Stockholm, Sweden
The Leaders of Design (LDC) Summit is a trip I look forward to every year. It’s so much more than visiting architecturally significant buildings in other countries, but it certainly is one of the amazing highlights of these gatherings. So much goes into the planning and preparation of these trips and I have to call out the people behind the magic, Keith Granet, Dana Colla and Marc Szafran. They’ve created a group of business leaders from Interior Designers, Architects, Landscape Designers to Vendors in the industry who come together and connect to discuss topics ranging from the impact of AI in our industry to Client documentation standards, sharing ideas, thoughts and advice. The Workshops and Summit are opportunities for us to get out of our environment and into completely different places so we can be open to discussing these new ideas or share personal stories that help us all grow as business leaders. It’s a completely cathartic and “world-view broadening” experience that helps me in my business and my relationships with Clients and Industry colleagues as we work together on our amazing projects.
Svenskt Tenn
Pre Summit free day
I like to get to the summit a day or two prior just to acclimate to the time but also do a little exploring on my own.
Today was my first day before the summit begins tomorrow afternoon, so I went for a walk with one of our Industry Sponsors, Adrian Taylor of Hyde Park Mouldings to catch some of the sites we won’t see during the summit. Our first stop was to the Carl Eldhs sculpture studio. He was a sculptor who worked in many materials, but mostly in gypsum in the early 1900s which was an unusual material to work in. I could see why this was an important place for Adrian to visit, his work is full of preserving and reproducing historically accurate details, mouldings and statues for projects with his company Hyde Park Mouldings. ( They also work with Architects to create new iconic details, such as the new clock at the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station they made with Peter Pennoyer Architects.) Carl Eldhs’ Atelier is off of the large park Bellevueparken, where we saw a wonderfully whimsical building, painted like a circus tent, where we had lunch in the café inside. We then headed over to the public library to see the famous rotunda room, a wonderful example of neo-classical design. There we saw beautiful metal inlay in wood wall panels and an ornate faucet for a drinking fountain. After a quick visit there, we grabbed a car to visit Fotografiska, a modern photography Museum, which I will post about in part two of todays’ activities.
Carl Eldhs Atelier - Sculpture
The Stockholm Public Library - Created by the world famous architect, Gunnar Aspland
Fotografiska - Modern photography museum
Featuring Cindy Sherman tapestry
Day 1
Vasa Museum
Our @leadersofdesign summit in Stockholm kicked off with a dinner at the Vasa Museum. The Museum was built to house the wreckage of the mighty Vasa warship, the Vasa Museum is located on the island of Djurgarden and remains the only place in the world where visitors can see a fully intact 17th-century ship. It was a beautiful setting and a fabulous meal with friends! Because I love to dig into all of the details, I toured the Museum earlier in the day to be able to see and read all of the intriguing information about the vessel and its fateful first journey. The wreck happened close to the shore so they were able to recover an incredible amount of artifacts from the ship and the voyagers themselves.
Kickoff dinner - Vasa Museum
Day 2
Palace in Stockholm
Contrary to stereotypical Scandinavian design style, the palace is a palatial building that feels more like you’re stepping into a French Palace versus a Swedish one. Today, the palace is used for official business, and to house guests of the King for visits. The King and Queen have moved full time to the summer palace, Drottningholm, which is sited on the water. Walking through the rooms, you will find a mix of styles mostly Renaissance, Baroque and some rooms that are more minimalist with wood plank flooring and ornate gilded walls and ceilings. There is also a lot of marble throughout as well as various ivory sculpture collections on display. Pictures are better than descriptions here, so enjoy the photo tour below.
Our dinner for the 2nd evening was beyond heavenly. The LDC team created an unbelievable dinner at the Skeppsholmen Church, complete with a quartet playing all Queen music surrounded by hundreds of candles. I’m not referring to the royal Queen, but the rock group! It was as mind blowing as it was beautiful to hear these songs played by a string quartet!
