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Matchstick Palace

Coordinates: 59°19′54.59″N 18°4′10.42″E / 59.3318306°N 18.0695611°E / 59.3318306; 18.0695611
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Matchstick Palace
Tändstickspalatset
Map
General information
AddressVästra Trädgårdsgatan 15
Town or cityStockholm
CountrySweden
Coordinates59°19′54.59″N 18°4′10.42″E / 59.3318306°N 18.0695611°E / 59.3318306; 18.0695611
Completed1928
Cost3,3 million SEK (1928)
ClientSwedish Match (Ivar Kreuger)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Ivar Tengbom

The Matchstick Palace (Swedish: Tändstickspalatset) is an office building on Västra Trädgårdsgatan in Stockholm, Sweden.

History

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Ivar Kreuger behind his desk in the Matchstick Palace c. 1930

It was commissioned by the "Match King" Ivar Kreuger (1880–1932) as the headquarters of the Swedish match company Svenska Tändsticks AB. It was designed by architect Ivar Tengbom (1878–1968) and built by Kreuger & Toll Construction AB 1926–28.[1][2][3]

The palace remained Swedish Match's office until 1991 and was sold to Telia in 1999, who subsequently sold it to businessman Muhammed Al-Amoundi for SEK 450 million. Swedish Match moved their headquarter back to Tändstickspalatset, to one of the floors, 1 September 2010. The Matchstick Palace served as the headquarters for Swedish Match at the beginning of the 1930s, 1972–1991, and 2010–2015.[4][5][6][7][8][failed verification]

Description

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Behind the latticework and Corinthian columns of the main portico is the horseshoe-shaped inner courtyard on which the building is centered. The façades of the ground floor are dressed in marble from Kolmården and the courtyard is furnished with the sculpture Diana fountain I by sculptor Carl Milles (1875–1955).[9]

Inside the portico are two flights of stairs leading up to the quarters of the board of directors, where is the circle segment-shaped board meeting room with paintings by expressionist painter Isaac Grünewald (1889–1946).[10]

On the opposite side of the courtyard, the first two floors are taken up by the session room. The space between the building and the park was kept void until the 1970s.[11]

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References

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  1. ^ "Svenska Tändsticks AB". Nederlight BV. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Ivar Kreuger, the match king". The Economist. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Tengbom, Ivar (1878–1968)". KulturNav. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  4. ^ Stugart, Martin (2 February 2006). "Vad kan du berätta om Tändstickspalatset?". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  5. ^ "Tändstickspalatset sålt". Fastighetsvärlden (in Swedish). 3 November 1999. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Swedish Match flyttar åter till Tändstickspalatset" (in Swedish). MIDROC Real Estate AB. 28 January 2010. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Swedish Match Company History". Swedish Match. 17 October 2013. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  8. ^ Andersson, Klas (7 April 2014). "Swedish Match flyttar huvudkontoret". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  9. ^ "W Carl E Milles". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Isaac H Grünewald". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  11. ^ Johansson, Bengt O H (1999). "Norra innerstaden". Guide till Stockholms arkitektur (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Arkitektur Förlag AB. p. 68. ISBN 91-86050-41-9.