The Modern City and World City

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Now we become modern. Join us among department stores, teen centers and trash chutes!

The Modern City 1921–1950, floor 2

Stockholm begins to take on the character of a true metropolis, with a business district, tower blocks, neon signs and a vibrant nightlife. You shop in large department stores bringing the promises of modern life and new consumer dreams within reach.

Here we metropolitanize; meet jazz musicians and jitter buggers, department store clerks and norm-breakers. Photo: Mattias Ek.

Your latest jazzy dance crazes shock older generations. Women cut their hair short, almost as short as their skirts, or wear long trousers. OMG. The new masculine ideal is the dandy, with eye makeup and slender silhouettes.

We meet popular Swedish entertainers like Karl Gerhard, a celebrated singer and songwriter, and Tutta Rolf, a popular actress and singer. And take notes from notary public Fritiof Englund on the city’s nightlife and not to forget all the beautiful men.

World City 1950 to present, floor 3

Now you can enjoy years of significant improvements in living standards. This includes suburbs served by the Metro railway as well as the convenience of trash chutes in residential buildings.

If you’re young you hang out at newly built youth clubs and drink Zingo soda. Or perhaps gather on Kungsgatan for coffee.

We move into the suburbs of public housing and have our lives measured, counted and standardized for best function and social efficiency. Photo: Mattias Ek.

Activists with long hair sit in the trees of Kungsträdgården park to protest against building demolitions and the increase in car ownership. In the late 1970s, you dye your hair green in protest of the boring suburban life and start playing in bands called Grisen skriker (“The Squealing Pig”) and Ebba Grön.

We round off our historical tour through the building by viewing artworks from 1600 onwards that reflect the city’s kaleidoscopic development. And the intimate, illuminated model of the Klara neighbourhood, the impressive seventeenth-century model of Norrmalm and the model of the Katarina Lift at Slussen.

Historical Insight: The Vision of “The People's Home”, 1930s—1960s

To understand Stockholm’s suburbs, you first need to understand the idea of Folkhemmet (The People's Home). This was a distinctive socio-political vision in which the state used social engineering to provide high-quality, affordable housing for everyone.

When you visit the Modern City section of the exhibition, you are seeing more than urban planning. You are seeing the physical expression of the Swedish welfare state, designed to provide "light, air and space" for the working class.

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