Gothenburg Law Courts extension

Gothenburg Law Courts extension, Gustaf Adolfs torg, Gothenburg
Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Asplund worked for almost thirty years on extending Gothenburg’s 17th-century town hall. The result was a modern wing with a grid in the façade that relates to the old building, and a bright hall of wood and glass inside. The extension became a model for how new can meet old.

Gothenburg’s town hall on Gustaf Adolfs torg was built in the 1670s to designs by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. When the courts needed more space a competition was held in 1913, which Asplund won. His design was changed many times over the following two decades as his own style moved from classicism to functionalism. The extension was finally built in 1934–1937.

Facing the square, the new part has a façade with a grid of columns and beams that follows the heights and divisions of the old building, but the windows are set off-centre. This shows that the wing is something new and not a copy. Inside is a tall hall with a glass roof and pale walls, around which courtrooms and offices are arranged. The interior has warm wood, rounded forms and details of high quality. Asplund also designed furniture, lamps and clocks.

The extension was Asplund’s last major work before the Woodland Crematorium. It was criticised at first both by those who wanted a more historical style and by those who wanted a completely modern one. Today it is regarded as one of Swedish modernism’s most important examples of how a new building can relate to an old one, and it is still used by the Gothenburg District Court.