demolished.
After the tragic incident, the city itself just choose the path to continue development of the authenticity in another direction without the displacement architecture as a tool anymore. The festival and tourism was getting a proper boost in the late 70’s and 80’s due to the construction of a bridge between the island and the mainland. This meant that the island got more spontaneous visitors and off course a huge boost of guests so from the 80’s and onward the old castle ruin just outside of the city center, has been frequently used as a venue for concerts, one day festivals and other larger events. (Carlén, 2014, p. 19)
Figure 81 The original restaurant building around 1945 and The new building on the site of the old restaurant building. Present day.
Retrieved from www.bildarkiv.borgholm.se/ResultatStorBild.aspx?ID=1191
The construction of the bridge and the shift in tourists have transformed Borgholm into a commercial hub, which was strangely not the city's original aim, although summer is by far the busiest season for commerce. As a result of the city's need to adjust to its shifting tourist flow, temporary structures and building additions become more prevalent. Due to the instability of the local economy, the city is forced to focus on selling summer home lots around the city's outskirts. It is evident that the confusing and varying role of the city has an effect on the cityscape and architecture, as the architecture itself can be viewed as as unclear and fluctuating as the city's role. With the absence of continuity in development, displacement and authenticity are unable to define the clear identity of the city, which in the end did not complete the heterotopia principle as it did in the early stages of growth.
After the structure of the background theory and factors to support the development of leisure space to architecture that forms the leisure city. The eight factors will be selected to be the analytical tools to define the different degree of authenticity that was developed in each city or each part that will be discussed later on which begins
at these Borgholm development which that factor will be shown in the table with the color coding to indicate how intensity that each factor was used in each case study by the gradient from light to dark red.
Figure 82 Timeline conclusion and the degree of authenticity from 8 factors in Borgholm.