If you happen to be travelling around in the more suburban districts of Stockholm, you might spot a tower, emblazoned with the words 'Telefonplan', where the windows seem to be colorful, but ever changing. Striking, but seemingly no rhyme or reason to the colors. Is it just random? Well, actually, in a sense - yes! But maybe not the way you might be thinking.
Telefonplan, meaning something close to 'Telephone Square', reveals the history of the area: it used to be the headquarters of the Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson. The 72 m tower, formally a phone tower, is the tallest building in the immediate vicinity and was, (and is) a well-known local landmark.
As the world's telecommunications evolved, though, Ericsson's needs change and, by 2003, they had long outgrown the site in Telefonplan, opting for Kista, a suburb far to the north of Stockholm. The buildings in Ericsson's site were to be sold off to be converted into housing or office space.
However, for the tower, something special was planned!
Every night, when the sun goes down, the towers lights are switched on. So far, so normal, right? Well, thanks to the work of 'Emotional Cities' artist Erik Krikortz, together with architect Milo Laven and designer Loove Broms, this light show has something of a unique twist to it: anyone with a smart phone can change any of the colors shown in the windows to whatever they want!
The tower works by having tuneable LED lights, where the users can select colors by adjusting the red / green / blue colors in standard RGB scheme. If you've selected a custome color for a font, you know how to work this system. The work was inaugurated in on October 2006, as a temporary deal. A similar concept, was realized in Spain a few years later in the city of Seville. Since 2011, the artists struck an agreement with the city of Stockholm to bring the tower back, this time on a permanent basis!
Operating the tower is easy enough, just download the app on your smartphone. When you open it, you'll see a relatively simple UI, and a camera pointed at the tower. The quality of the feed isn't great, though, so it's better to be looking directly at the tower while you play around with the colors. While using the app, you're also on a timer: only one user can edit the colors at one time, so this prevents anyone from stealing the lightshow all night. Be warned, though: sometimes waits can be long before you get your turn, you need to be fast.
There is alternatively a phone-call system for those who don't have a smart phone, where the colors can be controlled by the number pad. Unlike the app, this is not free, however!
The tower can be found on the handily named 'Telefonplan' station, about 10-15 mins ride from Stockholm Central Station or Gamla Stan (the old town), and is worth a short visit for a couple of pictures.
Just remember! Yellow, Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow again!