The Stig Claesson Centre at Nytorget is an art museum, a foundation and a meeting place with focus on Stig Claesson’s life’s work and artistic achievements. The Stig Claesson Centre manages the public legacy of Stig Claesson at Nytorget, Södermalm. The Stig Claesson Centre offers a relevant and challenging experience to both Claesson enthusiasts, locals, tourists, architecture fans and other curious visitors. The site, adjacent to Nytorget, is a natural junction between the new, gentrified Södermalm and the old working-class Södermalm that Claesson represents. The building facing the entrance to the Stig Claesson Centre called Malongen is where Claesson had his studio and where he worked for the mostpart of his life. / Stig Claessoncenter vid Nytorget är ett konstmuseum, en stiftelse och en mötesplats med fokus på Stig Claessons livsverk och konstnärliga landvinningar. Stig Claessoncenter eller Slashus, som jag också har valt att kalla det, hanterar det offentliga arvet från Stig Claesson vid Nytorget på Södermalm. Slashus erbjuder en relevant och utmanande upplevelse för både Claessonentusiaster, lokalbefolkning, turister, arkitekturintresserade och andra nyfikna besökare. Platsen, som gränsar till Nytorget, är en naturlig skärningspunkt mellan den nya gentrifierade Södermalm och den gamla arbetarklasssödermalm som Claesson representerar. Byggnaden som vetter mot ingången till Slashus kallas Malongen är där Claesson hade sin ateljé och där han arbetade stora delar av sitt liv.

The project explores two Architectural strategies, Urban infill and Arcology, in an attempt to present a possible building for the future of Stockholm. The goal with Urban infill is to not expand but to densify the city by using already existing sites for the proposed structures. Arcologies could be described as a city within a structure where a lot of people can live, work and dwell. With a broad research ranging from Science-fiction to real-life Architectural projects, the aim is to combine these strategies in order to discuss and propose how we might live in the cities in the future. The result: A wooden highrise in the middle of Stockholm where people can live together as a community, creating a more densely populated city without expanding it.

Our societies are changing towards more privatization and exclusion; issues of social life in public spaces and the relation of urban form vis-à-vis social life has not been given too much attention in urban planning and design, especially including issues of environmental psychology. However, the importance of public life is not deniable. High qualified public spaces are prerequisite for cities to become further inviting and more sustainable. This thesis raises the questions of if our public places are created by their physical setting or by social relation. It addresses the socio-physical characteristics of public spaces (squares) from human perspective. The aim of the work is to understand how it might be possible to improve social life and behavior in public spaces, where not only the center of attraction are the people but also the urban form that surrounds it. The study investigates sociability of the two squares in Stockholm, Norrmalmstorg and Nytorget, and analysis the contribution of physical and social attributes in creating sense of place and enriching social behavior. It draws from theories about environmental psychology, place identity and sense of place, likewise socio-physical elements of public spaces. Qualitative approach has been applied for data collection of case studies through combination of empirical methods such as observation, interviews and conceptual mapping. Through analysis of results, it is argued that strong sense of community at Nytorget is the consequence of people’s involvement in urban environment; whereas the lack of people’s engagement in urban setting at Norrmalmstorg, which is the result of place identity, affects the sense of attachment and social interaction in the square accordingly. The thesis debates that it is crucial to evaluate sociability of an urban environment by initiating human perspective and revealing the relationship between physical attributes and social activities. / Urban Form and Social Behaviour Research Project