ABSTRACT
The Wenner-Gren Center (WGC) project is lined with many interesting circumstances about the Swedish built environment, both social and cultural aspects. However, this chapter examines how choosing steel as the material for the frame construction became a medium in the production of architecture. Originally, the construction method for the tall office building was designed in concrete. However, making use of a 'new' material altered the way in which the building was thought of, managed and produced. Building the WGC's 25-storey building with a steel frame asked for new methods of assembly, which were enforced without any norms for steel construction in place. The use of structural steel or reinforced concrete in high buildings became a heated debate in the September 1959 issue of the Swedish Architecture Journal. The WGC was already a monument when it was no more than a steel scaffolding. Numerous articles were published on the steel construction of the office building, aimed at both laymen and professionals.
