Skandia Theater
The Skandia-Theater ( Swedish Skandia-Teatern or Skandia ) is a classic cinema in Stockholm with the address Drottninggatan 82. The Skandia-Theater, designed by the architect Gunnar Asplund , opened in 1923 and has been a listed building since 2000 .
history
The Skandia Theater was planned as a premiere theater by the Svensk Filmindustri (SF). The design contract went to the renowned architect Gunnar Asplund , who was also involved in the Stockholm stadsbibliotek . Numerous artists helped him, among them Einar Forseth , to create an extraordinary film palace in the style of Swedish grace . What Asplund and his staff succeeded in was described by leading art critics as a masterpiece.
The cinema had a vaulted ceiling that was painted dark blue, which was supposed to be reminiscent of a night sky. Round lamps (later removed) hung from the ceiling, emphasizing the free space. The doors to the side tiers were designed like house facades. The rest of the interior was kept in shades of red. The entire composition should be reminiscent of an open-air stage . The inauguration took place on September 20, 1923.
Initially, Skandia had 852 seats (in 2009 there were 570). In 1926 the movie theater was equipped with a cinema organ from the Wurlitzer company . Now it was possible to create sound effects to match the plot of the silent film . An organist in a white tuxedo was sitting at the organ and the whole thing could slowly be lifted from the floor. A sound film system was installed in the early 1930s .
Conversions
The first major renovation of the Skandia Theater took place in 1943. An upward-facing canopy, typical of the cinemas of that time, was attached to the facade of the house, richly decorated with many neon tubes . Big changes happened inside, among other things, the once dark blue ceiling was painted white, which made experts shake their heads (because of the reflections of light) and was heavily criticized by the press.
In 1968 Skandia was converted to 70 mm film and the name of the cinema was changed to Look , again the ceiling and walls of the auditorium were repainted and part of the original furnishings were torn out. Now the cinema had hardly anything to do with Gunnar Asplund's former masterpiece, it was worn out and it was becoming increasingly difficult to interest film companies in showing quality films.
Skandia today
Towards the end of the 1980s, the owner (SF) began to gradually restore the film theater to its original state. In 1991 the cinema got its former name Skandia-Teatern back and in May 2000 Skandia was listed as a historical monument . After a lengthy renovation that almost returned it to its original state, Skandia reopened on December 19, 2001, mainly as a weekend cinema and as a gala cinema at the Stockholm Film Festival .
Picture gallery
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Stockholms alla biografer, p. 315
- ↑ Stockholms alla biografer, p. 77
- ↑ According to Furberg biografsida
literature
- Kurt Berglund: Stockholms alla biografer: ett stycke Stockholmshistoria från 90-tal till 90-tal , Svenska turistföreningen, Stockholm 1993. ISBN 91-7156-113-7 . Libris 7611737.
- Claes Caldenby, Olof Hultin m.fl .: Asplund , Arkitektur Förlag, 1985. ISBN 91-86050-11-7 .
- Leif Furhammar: Filmen i Sverige , Förlags AB Wiken, 1991. ISBN 91-7024-712-9 .
Web links
Coordinates: 59 ° 20 ′ 7 ″ N , 18 ° 3 ′ 35 ″ E