From Hardware To Artware


In the streets of Stockholm, the official Green Capital of Europe 2010, hardware is made artware. If you’re strolling along the city, you might notice there are some 30 switchboards made in graphic artworks here and there and everywhere. Fortum, one of the local electricity companies, held a competition of transforming the grey and gloomy switchboxes into a piece of art in collaboration with the city of Stockholm. The competition was announced as a statement to make the city a safer and more beautiful place to live.

There was a total of 1,210 entries in the competition and more than 179,730 people voted for the top 30 works. During the coming weeks the top 30 entries are seen on a tour in the city. Actually, this morning on my usual way to work, it made me smile to think of the world as a better place through the eyes of a spotted switchboard, that made a difference. And the winner is… ‘Stockholm 2030’ by Svante Ahlman: