Anna Battista (IT) stayed at Creators Inn by Elvine at Hotel Scandic Malmen in Stockholm. She also gave us the longest answers so far. I guess that is what you should expect from a “compulsive blogger”. Don’t miss out on all her tips and recommendations regarding places to visit in Stockholm below.

Who are you and what do you do?
I’m a writer, freelance journalist (fave topics: arts, cinema, culture, fashion, politics, social issues and style), film lecturer and compulsive blogger.

Do you consider yourself creative and if so, in what way?
Yes, I do. Being creative for me means being alive, writing, connecting with other like-minded people around the world and starting with them inspiring projects.

What was your reason for visiting Stockholm, and what happened while you were here?
The main reason was reconnecting with fashion designer Camilla Wellton. I first met her a couple of years ago when I came to Stockholm to take part in a conference in celebration of Astrid Lindgren’s 100th birth anniversary. In that occasion Camilla and I talked a lot about the importance of fashion and style and how specific garments can empower people. Our original idea was doing research on this topic and develop a book, but we never had the chance to meet up again. During my recent visit to Stockholm, Camilla and I reconnected again and we ended up chatting until 2.30am in the room offered by the Creators Inn by Elvine. Believe it or not, two years ago we departed a few metres from the Scandic Malmen Hotel, so meeting in the same place was uncanny! We planned new and exciting ventures for 2010 and Camilla would also like to submit a few fashion design ideas to Elvine and maybe start a collaboration with them in future (urban wear? capsule collection? We’ll see!).

How did you like the room, and what do you think about the Creators Inn by Elvine concept?
Definitely loved the room! The first thing that came to my mind when I looked out of the window of the Creators Inn by Elvine room at the Scandic Hotel, was Astrid Lindgren’s Karlsson på taket (Karlsson on the Roof). It was easy to imagine a little man with a propeller on his back hovering around the windows of the hotel and maybe becoming friends with him, skiing on the snow-covered roofs as if they were mountains and generally misbehaving like a little child! The room was the perfect creative environment for me: the WI-Fi connection helped me updating my blog, Irenebrination, some records (Primal Scream, Kraftwerk and Pizzicato Five…) brought back great memories from a long time ago and the quiet allowed me to focus on my ideas and plans. I really liked the concept behind the room: I wish it could be replicated in other countries across the world. You can read further about my impressions on the Creators Inn by Elvine project in this post on my blog.

Any tips and recommendations for future guests? Did you include anything on the map?
I don’t watch too much TV, so I didn’t mind not having one, though I would have loved a small DVD collection, so that guests not well versed in Swedish cinema/actors/directors could learn a little bit more about it, while guests interested in costume design could maybe discover Mago’s creations through films. There’s a lot to see in Stockholm, so, yes I did add a few tips on the room map. Here they are:

Konst-ig
Address: Asögatan 124, Tel. +46 (0)8-204520, Web: www.konstig.se
Wonderful bookshop, especially for people who are into architecture, interior/fashion design, graphic art, typography and illustration. You can read my review of this shop in this post on my blog.

The T-Shirt Store
Address: Götgatan 28, Tel +46 (0)8-6400131, Web: www.thetshirtstore.se
Forget about bringing back from Sweden a touristy T-shirt. Try these contemporary designs instead or submit the company your exclusive designs on www.thetshirtstore.se

Emmaus - Designer Vintage Store
Address: Götgatan 14
This store owned by charity Emmaus sells some great vintage clothes and accessories. The focus is on the 60s, but you will also find a few mags and records from earlier decades. You can read my review of this shop in this post on my blog.

Doha’s Shop
Address: Högbergsgatan
For all your kawaii needs - Hello Kitty & Co. galore!

K.A. Almgren Sidenväveri
Address: Repslagarg. 15 A, Tel. +46 (0)8-6401901, Web: www.kasiden.se
Who said you have to go to Como to see real silk-weaving mills? Come to Sweden instead and visit this museum especially if you are into fabrics and textiles. You can read my review of this museum in this post on my blog.

Camilla Wellton’s Atelier
Address: Bränkyrkagatan 47, Web: www.camillawellton.com
Get some made to measure clothes at Camilla Wellton’s. The choice is wide and it includes garments in organic fabrics. I ordered a pair of trousers!

