<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

HAL
open science

# An Interior for Emancipation

Roberto Zancan

► To cite this version:

Roberto Zancan. An Interior for Emancipation. Arctic Arcade. The Shopping Center in Luleå, 1, L'Era Gallery; Critectures Publishing, pp.10-15, 2025, 9791221053791. hal-04927828

HAL Id: hal-04927828

https://hal.science/hal-04927828v1

Submitted on 10 Feb 2025

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-
entific research documents, whether they are pub-
lished or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.

Public Domain
An interior for emancipation

You know it's hard
for a woman to get away.
She's fussing over her husband
or chasing up a slave
or putting a baby to bed
or washing or feeding it.
Being a housewife...
Here it comes...
Being a housewife
is an important job.
But there are far more
important things.

Flickorna, *The Girls*, 1968

At one o'clock in the morning in October 1955, the gates of Norrbotten's newest attraction opened to a crowd of 25,000 people. They had gathered to see what newspapers described as both "ugly" and "fantastic." Inside, 48 stores offered everything from mosquito repellent to luxury ties priced at a striking 80 kronor each.

*Arctic Arcade. The Shopping Center in Luleå* is a book dedicated to showing how in the course of modernity commercial spaces have constituted a privileged field of confrontation for the redefinition of gender identity. The book presents the vicissitudes of one of the least-visited masterpieces of post-World War II Swedish architecture and how it has been experienced and modified precisely by the game of social rearrangement.

The backdrop is a work by the English architect naturalized Swedish Ralph Erskine, called Shopping, which opened in Luleå, a town on the edge of

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>

All images presented on
these pages come from the
Luleå Kommuns Historiska
Bildarkiv. Photographers are
unknown.
the Arctic Circle where most of the population of Norrbotten is concentrated. With its hard-to-reach location, this building received little attention from architectural critics, who were only interested in it as something it was not: the first shopping mall in history. In spite of its name, the building is in fact rather like a passage, a shopping mall with no underground parking and no car access, located in the very center of the city.

The layout of the shopping center was, for his time, unique. Eschewing traditional floors, Erskine created a series of half-levels con-

nected by ramps, escalators, and stairs, producing a collective interior space. The idea behind the center was that city life would move indoors during the winter months, and shopping would therefore encourage meetings and socializing.

As highlighted in the television documentary *Kommers och kontrovers* – *Om Shopping i Luleå* (Commerce and Controversy: About Shopping in Luleå), part of the series *Svenskarnas egen historia* (The Swedes’ Own History), the project both delighted and horrified local residents. Many referred to it as a “house of

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /></figure>

outrage,” and even the term “shopping” sparked controversy. In the period footage re-edited for the documentary, the word “shop” is called into question, taking on a new dimension of modernity. “Why can’t you go shopping? Why can’t you use the word in a new sense when the old markets are disappearing? Why can’t you

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /></figure>

just as easily say Lulemarknad as Luleå Shopping Center? You can talk about market cinema, market bar, market playhouse, or market dance without moving your tongue.”

The center attracted widespread interest. Architects from all over the world studied its design. More simply, curious people from Norrbotten came by the busload. Finnish visitors, in particular, frequently made the trip from Kemi, Ulleborg or Jakobstad. Shopping was not a department store in the sense people in Sweden were accustomed

to. It was more like a small town within the city. People were glad they could go to an interior where mannequin shows and other entertainment were arranged. The mannequins were girls who worked in the offices of the shopping center or in the stores. Sometimes, courses were organized to teach them how to model as mannequins. Dancing took place on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and occasionally

on other evenings when there was something special, like the Swedish Championship qualifiers in accordion.

Not everyone was fond of the dances. During the dance evenings, there had been some inconveniences and concerns, especially in the winter of 1956. Back then, you could encounter all sorts of things on the platforms, such as hallucinogens and the use of contraceptives.

In a seminal essay about the relationship between feminism and architecture, Mary McLeod noted how Foucault, in articulating the concept of heterotopia “seems to have expres-

<figure><img src="image_6.png" /></figure>
<figure><img src="image_7.png" /></figure>

sed an unconscious disdain
for aspects of everyday life
such as the home, the public
park and the department sto-
re, which were instead pro-
vinces in which women found
not only oppression, but also
a degree of comfort, securi-
ty, autonomy and even free-
dom."

Luleå's Shopping exemplifies this dynamic, becoming a space of emancipation and liberation for Swedish women who had previously been confined by traditional roles. This unique role of Shopping did not go unnoticed. Mai Zetterling - the first female director to win an award for directing at the Venice Film Festival after the war with the short film *War Game* (1962) - used the center as a setting for key scenes in *Flickorna* (The Girls, 1968). The film (from which the phrase that serves as the title of this text is derived), a reinterpretation of *Aristophanes' Lysistrata*, is a landmark in promoting gender equality and diversity.

By juxtaposing the
film's critique of societal
norms with archival images
documenting the gallery's
activities, it is possible to
acquire a physical and cor-
poreal awareness of how
much the architecture of
Shopping has been a field of
comparison and redefinition
of gender identity, against
the stereotypical image of
the "Swedish woman" as
an object of sexual desire,
that emerged international-
ly in the late 1950s, particu-

<figure><img src="image_8.png" /></figure>

larly in Italian cinema (first with
the scandal of the relationship
between Ingrid Bergman and Ro-
berto Rossellini and then in films
such as *La dolce vita* by Federico
Fellini or *Le svedesi* and *Il diavolo*
by Gian Luigi Polidoro).

Unlike traditional com-
mercial spaces, the Luleå's Shop-
ping innovative design—with
its open, bright spaces that can
be redefined by multiple social
activities—encouraged fluid mo-
vement and social interaction,
fostering an environment where
women could participate in pu-
blic life on their own terms. The
center's emphasis on leisure and community activities, provided a space for
women to step outside the domestic sphere and engage with a broader urban
society.

<figure><img src="image_9.png" /></figure>

This architectural setting was particularly significant in a region like Norrbotten, where harsh winters and isolated settlements had historically limited social mobility and interaction. By prioritizing accessibility and inclusivity, Erskine's design not only catered to practical needs but also subtly challenged traditional gender norms, enabling women to redefine their roles within both the public and private spheres. In this context, the Shopping Center in Luleå becomes a critical case study of how interior design can act as a catalyst for social change, reinforcing the relationship between modernity, gender emancipation, and architectural innovation.

Roberto Zancan
HEAD-Geneve (HES-SO)

<figure><img src="image_10.png" /></figure>