Memory, history and fragmented identity: the Swedish ambassador’s 1991 Tokyo residence

Memory, history and fragmented identity: the Swedish ambassador’s 1991 Tokyo residence

Hagströmer, Denise

Article:

Swedish embassies and residences have been the responsibility of the Swedish National Property Board since 1949, and before that, the Foreign Ministry. The Swedish government itself has only been actively engaged in renting or building property abroad since the 1900s. Previously, ambassadors were expected to make their own arrangements using their own funds. The Swedish ambassador’s residence in Tokyo forms part of architect Mikael Granit’s high-rise compound completed in 1991, that also incorporates the chancery and staff accommodation. The aim of this study is to examine how national values are materialised and expressed in the residence’s key spaces. As will be argued, and contrasting this residence’s modernist 1960s predecessor, this interior’s spaces and their contents, as examined from a set of perspectives, materialise evidence of an increased use of elements of tradition and history, a symptom, in post—Folkhem Sweden, of a national identity crisis.

Swedish embassies and residences have been the responsibility of the Swedish National Property Board since 1949, and before that, the Foreign Ministry. The Swedish government itself has only been actively engaged in renting or building property abroad since the 1900s. Previously, ambassadors were expected to make their own arrangements using their own funds. The Swedish ambassador’s residence in Tokyo forms part of architect Mikael Granit’s high-rise compound completed in 1991, that also incorporates the chancery and staff accommodation. The aim of this study is to examine how national values are materialised and expressed in the residence’s key spaces. As will be argued, and contrasting this residence’s modernist 1960s predecessor, this interior’s spaces and their contents, as examined from a set of perspectives, materialise evidence of an increased use of elements of tradition and history, a symptom, in post—Folkhem Sweden, of a national identity crisis.

Palavras-chave:

DOI: 10.5151/despro-icdhs2014-0030

Como citar:

Hagströmer, Denise; "Memory, history and fragmented identity: the Swedish ambassador’s 1991 Tokyo residence", p-243-246. In: Tradition, Transition, Tragectories: major or minor influences? [=ICDHS 2014 - 9th Conference of the International Committee for Design History and Design Studies]. São Paulo: Blucher, 2014.
ISSN 23186968, DOI 10.5151/despro-icdhs2014-0030