Barnhusviken

Barnhusviken (Swedish for "Orphanage Bay") is a body of water in central Stockholm, Sweden. Separating the island Kungsholmen from the mainland district Norrmalm north of it, it connects Karlbergssjön to Klara Sjö.

Together with Karlbergskanalen, Karlbergssjön, and Klara Sjö, Barnhusviken constitute the nameless body of water which separates Kungsholmen from the city districts Norrmalm and Vasastan and the northern suburb Solna.

The northern shore, entirely occupied by the Klarastrandsleden motorway and eight rows of railway tracks, is not accessible to pedestrians, but, in contrast, the southern shore offers a section of the walk stretching some 2 km from the City Hall and all the way along the northern shore of Kungsholmen."Vattenprogram", p 20.2]

About the name

Just like the bridge Barnhusbron spanning across it and several other local structures, the former bay was named in the 1860s after an orphanage ("barnhus", literally "children-house") relocated from Riddarholmen to the neighbourhood on its northern shore in the 1630s."Stockholms gatunamn", p 149]

It is called a bay simply because it used to be a bay before continuous land filling transformed it into the narrow canal it is today. On maps from the early 19th century it is labelled "Rörstrandssjön" ("Lake of Rörstrand") after the vicinity to the porcelain factory of Rörstrand."Guide till Stockholms arkitektur", map supplements]

Notable buildings

Several prominent buildings line-up along the shores of Barnhusviken:
* On the northern shore is the Bonnier Tower, the skyscraper of the headquarters of Bonnier media group, designed be architects Anders and Ivar Tengbom and during the period 1949-1958 the tallest building in Stockholm."Guide till Stockholms arkitektur", p 84] Next to it is the Bonniers Konsthall, designed by Johan Celsing and inaugurated in 2006.Bonniers Konsthall: About] Bonniers Konsthall: Architecture]
* On the southern shore is the St Erik Area, a prestigious residential area build during the second half of the 1990s in a style imitating the Nordic Classicism prevalent in Sweden during the 1920s. The area is dominated by the huge flight of stairs leading down to the waterfront."Guide till Stockholms arkitektur", p 111] While this project has been much criticized by architects as an outdated Disneyfication and New urbanism at its worst, the green space below this monumental staircase has proven very popular among the numerous feral domestic rabbits who, since they started to spread from Solna in the mid 1980s, are giving the area a reputation.Hallgren, Magnus, "Innerstaden översvämmas av kaniner", Dagens Nyheter]
* Between the St Erik Area and the bridge is the headquarters of the insurance company Trygg Hansa, built 1967-76, and on the opposite side of the bridge Tekniska nämndhuset, a huge brick complex built 1962-65 to house some 1.200 white-collar workers of the Stockholm City Planning Administration and various city committees. A matching addition facing the continuation of the bridge was made for the county administrative court ("Stockholms tingsrätt") in 1984-86."Guide till Stockholms arkitektur", p 95]

See also

* Geography of Stockholm
* History of Stockholm

Notes

References

* cite book
title = Stockholms gatunamn
edition = 2nd ed. | year = 1992
publisher = Kommittén för Stockholmsforskning
location = Stockholm | id = ISBN 91-7031-042-4
pages = 149 | chapter = Norrmalm
* cite book
author = | title = Guide till Stockholms arkitektur
edition = 2nd ed. | year = 1999 | publisher = Arkitektur förlag
location = Stockholm | id = ISBN 91 86050-41-9
pages = | chapter = | language = Swedish
* cite web
url = http://www.bonnierskonsthall.se/en/About/Bonniers-Konsthall/
title = Bonniers Konsthall - About: Profile
publisher = Bonniers Konsthall
accessdate = 2008-01-04
language = English
* cite web
url = http://www.bonnierskonsthall.se/en/About/Architecture/
title = Bonniers Konsthall - Architecture: Glass, steel and concrete
publisher = Bonniers Konsthall
accessdate = 2008-01-04
language = English
* cite web
url = http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1298&a=206042
title = Innerstaden översvämmas av kaniner
author = Hallgren, Magnus
publisher = Dagens Nyheter
date = 2003-11-20
accessdate = 2008-01-04
language = Swedish