Matchstick Palace

The Matchstick Palace
General information
Town or city	Stockholm
Country	Sweden
Coordinates	59°19′54.59″N 18°4′10.42″E / 59.3318306°N 18.0695611°E / 59.3318306; 18.0695611Coordinates: 59°19′54.59″N 18°4′10.42″E / 59.3318306°N 18.0695611°E / 59.3318306; 18.0695611
Completed	1928
Cost	3,3 million SEK (1928)
Design and construction
Client	Swedish Match (Ivar Kreuger)
Architect	Ivar Tengbom

The Matchstick Palace (Swedish: Tändstickspalatset) ís an office building with the address Västra Trädgårdsgatan No. 15 in Stockholm. It was commissioned by the "Match King" Ivar Kreuger as the headquarters of Svenska Tändsticks AB (Swedish Match). It was designed by architect, Ivar Tengbom and built by Kreuger & Toll Construction AB during 1929-31. The palace remained Swedish Match's headquarters until 1991 when it was sold to Telia, who later sold it to businessman Muhammed Al-Amoundi for SEK 450 million.^[1].

Behind the latticework and Corinthian columns of the main portico is the horse shoe-shaped inner courtyard on which the building is centred. The façades of the ground floor are dressed in marble from Kolmården and the courtyard is furnished with the sculpture Diana fountain I by Carl Milles. Inside the portico are two flight of stairs leading up to the quarters of the board of directors, where is the circle segment-shaped board meeting room with paintings by Isaac Grünewald. 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 were kept void until the 1970s.^[2]

Gallery

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  The entrance.

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  Balcony with view over the inner yard.

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  Sculpture Diana fountain I, by Carl Milles.

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  Ivar Kreuger behind his desk in the Matchstick Palace, around 1930.

Notes

1. ^ Stugart
2. ^ Johansson

References

• Johansson, Bengt O H (1999). "Norra innerstaden". Guide till Stockholms arkitektur (2nd ed. ed.). Stockholm: Arkitektur Förlag AB. pp. 68. ISBN 91 86050-41-9. 

• Stugart, Martin (2006-02-02). "Vad kan du berätta om Tändstickspalatset?" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1467&a=517432. Retrieved 2008-02-02.