More about the project
In Reading Rooms A and B, there are 120 study spaces. The furnishings consist of original furniture from 1917 and 1945, respectively. This is now in need of restoration. In Reading Room A, there are 75 desks and 55 chairs, and in Reading Room B there are 45 desks. The goal is to carefully renovate the desks and chairs to restore them to their former glory
Desks and chairs in Reading Room A
The desks and chairs in Reading Room A are from the year 1917. The birch chairs are period furniture and were made especially for Carolina Rediviva. The desks have frames and legs made of pine and a tabletop made of birch veneer.
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An unrestored chair on the left and a restored chair on the right in Reading Room A. Photograph: Magnus Hjalmarsson
Desks in Reading Room B
The desks in Reading Room B are from the 1940s. They are in the functionalist style with linoleum tops and are made of stained pine.
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Photograph: Magnus Hjalmarsson
The desk lamps
In 1969, Reading Rooms A, B and C were equipped with the desk lamp 'BM-lampan'. It was designed by Karl Gustaf Lindesvärd and manufactured by the Malmström brothers' metal goods factory. The model came out in the 1950s, and one of its selling points was 'Practically indestructible,' which 56 years at Carolina Rediviva attests to.
The desk lamps will remain after the renovation but will be converted to LED.
Photograph: Magnus Hjalmarsson
Reading Room A
Reading Room A was completed in 1917. The reading room has a ceiling height of 7 metres, and the ceiling is supported by slender columns that end with capitals in a neoclassical style. Spiral staircases with decorated risers and railings lead to balconies on two levels. The balustrades are richly designed. Towards the park in the west, there is an elevated apse with tall windows and a glass roof.
The architect Axel Anderberg (1860-1937) also designed the opera house in Stockholm.
Photograph: Mikael Wallerstedt
Reading Room B
Between 1936 and 1945, Reading Room A was extended both to the north and south.
Reading Room B is in the functionalist style with a ceiling height of 4 metres. The distinctive columns are made using Rabitz plaster. The stairs lead to balconies with simple railings in stainless steel that are typical for the period.
The architects were Axel Anderberg (1860-1937) and Jöran Curman (1907-1972).
Photograph: Magnus Hjalmarsson