Otto Saumarez Smith
@osaumarezsmith.bsky.social
Historian of shopping precincts, derelict landscapes, leisure centres, power stations, inner cities, housing, the Potteries, Telford new town, & city centre redevelopment. @c20society casework & trustee.
A day teaching in Carlo Scarpa’s Castelvecchio. Magic.
November 4, 2025 at 6:37 PM
A day teaching in Carlo Scarpa’s Castelvecchio. Magic.
Holly Smith launches Up in the Air at the LRB Bookshop. @holsmith.bsky.social
October 30, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Holly Smith launches Up in the Air at the LRB Bookshop. @holsmith.bsky.social
The deeply creepy island of Poveglia in the Venetian Lagoon, originally a nunnery, then a quarantine station, and an asylum from 1922 till 1968 - & now all eerily derelict - it’s reported that underfoot are plague pits for over 100,000 people.
October 20, 2025 at 9:45 AM
The deeply creepy island of Poveglia in the Venetian Lagoon, originally a nunnery, then a quarantine station, and an asylum from 1922 till 1968 - & now all eerily derelict - it’s reported that underfoot are plague pits for over 100,000 people.
A pair of ludicrously high-heeled Venetian clogs, or Calcagnetti, c. 1400.
October 9, 2025 at 6:18 PM
A pair of ludicrously high-heeled Venetian clogs, or Calcagnetti, c. 1400.
Letter in the Times:
October 2, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Letter in the Times:
It’s literally this
September 23, 2025 at 4:23 PM
It’s literally this
A short post about the Modern British City, out in November: www.lundhumphries.com/blogs/featur...
September 23, 2025 at 1:43 PM
A short post about the Modern British City, out in November: www.lundhumphries.com/blogs/featur...
Pleased with this small Gustavsberg dish, showing Eskil Sundahl's Kooperativa Förbundet headquarters in Södermalm (1935).
August 29, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Pleased with this small Gustavsberg dish, showing Eskil Sundahl's Kooperativa Förbundet headquarters in Södermalm (1935).
Managed to re-buy this Ironbridge B Power Station commemorative plate.
August 26, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Managed to re-buy this Ironbridge B Power Station commemorative plate.
Söderledskyrkan:
August 20, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Söderledskyrkan:
Also visited later suburbs Rinkeby & Tensta, built with large panel systems as part of the Million Programme, they have a bad reputation as ghettos, and the racial segregation is shockingly stark, but they are walkable, medium rise, well connected, & beautifully landscaped & maintained. A surprise.
August 20, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Also visited later suburbs Rinkeby & Tensta, built with large panel systems as part of the Million Programme, they have a bad reputation as ghettos, and the racial segregation is shockingly stark, but they are walkable, medium rise, well connected, & beautifully landscaped & maintained. A surprise.
Farsta point blocks.
August 20, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Farsta point blocks.
Farsta Centrum the southern equivalent of Vällingby, more like an American mall, but full of the type of detailing Ventris described as ‘“SKOJ” (fun, sharawaggi &c)’
August 20, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Farsta Centrum the southern equivalent of Vällingby, more like an American mall, but full of the type of detailing Ventris described as ‘“SKOJ” (fun, sharawaggi &c)’
Backström & Reinius’s Vällingby was the major influence behind Oliver Cox & Graeme Shankland’s aborted LCC New Town at Hook, with a raised central deck surrounded by point blocks, everything cheerfully detailed. Central Coventry could be as good if it were properly maintained.
August 20, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Backström & Reinius’s Vällingby was the major influence behind Oliver Cox & Graeme Shankland’s aborted LCC New Town at Hook, with a raised central deck surrounded by point blocks, everything cheerfully detailed. Central Coventry could be as good if it were properly maintained.
The centre of Hökarängen by David Helldén (completed 1950) Abercrombie’s London Plan had made it through the blockade during the war and had influenced Swedish planners, and this reminds me very much of one of Gibberd’s precincts, although painful to see how better preserved than UK equivalents.