Dansmuseet
Address: Gustav Adolfs Torg 22-24, Tel +46 (0)8-4113500, Web: www.dansmuseet.nu
Highly recommended especially to people interested in costume design since it owns quite a few costumes from the Ballets Russes’s “Chout” (you can see them for free!). At present there is also a special Ballets Russes exhibition (until April 2010).

Bookshop @ Moderna Museet
Address: Moderna Museet, Skeppsholmen, Tel. +46 (0)8-51955200
Web: www.modernamuseet.se
Great for people interested in photography and architecture/interior design and for young arty kids.

Swedish Institute for Children’s Books
Address: Odongatan 61, Tel +46 (0)8-54542050, Web: www.sbi.kb.se
Discover the best children’s literature ever created in Sweden, Astrid Lindgren’s books included, then try to become a children’s author or illustrator!

What’s creativity to you?
Scottish author Alexander Trocchi once wrote a piece entitled “Tapeworm” comparing the urge to write to a nasty tapeworm living in your bloodstream and constantly whispering “write, write, write”, and only shutting up when you sit down and finally write that story that has been going round your head for a while. Creativity for me is the same thing, a sort of compulsive urge I need to listen to or I will go crazy!

What’s next?
After staying at the Creators Inn, I decided to extend my stay in Stockholm to focus on a few projects and think about new interviews and features, while also developing a new play I had in mind. January/February will be dedicated to catwalk shows and tradeshows for the next season. Not desperately looking forward to them as I would like to have more time to develop a few researches for a couple of fashion documentaries, write a slim and fun volume on the “Decamerotica” theme (Italian films that take inspiration from Boccaccio’s Decameron) and develop a little side research on Swedish textiles. This year is also the 100th birth anniversary of screenwriter Ennio Flaiano and I would like to bring to Pescara (Flaiano’s hometown, but also my hometown) a live version of Federico Fellini’s I Vitelloni (Spivs/The Young and the Passionate, 1953). I’m very much into politics and I have recently finished a new translation of Ignazio Silone’s School for Dictators, a dialogue about dictatorship and totalitarian regimes, and I’m at present looking for a publisher. I also have in mind a short tale, but, before coming to Stockholm, I got stuck in a creative quagmire with one character. I got out of it while rambling in the streets of Gamla Stan and now I know that the character that was giving me a headache will wear a Gustav III’s mask and cocked hat. I would also like to develop a sort of cinema and fashion programme/workshop with Elvine for the next Göteborg International Film Festival, so I will definitely try and get in touch with both Elvine and the festival organisers. First, though, there’s work to do with Camilla Wellton: a promise made at the Creators Inn is a promise to keep!

Anything else you want to add?
Be stylish, be cinematic and stay creative!

Who are you and what do you do?
I am Bjørn Torske, 38, working as a dj almost all around the world, as well as composing and producing my own music.

Do you consider yourself creative and if so, in what way?
With reference to my answer above, I consider myself creative. I also enjoy cooking all kinds of food, and a little drawing on the side as well…

What was your reason for visiting Stockholm, and what happened while you were here?
Dj’ing at Tranan Bar, having a very good time there, enjoying the company of fellow DJs Andreas, Greg and Tobias of the 24:hours crew, as well as having Tranans delicious köttbullar med potatismos…

How did you like the room, and what do you think about the Creators Inn by Elvine concept?
Hehe, I enjoyed the suite-style room very much, of course it’s a treat for a dj to have a Technics turntable connected in the room. Too bad I didn’t stay longer, though. The concept of having a free hotel-in-hotel strike me as interesting and innovative, it shows a fine dialogue between the commercial and the artistic. Many artists are sceptical towards the marketplace, although most of them depend upon selling their work through it. Creators Inn seems like a good handshake between these two arenas.

Any tips and recommendations for future guests? Did you include anything on the map?
Though I am not as familiar with Stockholm as I’d wish I was, apart from Tranan and the various record shops (Snickars Records in particular), I’d recommend the club Mosebacke (where I played many years ago). As for Creators Inn itself, I’d recommend at least a two nights stay, just to relax in the room (and the bathtub) listening to music…

What’s creativity to you?
Seeing brilliance in everyday things and situations that are usually considered boring and mundane, and of course also the way people influence each other through good ideas.