Day 3
National Museum
Day 3 started out with a brisk walk over to the National Museum which was a block from our hotel. Our guide was amazing and showed us so many works by Swedish artists from the early 1900’s to present day. Upon finishing our tour we had the pleasure of painting a watercolor of our own of one of the classic pieces in the museum. It was such a fun break and a chance to enjoy painting again.
Lunch Cruise & Drottningholm Palace tour
We left the museum and were brought to a beautiful wooden motor yacht where we would be transported to our next stop and dine on traditional Swedish food. It was such a relaxing way to travel and gave us an opportunity to see Stockholm’s City Hall where we’d be dining the next evening. We arrived at our next stop, Drottningholm Palace, the 17th century summer Palace of the King and Queen, which is a UNESCO Heritage Site. The Royals live there year round, and I can understand why. The grounds are absolutely beautiful, with the water out the front and a palatial garden with a fountain out the back. The rooms are elegant, in the same French styles as the Main palace. Each room is more beautiful than the next. On the side there are several outbuildings, one of which is Drottningholms Slottsteater, a UNESCO - listed theater built in 1766. It is one of the most charming theaters I’ve ever seen, still using the classic painted scenery on the stage.
Pre dinner - Svenskt tenn - Josef Frank Fabric - Svenkst Tenn, The Store
Day 5
Wrap up session
Free afternoon - antiquing
In the morning, we gathered for our last morning together and to take our group photo of the Stockholm trip. I always treasure my time with my LDC colleagues, there’s so much incredible support from them and so much fun experiencing travel with them. After our morning together, we were able to go off on our own and walk about to do whatever we wanted and to prepare for a final dinner together which is always a big event. This year was no exception as we were told to wear something gold and glimmery. The location for our dinner was at Stockholm City Hall in a room called the Golden Hall. The Golden hall received its name when its walls were decorated by mosaics created by the artist Einar Forseth on a proposal by the City Hall architect Ragnar Östberg. The hall is best known as the location of the ball after the annual Nobel Banquet. The Room is covered in mostly gold mosaic tiles with colors used for the decorations, and in the evening it has the most exquisite glow to it under candle light.
Dinner at the City Hall Golden Hall
The mosaics present allegories of events and persons from Swedish history in the Byzantine idiom. The northern wall shows a large seated Queen of Lake Mälar, with Stockholm in her lap. This alludes to the poetic name Mälardrottningen (Queen of Lake Mälar) for Stockholm; the city is located between Lake Mälar and the Baltic Sea.
The southern wall shows different motifs from all around Stockholm: on one side it is illustrated with the Stockholm Harbour, the Katarina Elevator and the Riddarholmen Church. Stockholm City Hall itself is also depicted. The Tre Kronor castle and a horse ridden by Saint Erik are also there. St. Erik's head cannot be seen from the hall due to an error in construction which left it above the roof of the hall.
The evening ended with an incredible ABBA cover band playing all the hits and plenty of dancing!
Day 6
Last day in Stockholm
Staying an extra day brought some more walking and sightseeing! Our first stop was to visit Jackson Design, they specialize in the best of 20th century Scandinavian and international vintage design with a focus on Scandinavian classics.
Our next stop was right up the road at the Instituto Italiano di Cultura, designed and furnished by Gio Ponti on the impulse of the engineer and industrialist Carlo Maurilio Lerici, who was also its main financier. It was a step back in time to be surrounded by his design, yet it felt so fresh and new at the same time.
Our last stop was to the Woodland Cemetery, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was created between 1917 and 1920 by two young architects, Asplund and Lewerentz, on the site of former gravel pits overgrown with pine trees. The design blends vegetation and architectural elements, taking advantage of irregularities in the site to create a landscape that is finely adapted to its function. It was serene and breathtaking as we walked the roadways that took us from chapel to chapel.
We came back to Stockholm for a warming lunch that revived us as we talked about all that we saw. My evening ended with a book signing by my friends at KAA Architects in California, then back to the hotel for room service and an early night in for my travel day back home.
Stockholm is beautiful and it filled my creative cup as well as allowed me to connect with so many friends, old and new.