Collective Housing in Sweden
"The first modernist collective house in Sweden was built in 1935 at John Ericssonsgatan in Stockholm. It was designed by architect Sven Markelius, who lived there himself for many years. The kindergarten, established according to social reformer Alva Myrdal's concepts, was the first one in Sweden where modern educational methods were applied. The ideal of rational living led to the construction of food lifts providing meals from a central kitchen to the individual apartments. Another aspect of this is the layout of the flats, which were designed according to the idea of minimum requirements. Despite the small apartment sizes the John Ericssonsgatan unit did not attract working class households. Progressive middle-class intellectuals were the majority of those who came to live in this building (Waagensen & Rubin, 1949; Caldenby & Walldén, 1979). The first collective housing units of Sweden were based not on cooperation between the tenants, but on the division of labour. The tenants were to be served by employed staff, even for laundry and room cleaning. The tenants themselves were not supposed to do any house work. This probably con- 2 tributed to the labelling of collective housing as a "special solution for privileged people". Thus, it was considered impossible for the labour party in power to provide subsidies to collective housing (Vestbro, 1982).
More Recent Experiments in Sweden:
The most frequently built collective housing model in Sweden is the one based on the inhabitants' own work. This type was developed by a group of women in Stockholm in 1977. They belonged to the new generation of feminists who rejected the idea that housework should be reduced as much as possible. Instead, they maintained that much of this women's culture had a value in itself. Cooking, baking, sewing, child-rearing and other house-bound activities would be enjoyable if carried out together and would still be time-saving. When carrying out everyday chores together, a simple type of attractive togetherness is created, the group argued (Berg et al 1982).
For the above purpose a unit of 20 to 50 apartments was recommended, The idea was that no employed staff would be required. The women's group could very well have established a housing unit of its own, but it did not want the model to be a special solution for the privileged, and therefore it was proposed that public housing companies should adopt the model. At a big housing exhibition in Stockholm 1980 the group presented the idea in the form of a small model house, and later they published a book (Berg et al 1982), which served as a blueprint for activists and housing companies who were ready to accept the model. So far collective housing has mainly attracted well educated people employed in the public sector and with independent, socially oriented jobs. They often reject consumerism and look for other qualities of life such as a clean environment, biological food, a warm and secure milieu for children, and good neighbourly contacts. Whether collective housing only suits the interests of this minority group is still an open question. It might well be that these "postmaterialists" are pioneers for other groups who will benefit even more from communal housing."