Today I finally got to see Ralph Erskines “Lådan” – a two-room house built in 1942. The first Erskine building I ever saw was Hotell Borgafjäll and although I was very young at time it made a lasting impression. I don’t know if I remember it so vividly because of the magnificent building or because when we arrive on the 1st of March in 1986 we heard on the radion the the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme had been shot the night before. Either way I remember the hotell and it’s quirky design very well and it made me research Erskine and by doing so I found this little gem!

I myself am very fond of living small, or really big acctually. It’s the middle way I don’t subscribe to 🙂 Erskine, a London born architect, moved to Sweden in 1941 and built Lådan a year later as a home for his family of four. It was built in Lissma, south of Stockholm and was unfortunately torn down but has since been reconstructed in 1989 by the architect himself and placed in a donated parcel in the island of Lovön. The house is only 20 sq meters (210 sq feet) and consists of a terrace covered in glass (now removed), a kitchen and living area divided by a chimney, a mattress which can be used as sofa and bed hanging above.

I think it is so cool the in 1942 someone had allready come up with the very modern idea of compact living and also building using reclaimed materials!

It’s not possible to actually go inside – you have to be a student of architecture or a professional, then you can borrow a key from what I’ve heard. But it worth seeing anyway – the view is nice from the terrace and close by there is a really nice restaurant open in the summertime (Lovö Magasin).