What’s next?
Next: finishing my new album, due to be out on norwegian label Smalltown Supersound during spring 2010.

UK based Swede, Magnus Larsson stayed at the capsule version of Creators Inn by Elvine at LAT, while in Gothenburg to give a speech at TEDxGöteborg. Interview and a previously recorded TED presentation video found after the jump.

How would you describe yourself for someone that have never met you?
I’m an architect who used to be – and still occasionally dabbles as – a journalist and a copywriter. My DNA was tested a few years ago for an article, and having seen those results, I know that I’m excruciatingly boring, the most common man on the planet: no interesting major diseases, an ever-so-slightly-above average tendency for rheumatic problems, and a lineage that makes me 1/25 Ethiopian jew. I’m the same as everyone, really.

What is creativity for you?
Creativity is the combined act of making yourself receptive to the usually sudden realisation that something is potentially possible, followed by the stubborn actualisation of that something. I believe, with Tibor Kalman, that everything is an experiment: if you actually pause to look at things, it’s very hard to not be inspired by them. In that way, pausing is creativity. But you also have to let go of that pause button. The people at TBWA/Chiat Day and Apple got it wrong: it’s not about thinking different. It’s about thinking-and-acting different, though of course that hasn’t got quite the same ring to it. To stay in the world of advertising slogans, creativity is the whole chain: Think different > Go create > Just do it. Remember “Tank Man,” the unknown Chinese rebel who stopped with his bags of groceries in front of the tank in the Tiananmen Square in 1989 and refused to move? That’s creativity.

What was your reason for visiting Gothenburg, and what did you do during your time here?
I was invited to give a TEDx talk about my proposal to build a 6,000km long habitable wall made from biologically solidified sand across the African continent as a way of potentially stopping desertification in its tracks. I ended up staying in a capsule hotel and talking about not only this artificial sandstone wall, but also one of my first and one of my latest architecture projects, what I mean by Radical Optimism, and why I hate umbrellas.

You are an architect yourself. What did you think about the capsule version of Creators Inn by Elvine and the overall idea and design behind the LAT space at Lindholmen?
I think it’s a beautifully realised act of maximising the possibilities of a space – but above all I applaud the programmatic idea of fusing a flat with an office with a music studio with a hotel. As soon as you grasp how it works, you realise that a lot of love has gone into the creation of this interior intervention. It’s quite mad, in the best sense of that word, and it’s a true love hotel, in the proper sense of that word.

You have proposed an idea called “Dune” on how to stop desertification that has gained lots of attention around the world. Could you please shortly explain what it’s all about
A proposal was made about five years ago to mitigate against desertification in the Sahara/Sahel region of Africa through the planting of a massive shelterbelt of trees right across Africa, from Mauritania in the west to Djibouti in the east. My proposal seeks to add a supportive-habitable architectural layer to this shelterbelt, in order to help protect the trees from the forces of nature and the threat of people chopping them down. My suggestion is that we could use the bacterium Bacillus Pasteurii to solidify the existing sand dunes into sandstone structures, which would potentially be a comparatively cheap way of creating such a very long and very narrow pan-African anti-desertification city; a sand-stopping device made out of sand, a way of using the desert itself to stop it from pushing further south.

Magnus speech at a previous TED event.

You told us that you did “Dune” as your degree project as part of your architectural education, but that your teachers failed you. How did that happened?
I worked rather hard for a year to come up with this proposal, but by the end of it – in fact, on the very last day of that year – the panel of tutors that I presented it to considered the project a failure. Dune then went on to win the first prize of 15,000 dollars at the Holcim awards, get endorsed on Bldgblog by Geoff Manaugh (whom I believe to be the best architecture critic in the world), and catch the attention of the organisers of TEDGlobal, who invited me to present it on stage in Oxford in July 2009. This in turn gave birth to several invitations to give Pecha Kucha talks, as well as a string of articles in publications such as Wired, the BBC, the LA Times, Slashdot, Above Magazine, and so on. Whereas it is obviously wrong to judge the opinion of the initial panel based on the project’s latter success, it does remain the same project. There seems to be a logical gap between the school’s response and that of the rest of the world. Whether that is due to a problem with my scheme or with the school’s criteria for success, I leave for others to decide. Failure is in the eye of the critic – but also in the eye of the person behind what is being criticised. It is always easy to pick something apart; if you want something to fail, you can be a radical pessimist and make it fail. But you can also be a radical optimist and imagine how it might work and how it might make the world a better or more interesting place. Personally, I have very little time for the pessimists.

