schoolyard stacked house sculpture by UMA lights up through cut-out stars

wooden sculpture by uma stands on Falun’s preschool yard

Ulf Mejergren (UMA) sculpts ‘Stjärnhus’, a permanent wooden tower for a preschool yard in Falun, shaped like five small houses stacked on top of each other. The structure lights up from the inside through cut-out stars in various sizes. The house-like volumes reminisce of the typical Swedish cottages painted in distinct red color originally derived from the Falun copper mine that operated from the 10th century to the early 1990s, now produced with byproducts. The mine and Swedish town are under UNESCO World Heritage protection. The schoolyard sculpture stands as an interactive playground object.

all images and illustrations by Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA)

cut-out stars perforate the tower using local technique

Drawing from the red ornamented houses that cover the mine shafts the team shaped a playful and welcoming tower formed like five houses stacked on top of each other, gradually getting bigger, going upwards. The ascending volume resembles a matryoshka doll that could fit each box into the other. Practicing an old local technique used to carve out patterns in wood for ornamental purposes the houses got perforated with stars in various sizes. The structure sets a lighting system on the inside transforming the tower into a lantern during the night. In the daytime, the sun casts light patterns inside the Stjärnhus (Star House) and on the ground.

the schoolyard sculpture stacks five ascending wooden houses

the volume resembles a matryoshka doll that could fit each box into the other

star pattern facade made using local technique

children can interact with the house and peek through the star cut-outs

stjarnhus transforms into a lantern during the night

the structure lights up from the inside through cut-out stars in various sizes

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the tower and roof are perforated in star pattern

the shaft spreads over eight meters of height

stjarnhus decorates a preschool yard in sweden

technical drawings of Stjärnhus construction

diagram of Stjärnhus construction

project info:

name: Stjärnhus
designer: Ulf Mejergren (UMA)

carpenters: Hagängs Snickeri – Mikael Hagström – Stefan Ljusteräng

engineer: Byggteknik Nord – Emanuel Chryssanthou

electrician: Elektrikern i Dalarna

AB light consultant: Hide-a-lite – Urban Hussmo

landscape: Byggtjänst i Falun – Martin Fyhr

art consultant for Falun Municipality: Emma Billbäck

project manager for Falun Municipality: Emma Skräddargård

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom