Colorful geometric patterns on a gray box: a Swedish house that is simultaneously hated and adored (14 photos + 1 video)

In the Swedish town of Örnsköldsvik, there's a building that's impossible to miss and hard to forget. The Ting1 (Thing 1) residential complex, built in 2013, seems straight out of a science fiction novel.





Its glossy ceramic façade shimmers with vibrant colors, and the building itself seems to float in mid-air, balancing on the roof of the old House of Justice, built in 1967.



The gray brutalism of the lower building and the rich mosaics of the upper one create a surreal contrast. But the most surprising thing is in the details. Despite appearances, the new house does not rest on the old roof.





The architects found an elegant solution by hiding an 8x8 meter support in the center of the courtyard. Visually, it resembles a huge, vibrant mushroom, its stem firmly anchored in the ground, and its cap looming over the past.



Bengt Carl Erik Lindström was a Swedish artist, lithographer, and sculptor.

The project's designer, renowned Swedish architect Gert Wingård, created more than just a residential building. Its 11 floors are adorned with 78 glass balconies offering panoramic views of the picturesque cliffs and legendary ski jumps.



Painting "Women's Dance"

The color scheme of the façade is also no coincidence: it is a pixelated interpretation of the painting "Women's Dance" by the renowned local artist Bengt Lindström.



Locals call Thing 1 by different names: some affectionately call it a Lego house, others ironically call it a crown, or even coronavirus for its distinctive shape.



The architectural community was also divided. In 2014, the project was nominated for "Best Building in Sweden" and awarded a prestigious prize for its ceramic façade.



Courthouse. The photograph was taken in 2003, about ten years before the construction of the Ting 1 building.

But just two years later, in 2016, a local newspaper conducted a survey that named Ting 1 "the ugliest building in the province of Ångermanland."



Activists from the Arkitektupproret movement, which fights against the dominance of modernism, regularly criticize this building as an example of a soulless modern approach.



Thus, one house became the subject of an eternal debate between bold experimentation and traditional taste.