Highlights: the architecture and planning

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Sweden is just a quick train ride from Copenhagen. It is very easy to visit both at once. I had no expectations or plans for Malmo. I just wanted to go walk around, grab a coffee, and see what my friend and I would stumble into. 

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As soon as we came out of the train station, we just stopped. After leaving the charming canal of Copenhagen, we were confused about what we were seeing. The architecture differed from Copenhagen greatly, which I did not expect. There was a mix of styles and materials that was unprecedented in our minds. We were curious and continued wandering. 

 

Within an hour, we ended up at the World Championship of Street Food in Europe. So random, but we had to stop and try a few things. We tried cuisine from Manila (Philippines) and Morocco. To our surprise, the food was unfortunately not outstanding... just fine....but still just so random.  

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After we snacked, we ended up wandering along the water and through the streets. Malmo was very quiet. The homes and residential buildings captivated us. The buildings were not the typical box of apartments. The architecture was more sculptural in some circumstances; other times when it was a more or less a box, the facade would be cascading brick or some interesting application of materials. 

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Additionally the interstitial spaces were very intentional with green areas, artful playgrounds, or pedestrian pathways. The spaces for play did not have a plastic slide and monkey bars. It was comprised of walls with holes to climb through or stepped pedestals over green mounds and streams. 

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Literally on the train to Malmo I was talking about architecture and asked my friend, "Is there a way to make multi-family housing cool or not so monotonous?" 

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Malmo, thanks for giving me an answer. 

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Malmo was the manifestation of architects and planners ideas, like a true testing grounds for form and materials. I came to Malmo with no expectations. I left wanting to explore more and inspired to continue pursuing a career in architecture.