Thanks to his role as host of Husdrömmar, Gert Wingårdh has become a beloved celebrity. This fall he is currently working on a new book, Gula fläcken. Unlike his previous books where architecture is the focus, this time he invites you to his own memoirs.

Gert Wingårdh's memoirs take us with Gert into his innermost being as he vividly describes everything from his safe – but also occasionally difficult – upbringing, his sweet teenage years, exciting meetings, inspiring
travels, the loves of his life and his long and very successful career as an architect.
When INRIKES calls, Gert is in the car. He is as charming and chatty as we know him from TV. Just as he occasionally does in Husdrömmar, he is sitting in the car and driving. Today he is in Skåne, and is navigating the trip using the car's GPS while we talk. He has his mobile attached to the dashboard. It is at a slightly strange angle, so I can see his black t-shirt and his mouth talking.

– I'm on my way to a place where we're going to film a new and so far secret TV program, he reveals while he drives the car on the back roads of Skåne. I love working with TV. Traveling around and talking to people and looking at their construction projects is fantastic fun. It's great to be able to do something so positive late in life.
I love meeting people and the more famous you become, the lower the threshold for people to make contact. You get a lot of fun 'hits' and people feel like they can tell me things. TV makes me very unisolated and I think that's fun.

A DIFFERENT PROJECT
As an architect and company director for Wingårdhs with around 120 employees in offices in Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm, Gert is used to working in a team. That is why Yellow Spot was a different and welcome project. Here he worked completely alone, wrapped in memories that had to be sorted in his brain and put into print.
– I didn’t have any diaries or anything to use while I was writing, says Gert. I think I have a pretty good memory, because I remember most of what I experience. However, I can’t claim that everything in the book is true. For me, it doesn’t feel that important that everything is described perfectly.
exactly as it was. What I have written are my personal memories and it is not certain that they correspond to how another person experienced the same events. I think that the whole thing about memory is interesting. I have watched a lot of YouTube clips and other things about how memory works. When it comes to, for example, criminal investigations and the like where several people have experienced the same things
It often happens that everyone recounts the events in completely different ways.

CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Gert describes himself as a life-loving person who loves to work. He loves challenges and he has
a curiosity that constantly drives him forward and brings out new ideas. The word retired does not exist in his vocabulary, but he says that he tries to be aware of creating a balance between the role of business leader and the artistic and creative aspects that give him energy.
– It is only out of selfishness and self-preservation that I choose not to retire, he says with a smile. I have done well so far, but I am 73 years old and that means I have many friends who are a little older and I have seen that almost everyone loses momentum after 75. I have realized that I will not be able to continue to run the company for as long as I want. I will hand over the company, but it is difficult.
I am in the process of reducing my leadership role in the company. In some way, I hope I will be pushed out through lack of presence. Gert laughs heartily and continues:
– I have great employees who can take over. The goal is for the company to become a fully-fledged
democracy in the future. Gert Wingårdh has received six Kasper Salin awards, more than any other Swedish architect. His work ranges from shop interiors to factory complexes, and he has participated in a number of
projects that have received international attention.

If I could dream, I would like to design a small art museum all by myself and have two years, without anyone's involvement, that would be absolutely fantastic.

A GUIDING BUILDING
When he looks back on his long career, there are two projects that he is particularly proud of. He says that Universeum in Gothenburg was a fantastic project to work on and one that he is very proud of.
Universeum has been located next to Liseberg's rides since 2001. It is a science center that annually captivates both visitors and Gothenburg residents with live animals, the wonders of science, and technological solutions.

Universeum is visited by a lot of people every year. It's more fun to draw things like that than warehouses that only an industrial robot can see.

