All language subtitles for The Socialist, The Architect and The Twisted Tower (2005) Fredrik Gertten.eng

Mister Calatrava, a few short words -

- about the role that Johnny Örbäck
has played in this project.

I don't hear anything.

The role that Johnny Örbäck
has played...

- You mean, about Örbäck?
- Yes.

What would you like? I think I spoke
very clearly in the museum.

You have to avoid
to put him as a loser.

He is a hero and a martyr -

- of the injustice of having
weak people around.

He was supportive. People
were not at the level of circumstances.

Malmö is a place where something
like The Turning Torso makes sense.

I never found anybody who told me:
"In Malmö...!"

What about Malmö?
Malmö is the place to do Turning Torso.

Ingvar Nohlin speaking.

I'm at Kastrup Airport.
He's due in ten minutes.

- Did you have a good flight?
- Yes.

- What about your arm?
- I broke it. Skiing...

- Are we going to Malmö now?
- Yes.

May I speak to Andres please?

I've been in touch with the museum
in New York about the photographs.

You can ring me at home. I need
your help with the stadium competition.

Hello...? Hello, Tina.

Everything is fine. I've been trying
to get hold of you at the office.

Wonderful.

That isn't true. No, that's not true at all. You
shouldn't talk like that.

We'll be there in ten minutes.
Shall I tell you what will happen today?

We start at 11 o'clock.
Johnny Örbäck will talk for ten minutes.

Then you are supposed to say something for ten
minutes.

You can do whatever you want.

This is in Milwaukee, USA.

The bridge looks like a bird.
It's absolutely lovely.

This is The Eye. It's the same
as in the museum in Valencia.

The reflection in the water
is beautiful. Just incredible...

He's a fantastic man.

He's basically an engineer.

When you see this,
you would think he was an artist.

It's the combination of engineer,
artist and architect -

- that makes him so exciting.

It's fantastic.

When I saw this sculpture -

- it symbolised a building for me immediately.

The opera house in Sydney and the Guggenheim in
Bilbao are symbols.

It will be the same in Malmö.

How are you? It's nice to see you again.

- What is this?
Skiing.

- At least it was the left one.
- That's good. Otherwise I could not work.

So don't go skiing!

We can understand the body
in terms of a gyrating form.

But we can also understand the body
in movement.

Movement of the dance...

And so I chose the idea -

- of turning
or twisting the body around an axis.

So I thought: take the human body
as a model.

Take the spine, which is
the basic reason why we stand up.

I started working with it
as the basic idea to do a building.

So this idea of the twisting movement -

- of the Turning Torso, makes it unique -

- and we hope, very much, a testimony
to the architecture of our time.

This is the first model.

One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven.

There are nine now.
This is the first model.

Calatrava says that the classic
division of the human body -

- is really into seven units.

It became nine, because
as you can see from the model -

- rotating seven by 90 degrees
leads to an extreme twist.

In its way, HSB
represents the Swedish model.

This picture is a romantic depiction
of building homes -

- when HSB was strongest.

People were moving from
small-scale industrial communities -

- to the cities. They had almost
been living as serfs.

They found it hard to get
dwellings, so HSB was founded -

- to give them control over
the building process and save money.

I thought this could be
a renaissance for HSB:

Getting the best.

As you understand, this is a project -

- we have longed to commence.
Finally we're starting.

It feels natural for me and for HSB -

- that HSB is to build this.

Our company is a cooperative -

- that has long striven
to create innovative housing.

It is a joy to us
that we can do it again.

There is a hesitant atmosphere.
You can feel it all around you:

"It mustn't become too big,
because that is a threat in itself."

It can easily become
a self-fulfilling prophecy.

We see this as housing's
Formula One today.

We want it to be standard tomorrow.

TURNING THE FIRST SOD
14 FEBRUARY 2001

I've been looking at your bridge at the Guggenheim
Museum in Bilbao.

And the airport? We have done
the airport in Bilbao: the new one.

It is open as of
the month of November last year.

You know you are a favourite!

The Turning Torso is modern
and advanced architecture.

It creates new values.

Okay, let's do it! One, two three!

I like very much my profession.

I enjoy particularly this kind of...
almost making a dream a reality.

This is a beautiful moment.

In a way you could say that a sculptor has more
freedom than an architect.

You are not thinking in terms of
a building: how people will come in -

- how they will escape,
how water is delivered. It is servitude.

You must follow the functions
that belong to this building.

But architecture is much more powerful than
sculpture in terms of scale.

You can penetrate it. You can see it
far away in the landscape.

These experiences are almost impossible
to do with sculpture.

We need a piece of paper.

We can use that.
This is wonderful paper.

- Or even the serviette. This is very good.
- I think this is better. It's more stiff.

The last change we did to the structure was this:

We used to have the faces like this:

This is my reserve,
to give the building more stiffness.

It's very important
that you feel assisted by myself.

Not only from my people -

- because there are circumstances
when you need to discuss with me.

Don't hesitate. Just pick up the phone, look for me
and speak with me.

If you look at it, it seems to be narrow below and
wide at the top.

A funny thing today: a man came up
to me speaking perfect Italian.

He's from here and he says:
" I'm surprised."

"I'm a crazy man.
Io sono un matto. Io sono un pazzo."

"But I'm surprised to see
so many mad people!"

Look at the bird! Beautiful...

- It's spring there. The birds are moving.
- It's February.

I think we will have an early spring.
I don't know. I hope so.

Imagine an area
34 metres in diameter.

That's the area cleared over there.

Follow the circle round.
That will form the base.

This is special: it's the turning-point.

We've been at this for six months.

Now we're on the up and up!

Ingvar Nohlin...

Hello, Thomas.
I'll meet you there at nine.

We're busy with
the final cost estimate.

The NCC regional board
is not really satisfied with the figures.

Johnny, you need to take the lift
to the fifth floor.

Swedish construction companies
are used to running things.

As a result, an architect
has a very weak role in Sweden.

Yes, but his idea is not to have
a cheap facade at the back.

Who decides what our upper limit is?

- Well, the upper limit...
- What are the indications?

What about these pillars
and aluminium sections with holes in?

It mustn't cost more than
6,000 Kronor per square metre.

- What has happened?
- Nothing, in my opinion.

Not a thing.

Without Calatrava's design,
there won't be a good Turning Torso.

It's our task to defend it,
without it costing too much.

Okay, let's draw up our demands -

- with respect to Calatrava.

You'll have to do that at once.

Give me the risk scenario.
Tell me what you want to do.

- Can't we get two men up here?
- They don't work like that.

- Calatrava decides, the others do it.
- That's how it is.

He's in bloody Dallas and Milwaukee.

A white Bourgogne...

Bourgogne... excellent.

We have been discussing -

- the possibility
of bringing down the costs.

Ingvar and I talked yesterday
about some possibilities.

The question is if we can go back
to eight windows instead of ten.

So you want to make less windows -

- and make the separation bigger...

If I can take away two windows
and replace them by insulated area...

- How many windows do we have now?
- Ten.

- So you want to take two away?
- Yes.

Let me show you. The beauty of
the building... my suggestion will be -

- closing the corner clearly
and leaving eight windows.

The windows are like this
and the walls are like that and have to fit.

This emphasizes the shape of the cube.
I am not dogmatic.

I think the achievement of making
The Turning Torso is important.

I agree. What is the difference?

It's about 40 centimetres.

Forty? Four zero?

It is not possible.
The angle is something like two degrees.

You have to divide 90 by 54.

- Do you have a calculator?
- Not here.

We need to know the tangent.

It has to be a function calculator
that shows the tangent.

- I'm telling you...
- Is it 40 centimetres per cube?

It's five times that.
Yes, 40 centimetres per cube...

Yes, it moves... No...

Like this...

But if this point at the corner
moves to the next floor -

- It moves 40 centimetres.
How much is that?

- P multiplied by...
- 6P... no, that's only...

6P...

18 metres.

18 metres divided by 5...
Yes, maybe you are right.

- Yes, I think it's 40 centimetres.
- It seems to be very much.

- So if we could do it like this...
- Yes, it works.

- It works...
- Yes. No problem.

This is for the individual measuring -

- of warm water and cold water
and heating and everything.

This is the corridor. This is the width
of the corridor. It's curved. It's balanced.

This is one of the six walls.

If you want the light to spread
a bit longer...

I think the Turning Torso is masculine because it
so vertical.

It will be a slim building
even if it is soft and twisted.

In my opinion it is very strong in itself
and follows one gesture.

We are doing a process that will probably only be
done once.

This in itself makes things difficult.

We are in front of a building
that is exceptional -

- so everybody has to change a little bit.

I think this is really great.

We're casting the foundation
for the next two days.

Concrete is delivered
from three depots.

5,300 cubic metres. It's non-stop.

By Sunday morning
there will have been 850 deliveries.

It's not a personal matter.

Mario this is the third time
you haven't come as we asked you.

You have to write a letter
to apologise every time.

I don't buy that any longer.
The job will stop out here.

You know that very well.

Yesterday you received the paper
from Professor Westerberg.

I understand you have read it, so you know what
problems we are facing.

Very good. 'Bye.

We're having problems
getting the drawings delivered.

It's all very hand-to-mouth.

We have too much reinforcement.
It affects both costs and time.

- We're in the midst of a crisis.
- True.

40 million Kronor over budget:
not a chance.

- I don't see how it can be done.
- Not a chance.

We'll look at things on Monday
and decide what to do.

- We must see him before Midsummer.
- Definitely.

It's really tough now.
The project is at a standstill.

Every second
is costing us lots of money.

The collaboration between our staff
and Calatrava's isn't working.

Before we continue,
all the drawings must be available.

Any savings must be made now,
before we continue.

This is what we must deal with
if we are to progress.

At least 400 tons of reinforcement
has got to go.

We have now exceeded our budget
by 40 million.

We keep finding
that he's not up to date.

Although he says the responsibility
is his, he's not up to date.

One problem is the way
Calatrava's company is organised.

Everything has to go via him -

- but he's very busy with projects
all over the world.

He's building the Olympic Stadium.
He has projects in the USA.

He travels a lot.
He's hard to get hold of.

There's this black hole in Zurich
that we have no insight into.

Nothing comes out of it.

The model wasn't finally ready -

- until 14 days ago
when the report was delivered.

I need a clear mandate from you:

I'll tell him that
this, this and this must be done.

You can't just say
there's too much reinforcement.

You must quote facts and figures.

It's not that I want to meet him.
I want to get the project going.

- Santiago? It's Johnny...
- How are you?

- Fine, thank you.
- Congratulations on your birthday.

- Thank you for the present.
- It was a pleasure.

- I thought I should come down to you.
- You would like to see me?

Next week I have time to see you.
It will be a pleasure.

I'm very glad. Have a nice evening.

You too. My best regards
and congratulations again.

- Spanish wines are very delicate.
- I also like Spanish wines.

These are your notes for tomorrow.

We'll have to see what happens.
He's so bloody sensitive.

I'm the one who placed the order.

If problems aren't resolved
by this meeting in Zurich -

- then I've got problems.

Hi! Is everything okay?

We can go upstairs. It's better there.

- Upstairs somewhere...?
- I just need a few things.

It's a little thanks for the gift
you gave me on my birthday.

Thank you. You are very kind.

I'm not here to talk about the past
and the all the fights.

I don't think you and I should talk
about that when we meet.

We should talk about what to do
from now on and into the future.

Because in my opinion we are now approaching a
very critical time.

When the concrete 2 starts,
we have to be a team

What they ask for sometimes,
when they get a bit irritated -

- is that they want to have
your people more close -

- so they can have daily discussions.

I think the result of the teamwork -

- is better than the relation
between the team.

This is my judgement. Understand?

Everybody has to understand
that the project is unique.

Unique means
it has never been done before.

It is not a project that is easy.
It is a very difficult project.

I want you to consider the possibility
of coming to Malmö -

- a couple of times: three or four times -

- so that both my team and your team have
discussions at the same time -

- and we don't have to send
so many letters.

- I think that's important for the project.
- Yes, very good.

We want a better atmosphere
between our staff and his.

We can use that model. We will close the spine
until the second cube.

Calatrava's staff will come
to Malmö in a couple of weeks.

We want to find
a better way of working.

We must get better collaboration
or we'll have major problems.

I see it as the designer's responsibility -

- to make specifications and drawings.

That is the normal design
and how it is presented.

At the moment I'd like the specification.
I can't find it.

There are specifications for concrete. They are
of... the normal part...

But I'm actually used to
concrete work specifications -

- where all the requirements for the concrete are
stated in a structured way.

What have we done with concrete one?

I don't know.
I wasn't in the project at the time.

Usually the designer does the important drawings.
This was not the case here.

We have a special arrangement
as we are working in Sweden.

The specifications
on how the work has to be achieved -

- is the work of the local partner.

If it is agreed that it shall not be provided in a
separate document, that is all right.

But that is not what I'm used to.

Wasn't the concrete specification made by Rolf
Johansson? Last Christmas...

It was done by yourself
and Leif Ramqvist, together with...

...Rolf Johansson.
He had nothing to go on -

- so you put it together yourself
over Christmas.

And that went well...

Concrete one was
made by the local department

Why can't they also do the specifications for
concrete two?

But someone has to translate
those figures -

- and the person best suited to do that job is the
designer, not someone else.

But let's discuss it...

But this is not true.
I have been doing this job for 20 years.

I get a feeling of the temperature
around this table.

In my opinion we cannot keep saying
"I need the specifications".

"The designer has to do this!"
We have a certain experience.

He says I was not here,
so he had to stay for two months -

- so he knows how things work.
This will become a dialogue of the deaf.

Do you understand?
People who cannot hear.

This is not a scientific matter
or whatever.

It's just a matter of work,
of team-spirit and the will to cooperate.

For me it's not a problem to continue
as we have done with concrete one.

Why don't we just continue as before?

- I think we will do the same thing.
- Yes, exactly.

- It's just a matter of cooperation.
- It's not a big issue.

There has been a little friction
between some of the people here.

We wanted to defuse that.

Santiago's aim was to show -

- that he wanted to get
the discussion on to another level.

It's the old Swedish dilemma:

Architects are usually
in a weak position.

It's hard for some contractors
who have been around for 20 years -

- not to be able to say
what they want -

- and preferably sack the architect.
There's that too. But that's okay.

- It's like sitting in an aeroplane.
- That's right.

Look at that view!

Four and a half months late.
But... we got here.

We reached half way this week,
when we cast level 28.

It's great to see things happening!
I feel nervous too.

The concrete is in place.
The steel will be next.

Several tons of cigar shapes must go
up there, and look at the weather!

Then we have to sell
all those expensive apartments...

This is wrong!

HSB is about not having to live
in poor-quality housing.

That's not what this is about!

This is for people with
lots of money: the elite of society.

Why shouldn't we do that?

- You should build affordable houses!
- We do that too.

Could anybody live here? No!

But there are lots of other reasons...

There's a wait-and-see attitude
that you can feel all around you.

You feel it in the incoming mails
and phone calls and everything

You can also feel it
in the whole organisation:

Not just HSB Malmö,
but HSB as a whole.

I've been thinking a lot
about tomorrow of course...

It's more how to describe things really.

The fact is that our costs
are way too high.

It's my problem -

- to find an explanation for this.

When we started
it was meant to be ready in 2002.

It will now be ready in 2005.

When I meet 350-400
members of HSB tomorrow -

- the most important thing for them
is both their attitude to the project -

- and persuading them -

- that it is natural for HSB
to be doing this.

It will be tough.
But the other thing is -

I must point out that
even though costs have increased -

- for those moving in -

- there is a difference
which must accrue to HSB.

Fine.

The People's Palace

- This will be exciting.
- What?

It's exciting.
This is all new for me.

HSB friends,
in the course of this journey -

- I have done a great deal of thinking.

But not on the basis of the criticism
that has come from without:

That I am building
a monument to myself.

I take no notice of that.

What I have thought about
is how I have been captivated...

For I have been truly captivated
by the Turning Torso project.

The moment I saw the sculpture -

- I thought that
under the auspices of HSB -

- it would be possible to create
a residential dwelling from it.

It's a fantastic feeling.
It's like a Formula 1 car.

What does Formula 1 represent?
It's cutting edge.

It's initially a minority pursuit.

But what happens?

What is developed in Formula 1 cars
becomes standard sooner or later.

There are cracks.

- Those are examples.
- Yes.

These are just examples.

Yes... this is clear...

We have seen that we have
cracks in the welds -

- between those two thick plates
in the uppers.

We have found that
25% of them are okay. 75% have cracks.

I think part of the problem is
that you discover faults here.

I cannot understand why you are discovering faults
here.

Even faults in pieces
you put in the concrete.

The problem is, we have cracks in
the welds. We need help from you.

I am an engineer. I don't know if you are.

This is your fault. Why didn't you check the piece
before you put them on site?

You put all your checkers before bringing a piece
upstairs -

- looking that they are correct.

If I have a shop and someone brings me bad food
and I sell it...

