Majorna

It is difficult to understand Majorna without understanding the sea. The neighborhood grew up along the mouth of the Göta River, a stone's throw from the broad waterways where Gothenburg's former glory as a trading city was reflected in the masts of hundreds of vessels. Here lived sailors and harbor pilots, shipbuilders and dock workers. Every brick in Majorna's older facades carries a story of salt and farewells, of voyages to South America and the East Indies and homecomings as uncertain as the weather.

The geographic landmark is Röda Sten Art Centre — the gigantic old boiler house that rises from the industrial ground right beneath the Älvsborg Bridge. The colossal bridge is one of Gothenburg's most powerful silhouettes: a twin-humped concrete arch spanning 900 meters over the Göta River, with cars and trucks as buzzing dots high up in the air. Beneath the bridge, in the converted boiler house, one of Scandinavia's most fearless art venues has resided since the 1990s. Graffiti and contemporary art, club nights and experimental film screenings — it is a space that refuses to be defined.