MEDBORGARCENTRUM (CITIZEN CENTRE)
A proposal for a new public centre in the district Vårby gård in Huddinge Municipal, south of Stockholm, 2002 –2004. In collaboration with Anders Krüger, Erik Stenberg, Rajmo Voss, Galip Bozkurt and Lars Svensson.
Medborgarcentrum started as a collaborative project in 2002 between the artists Thomas Liljenberg and Anders Krüger. They proposed to Huddinge Municipal to develop a new public building, a Citizen centre, in Vårbyskolan, the existing Junior High School, centrally located in Vårby gård. The project gradually developed in close dialogue with people in Vårbygård and Huddinge County: inhabitants of Vårby gård, local polititians, the headmaster of Vårbyskolan Stefan Frohm, city planner Galip Bozkurt and many others.
Medborgarcentrum was based on a vision of culture and learning as the heart and future of Vårby gård, and proposed a transformation of the present school into a culture and learning institute for all citizens of the community. The new public building would contain a combined public and school library, the International Children´s Museum, a citizen’s office, and a café and meeting place for students and all other visitors. The proposed new building was designed as a transparent architectural structure, adding a long needed updating of the 1970’s concrete esthetics of Vårby gård.
The various stages of the project was presented on several occasions and invited the public to participate in the process of planning for the future of their community. In the beginning of 2004, Medborgarcentrum was presented along with an architectural scale model at ”Demokratiforum”, a political forum organized by County polititians and citizens of Vårby gård.
In the late stage of the process Liljenberg and Krüger had also included in their project team architects Erik Stenberg and Rajmo Voss, city planner Galip Bozkurt, and model builder Lars Svensson.
Images (from top): 1. Medborgarcentrum, model exterior 2. Medborgarcentrum, implementation plan 3. Medborgarcentrum, implementation plan 4. Model building 5. Medborgarcentrum, model interior 6. Vårbyskolan, entrance
