Stockholm, Sweden: City Hall

The idea of building a new city hall in Sweden was decided in 1907 when a contest was held to decide who would be the architect for the building. The winner of the contest was Ragnar Ostberg. The construction of the city hall was started in 1911 and was finally completed in 1923. The building was inaugurated on the 23th of June 1923, exactly 400 years after Gustav Vasa arrival in Stockholm. The city hall contains some very impressive design features. The Blue hall is one of the most impressive rooms in city hall. Here the banquet is held after the Nobel Prize award ceremony. It was built to represent a court yard and has straight walls and arcades in order to demonstrate this. Original the blue hall was meant to have blue glazed tiles covering the walls however once Ostberg saw how the red brick look in the hall he decided not to use the blue tile but to keep the red brick instead, this is how the hall got its name. Located in the Blue Hall is an organ that contains 10, 270 pipes which makes it Scandinavia largest organ. Another impressive room in the city hall is the Golden Hall. It is located just above the Blue Hall. The Golden Hall consists of 18 million tiles that make of a verity of different mosaics and resembles an Egyptian place hall. The City hall is not just a tourist attraction but also serves a purpose. In the hall around 200 politicians and civil servants have their offices.

By: Brittany Bruer, June of 2009