Ja Anna, det finns mycket och vackert dekorationer på byggnader här, däremot är det intressant att det är ofta geometriska design eller blommor och frukt. Det är sellan man ser djur eller mythologiska motiv (om dem inte är caryatider eller lejon, som dyker upp lite överallt).

I believe most people who become architects do so out of a love of buildings, so I’m sure they do just that, Eva. It’s just that they sometimes seem to forget about it when they actually find themselves designing places for people to live.

Oh yes, I can well believe the colour you’re allowed to paint your house might be regulated in Sweden. I imagine the rules for what is an acceptable appearance for a house and what is not vary very much from place to place. Even here in Brussels, which is made up of 19 different municipalities, I think see that some districts are more strict than others – about how tall a building is allowed to be compared to its neighbours, for example.

I’m a fan of a British TV series called Grand Designs – shown on Swedish TV so you may know it – and while the extraordinary architectural adventures some of the programmes follow are always presented in a very positive light by the presenter (Kevin McCloud) there have been some in which it’s obvious the local authorities, and sometimes also the neighbours, have been very critical and made the builders and owners jump through hoops. It’s all part of the inevitable friction of living in close proximity to other people I suppose.