I have to look at the food
to see it is good.

I am not an emotional person
even though I seem to be.

I understand.

Regardless of the history,
we do have a technical problem.

We want first of all
to solve the human problems.

From the human problems
come the technical problems -

- of continuing building. In two or three months
maybe you have to stop.

- We'll stop on Monday.
- Monday...

You shouldn't do that.
Never ever do that.

You should do whatever you can
to continue the site.

If you stop you get into a superior category of
contention.

The drama will be...
Blood will arrive into the sea.

Santiago, we are here
because we have a decision.

- It is that we shall continue.
- I like that.

I want to hear from you also, how...

Johnny, I 'd like to tell you
that we want to help you.

We want to help as much as possible
so this situation gets solved.

It's not a matter of discussion.

We need you as the designer
to help us solve that problem.

- It can be solved.
- This is another story.

- That's the main problem now.
- This is another story.

You are asking me to solve
these design problems -

- in order to repair them
in an unprepared way.

We'll try to do that.
I feel much better now.

Now we can go
and have a look at things.

Let's go for a walk.

One of the highest satisfactions
you can have -

- is the moment when you see people enjoying your work.

That is the moment you have to leave.

The moment when people take over
the building and like it -

- is the time when you have
nothing more to do for this building.

JOHNNY ÖRBÄCK
SACKED FROM TORSO PROJECT

When did we lose confidence
in Johnny Örbäck?

When the board was informed
of the huge increase in costs -

- it decided unanimously -

- that Johnny could no longer
remain with HSB Malmö.

We set aside
350 million Kronor last year.

We have decided to set aside -

- another 350 million
plus 100 more.

I would like to hear
what Johnny Örbäck has to say.

No! No...

- Do we want Johnny to speak?
- Yes!

Does anyone not want him to speak?

The meeting therefore
gives Johnny permission to speak.

Obviously my thoughts and emotions
are running high.

I just want to be treated fairly.

I accept responsibility
for my failings.

There is so very much to all this.

I am here because I was shocked
not to be given discharge from liability.

I wanted to hear what
the real reasons were for that.

It feels like being in prison:

You are shut out
from the labour market.

I take responsibility, but I take responsibility for
shortcomings -

- and not for everything else
I am accused of.

I feel bitter of course.

This is all due
to what you might call -

- a sort of nervousness that you find -

- in this type
of enterprise or organisation.

It's not strange
for a director to quit.

However, I think
the right way to do things is...

You should give your reasons.

This feels a bit wretched.

I haven't spoken to Johnny
for a couple of months.

I think it's up to him to get in touch.

After all,
he's the one who got into trouble.

You could express your condolences
in some way.

Calatrava did so. He asked for
Johnny's address the week after.

However, I have an excellent
relationship with Greg, his successor.

His style of leadership
is very different.

He's much more open.

Örbäck is a man who has not had
the right people around him -

- not only in relation to the company,
but also in relation to Sweden.

Because Sweden is a country where
the custom is to do comfortable things.

If somebody wants to do something new, he gets
fired.

It's terrible. Very bad. It speaks badly
not only about the company -

- but also about the country.
Sweden is not a place for visionaries.

It's a place, but not for visionaries.

A visionary man has to go abroad.

This is it.

This is it. And this was the vision
or at least the goal of Johnny Örbäck.

Johnny Örbäck wanted
to deliver to Malmö -

- and to Sweden -

- and to his company
this kind of achievement.

He has succeeded. He's not a loser.

It takes time to get places.

You see the bit in the middle? For somebody here
it doesn't stop there.

It goes all the way through.

At least in your vision
you have succeeded.

Otherwise we would not be here.

That's right. I'm happy to be here also.
I can feel it inside: here...

...a lot. A lot.

From my point of view, it's a woman.

It has very much a feminine connotation,
nevertheless because of the complexity...

Skyscrapers have a tendency
to be like that.

Look at it from one side
and it looks like the other.

Women are never like that! This is something of
the feminine nature itself.

- You can be proud.
- I am! But you should be.

And the winner is...

The winner is Turning Torso.

I'd like to thank the organisers -

- everybody who's voted for us -

- and a special thanks to the architect: Santiago
Calatrava -

- the construction company, NCC -

- and all our staff in Malmö city who helped make
this come true. Thank you.

Thanks very much.

English subtitles by Alan Rees
Words AB, Malmö