Stone-Ideas.com

Plain and simple “Rosa Torget” (Pink Square) is the name for the new urban space in the Swedish metropolis of Malmö, and yet behind it lies a far-reaching concept for the modern city: It is intended as a place where citizens come together deliberately or by chance and, perhaps – dance together. That is why it is paved with brick and natural stone. There is also a place to recharge your cell phone.

The square is also a connection between the different phases of life that people go through – it is located in front of the old administration building of the university hospital and is therefore also a place of transition from being sick to being healthy.

The planning comes from dansbana!, the architects Anna Fridolin, Anna Pang and Teres Selberg, and they write about their work of art: “We wanted to create an inviting, playful, warm public space that can attract activities and exchange and create a world of its own – a connection and a designed transition between the hospital area and the city of Malmö.”

The ensemble’s hallmark is the brick floor pattern, into which the 8.8 m x 8.8 m dance floor made of red Älvdal quartzite and white Norwegian granite is integrated.

Directly adjacent to this dance area is one of the brick sculptures, here the round arch with the cell phone access and speakers. There are also two other sculptures: an arch turned the other way around and a low wall made of several snake-shaped individual parts that can serve as a bench.

Teres Selberg tells us where the idea for the urban space came from: “In many places around the world (from my own experience especially in the southern parts of Europe) dancers meet spontaneously to dance on places with flat natural stone, usually limestone surfaces.”

In Sweden, however, the streets and squares have to be kept free of snow and ice with salt in winter, and the local limestone is unsuitable for an open-air dance floor. But there are also other types of stone that can be polished.

Then she adds “We held initial dance workshops on the site (summer 2022) to get into dialogue with the users at the hospital area and Malmö dance community we invited a variety of different dance actors, including tai chi, qui gong, African dancers, different street dancers as well as folklore dance groups.”

The spark was ignited, as the comments in the press have since shown.

The official opening is planned for August 2025. We had found a description of the project in the Swedish Natural Stone Association’s (Sveriges Stenindustriförbund) magazine “Sten” (4/2024).

“Sten” magazine (Swedish)