An open house with several sustainable solutions, largely built in wood. The assignment included thinking that the building would feel inspiring to all visitors, a place where everyone from different backgrounds could meet.
– It tickles your stomach just as much when you ride the roller coaster no matter where in the world you come from. When they were going to make an investment in a design center, they chose to combine them with the amusement park. For a while, Universeum was the entrance to the amusement park and it was a very smart way to reach out to very broad groups in society.
Gert adds that it was fun that they chose to build a design center in Gothenburg and that it didn't, like so many other things, end up in Stockholm.
– The construction began to be planned in 1998. At that time, Göran Persson was Prime Minister and it was one of the first projects to receive government funding to explore how to do sustainable construction. The building is an example of sustainable construction that has been a guiding light in making wooden houses in the way they are done today. Gert wants as many people as possible to have the opportunity to visit and enjoy the buildings he has worked on.
“Universeum is visited by a lot of people every year. It's more fun to draw things like that than warehouses that only an industrial robot can see,” he says, laughing.

STAND UP FOR THE ART
Another building Gert is extremely proud of is the Liljevalchs konsthall extension on Djurgårdsvägen in Stockholm, which he designed in collaboration with the artist Ingegerd Råman.
– It was a memorable project to work on that I am very proud of. It obviously has to do with my great interest in art and I got to draw the way I want. The Liljevalchs konsthall extension has received a lot of criticism from different quarters. Most politicians, well-known cultural figures and public debaters think the building is ugly. But Gert doesn't take the criticism to heart.
– I think it's fun to stand up and proudly say that this is the only building that has been built exactly as I think a building should be built. It's not just thanks to me that the building looks the way it does, there was a jury, various beauty boards and others who had to be pleased in different ways. But it's a building that I'm very happy with.

It must be more interesting that it arouses emotions than that it does not. Indifference is the last thing anyone wants. When Gert is asked if there is a dream project he would like to do in the future, he thinks for a moment before answering.
– If I could dream, I would like to design a small art museum all by myself and have two years, without anyone's involvement, that would be absolutely fantastic.

FAVOURITE PLACES IN SWEDEN:
Gert has the privilege of being in Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm almost every week and he really enjoys the three cities.

• Number one, Stockholm is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I had a good friend who said that if you want to make a nice city, you should make sure there are mountains and lots of water, and Stockholm has that.
• In Malmö, the Limhamn area is absolutely fantastic. I love wandering around there among the older and newer buildings and having dinner on the quay. It's incredibly nice.
• In Gothenburg I love Götaplatsen. It's a big empty space that can take on different
  forms; demonstrations, car shows and so on. It is a fantastic meeting place, flanked by the City Theatre, the Concert Hall and the Art Museum. It is truly a
  A great place that has not been violated in any way but is allowed to be its classic quiet place as it has been since the 1920s and onwards. It is a hub that can endure under many different political winds.

3 CITIES IN THE WORLD YOU MUST VISIT, ACCORDING TO GERT WINGÅRDH:

• Kyoto. The old Imperial Palace is amazing. There is so much ancient culture in Kyoto at the same time as it is a dense and modern city.
• Venice. The city in Italy that I have visited the most. There is so much art and architecture there and it is amazing with this car-free city. I love walking around there and it feels safe to get lost in all the little alleys.
• Kiruna. It is a city that must be visited as a contrast to the dense world cities. Kiruna is the city that people are currently moving to. I think you should go there and think about, without judging, how good we are at community planning and how we pool our resources to see what we can achieve.

GERT WINGÅRDH
Age: 73.
Bor Apartment in Gothenburg and house in the Bohuslän countryside.
Family Wife Karin, children, bonus children and grandchildren.
Occupation Architect.
Background in brief: Graduated in architecture in 1975 from Chalmers University of Technology. Two years later he started Wingårdh Architects. He has received six Kasper Salin awards, which is more than any other Swedish architect. His work ranges from shop interiors to factory complexes, and he has participated in a number of projects that have received international attention. Since 2014, he has been the host of SVT's Husdrömmar. He has written several acclaimed books and has participated in a number of TV and radio programs.
Currently With the memoirs The Yellow Spot.