Unboxing the Monument of Frihamnen unveils a hidden story of a monumental founding of a bus stop for the Jubilee Park.

The Jubilee Park is situated in Frihamnen – which in time of writing is one of many areas of transformation in the city. Several art and architecture groups were invited to build the park and together with the public investigate the culture of bathing. The park is also functioning as a testing area for sustainable city planning – in terms of both social and environmental issues.

One of the groups was Muf – Architecture/Art who was invited to create a master plan for the park. Among other things they pointed out the need of a bus stop to enable each and every one to get to the park. A founding of a new bus stop requires time for administration and during that time the architecture group proposed a temporary port. The port would mark the position of the future bus stop and work as an entrance. This idea was never realized in its intended form – yet, almost invisibly melted into the landscape a potential trace remains in the existing bus stop which name is Frihamnsporten – the port of Frihamnen.

Made of mainly steel and glass a bus stop is a built architectural object known by all citizens. It is a reference point and part of the communal communication system that you don’t really notice until you need it. What does the act of building a port and social infrastructure mean in times when all over the world monumental walls of borders are being built? Through another perspective – what does it mean to put the timetable and minutes back as an urban magma on an industrial ruin where the moss is slowly growing back in the cracks of the asphalt?