August 20, 2025 at 10:29 AM
The centre of Hökarängen by David Helldén (completed 1950) Abercrombie’s London Plan had made it through the blockade during the war and had influenced Swedish planners, and this reminds me very much of one of Gibberd’s precincts, although painful to see how better preserved than UK equivalents.
More Årsta centrum.
August 20, 2025 at 10:23 AM
More Årsta centrum.
Årsta centrum by Erik & Tore Ahlsén, under construction when the three architects visited, although Oliver was shown the plans for the painted facades, which were described as “moderne kunst”, although he was equally struck by the architect’s socks, sandals & hairy legs.
August 20, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Årsta centrum by Erik & Tore Ahlsén, under construction when the three architects visited, although Oliver was shown the plans for the painted facades, which were described as “moderne kunst”, although he was equally struck by the architect’s socks, sandals & hairy legs.
Torsvikshöjden neighbourhood in Lidingö, designed by Ancker, Gate, and Lindegren, and planned by Göran Sidenbladh from 1943. Michael Ventris made detailed notes, and thought it “looks astonishingly nice”.
August 20, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Torsvikshöjden neighbourhood in Lidingö, designed by Ancker, Gate, and Lindegren, and planned by Göran Sidenbladh from 1943. Michael Ventris made detailed notes, and thought it “looks astonishingly nice”.
Next door Kvartet Galjonsbulden, 1946-52, with stepped section hanging gardens and a romantically detailed point block. According to Oliver Cox Backström and Reinus were ‘doing the things which we have only talked about at home – and have done them with extraordinary success.’
August 20, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Next door Kvartet Galjonsbulden, 1946-52, with stepped section hanging gardens and a romantically detailed point block. According to Oliver Cox Backström and Reinus were ‘doing the things which we have only talked about at home – and have done them with extraordinary success.’
Also Backström & Reinus, star flats at Gröndal (1944-6) Oliver Cox loved the traditional Swedish colours, writing: ‘It looked a bit like a stage set – but a brilliant one – and was very gay in feeling.’
August 20, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Also Backström & Reinus, star flats at Gröndal (1944-6) Oliver Cox loved the traditional Swedish colours, writing: ‘It looked a bit like a stage set – but a brilliant one – and was very gay in feeling.’
Such a moving neighbourhood atmosphere on the estate, and we made friends and were taken into a block. Beautifully detailed flats and astonishing views from the roof. Astonishing to think this was being built whilst the rest of Europe at war.
August 20, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Such a moving neighbourhood atmosphere on the estate, and we made friends and were taken into a block. Beautifully detailed flats and astonishing views from the roof. Astonishing to think this was being built whilst the rest of Europe at war.
Danviksklippan, by Backström and Reinus, 9 of the first “punkthus”, progenitor of the LCC point block, thrillingly sited on a rocky outcrop, almost an island, but picturesquely sited around green space, with painterly colours & pitched hats they are homely & romantic.
August 20, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Danviksklippan, by Backström and Reinus, 9 of the first “punkthus”, progenitor of the LCC point block, thrillingly sited on a rocky outcrop, almost an island, but picturesquely sited around green space, with painterly colours & pitched hats they are homely & romantic.
Here is Spångavägen 49, the “Lamellahus” Oliver Cox, Michael Ventris & Graeme Shankland rented in 1947. They were later dubbed “Swedophiles”, and I’ve been exploring many of the places they visited, all of it so beautifully maintained it is easy to recapture there excitement & why 🇸🇪 so influential.
August 20, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Here is Spångavägen 49, the “Lamellahus” Oliver Cox, Michael Ventris & Graeme Shankland rented in 1947. They were later dubbed “Swedophiles”, and I’ve been exploring many of the places they visited, all of it so beautifully maintained it is easy to recapture there excitement & why 🇸🇪 so influential.