Förstberg Ling
→ Number of employees: 3
→ Founded in: 2015
→ Office: Regementsgatan 20, Malmö
forstbergling.com
@forstberg_ling
Briefly describe your office.
We are an architectural firm founded in Malmö in 2015 by Björn Förstberg and Mikael Ling. All projects, both smaller and larger, are designed from a simultaneously technical and aesthetic perspective, where the result often ends up in the borderland between the obvious and the surprising.
Why have you chosen to design-build?
Since the beginning, we have worked actively to create our own projects rather than waiting for them to come to us. Design-building is a way of being able to control the process yourself and work according to your own ideas about design and, above all, quality.
How do you usually work as an office?
Our projects develop parallel in details and overall expression. We want each project to feel like a well-coherent whole, where every part feels obvious.
How do you want to work in the future?
We are happy to work with design-build projects, but not exclusively. It is good to have a balance to have a more even economy.
How do you see the architect's role during the construction process in Sweden today?
We see too many architects who have been reduced to a minor role where you are one of many consultants instead of operating on an overall level.
How would you like to see the architect's role develop in the future?
We believe that many architects could learn a lot from running projects themselves. It gives a different insight into the entire construction process and helps strengthen the role, also in other projects. We believe it is important that the client feels that the architect can take responsibility for both design and the entire project's budget and quality.
What do you think about the architectural assignment as a business model - does it need to be developed or supplemented?
We believe that a more comprehensive coordinating role needs to be reintroduced to ensure that all consultants work towards a greater whole.
Is there anything you think the city could do differently to promote better construction processes?
We believe that it will be more interesting architecture if you make it possible for smaller developers to play on the same terms as the big ones. Clearer requirements for quality need to be set.
Are there more questions we should have asked – any important experience we missed?
We believe that the biggest reason why much of what is being built today is not up to par is that most developers are much more interested in their own results and not so much in what they produce for houses. The market does not demand quality either but has become accustomed to what new production looks like today.
"Design-build is a way of being able to control the process yourself and work according to your own ideas about design and, above all, quality"
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