In 1986, a Turkish/Swedish artist by the name of Ihan Koman (1921-1986), made a sculpture out of bright, shiny steel. It was called Vattenvirvel (Water Vortex) and was placed high up on a pedestal, in the centre of a cobblestone platform, in Mälarö square, at Ekerö Centrum.
Koman’s sculpture is said to represent “… the constructivist orientation in Sweden.” I don’t know about that, but it’s certainly eye catching. Or it was today.
I decided to check out Ekerö Centrum and was surprised to find an external set of shops, almost like a little shopping village with, rather than the big blocks of flats like at Tyresö Centrum, here there are, what appear to be, less dominant townhouses. It’s very attractive as you wander around the meandering pedestrian precinct.
Obviously there’s the all important Ica and Systembolaget. There’s also a very nice café which serves an excellent coffee and delicious, syrupy cardamom buns. There’s even a chemist, a pet shop and a newsagent. There’s also a canal nearby, but I didn’t see it today.
I had a nice chat with the woman on the check-out who was surprised when I said I was Australian and that I didn’t like the heat. (I didn’t tell her about Shelly, who is currently almost melting from the Sydney summer swelts.) The woman on the check-out asked if I liked the snow. I said I did, very much but assumed this would wear off. She laughed, knowingly.
The bus stop to the centrum is very close. Out the front door of the house, up a small lane and across the main road and there’s the bus shelter. It took me five minutes. Literally. And, because of the snow that fell all night, this was my view while waiting for the bus.
In fact, it snowed, on and off, all day, with patches of blue sky and sunshine dotted throughout. It was also quite cold in the slight breeze, dipping things well below zero. Just the kind of weather this Australian loves.
