Stockholm Structures

Any survey of the modern cultural history of Stockholm would be incomplete if it didn't include a nod to Ikea with its designs, low prices and flat-pack systems that have transformed not only Swedish society but that of much of the world.  I rode the free Ikea bus from downtown to the original—and largest—Ikea store.  The core of the building is designed in spirals and, with all the merchandise on display, the effect is dizzying.

The original and largest Ikea.

Central Station.

Bubble-headed manequins.

The colorful shop of Swedish designer Gudrun Sjöden. 

Street scenes:

Unusual blue tiles add pizazz to this building.

I'm quite speechless about this street scene. 

This parking garage has that "sense of place" more than any other I can ever remember seeing.

City Hall where the Nobel Prize banquet and ball is held.

With its stripes and jaunty top, this is of my all-time favorite air traffic control towers.  Next: back in Vienna!