What are your plans for the future?
First, I’ll work out a way of making sure that Dune continues to live on in some form and at some scale. I’m talking to several different companies about different ways of getting the necessary research done in order to be able to build with what is potentially a new cementitious material, a way of building with plastic stone. Then, there will be more projects like Dune, but also more projects in other veins. I’m currently trying to work out whether to cut my hair and get a job, or whether I should pursue a different and more individual path. I think I’d feel at home in a design studio at the intersection point between Yves Behar’s fuseproject, J. Mayer H’s office in Berlin, Bjarke Ingels’s BIG, and some seriously innovative research unit at the MIT. A studio that doesn’t hesitate to treat open-minded entrepreneurs well and use their money to change the world. If that sounds like a description of your company, I’m all ears. But I guess I’ll probably have to set it up myself.

The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a jolly monk named St. Nicholas. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping poor creatives. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe, especially in Holland. The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). Sinter Klaas was described as everything from a fashionista with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a clown wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a “huge pair of Flemish trunk hose.” Either way, he made an impression on people and quickly became a celebrated style icon.

Sinter has always been a great source of inspiration for Elvine, not only for his fashion sense, but also for his work helping out poor creatives. In his spirit we started Creators Inn by Elvine – a project offering traveling creators a place to stay for free. We think that’s what the holidays are all about. And now we challenge you to continue in Sinter’s foot steps. Why not invite a poor creative to sleep at your place?

Happy holidays!

Sac Magique (UK/FI) stayed at Creators Inn by Elvine at Scandic Malmen in Stockholm.

Who are you and what do you do? Do you consider yourself creative and if so, in what way?
My name’s Sac Magique – I’m an illustrator and graphic artist. I’ve always believed that everyone is born creative – but many lose it on the way to adulthood; I’m clinging on to mine.

What was your reason for visiting Stockholm, and what happened while you were here?
I had a couple of reasons for coming – to mount an exhibition of my prints at bar Ljunggren and also to meet the people and illustrators at Woo, my Swedish agency.

How did you like the room, and what do you think about the Creators Inn by Elvine concept?
The room was great – perfect location and much more personal than the usual hotel room. Unfortunately I didn’t really have time to take advantage of the full Creators Inn by Elvine concept as I was busy hanging my show and stuff – would have been nice to have called one of the concierges for a drink or had a soak in the bath.

Any tips and recommendations for future guests? Did you include anything on the map?
Well, the tapas bar Sardin on Skånegatan was superb – great for veggie bastards like myself. Also Magasin 13 is really worth visiting – a wonderful art space.

What’s creativity to you?
I think creativity at it’s best is an approach to life - it’s about playfulness and finding possibilities in the everyday even when you are soaking wet and smell of wet dog.

What’s next?
Hope to keep moving forward – bigger and brighter for 2010.

Sean Bidder (UK) stayed at Creators Inn by Elvine at Scandic Malmen in Stockholm.

Who are you and what do you do?
Sean Bidder, creative director for The Vinyl Factory and editor of FACT magazine, passionate about all things creative in music and art and spend my time trying to fuse the two in exciting new ways.

Do you consider yourself creative and if so, in what way?
I guess so, though I don’t think about being “creative” too much. I’m always coming up with ideas and scribbling them down on my pad. If I couldn’t find a way to realise them I guess I’d be sad and frustrated, but I can – much of the time – so it’s all good.

How did you like the room, and what do you think about the Creators Inn by Elvine concept?
Very warm, welcoming and cool. Great bathroom – the underfloor heating was a touch! Love the record player – naturally – and found myself playing Madonna a bit too much. The concept is an inspiration, what a great idea providing a place for guests to stay free in cities all over the world. One thing the room could benefit from would be a fridge.

Any tips and recommendations for future guests? Did you include anything on the map?
My tips would be Roxy bar in SoFo, and eating fresh fish from that health food place nearby, Pet Sounds record store, and strolling round SoFo’s shops on a Sunday. And not swimming in the river/lake in Winter!

What’s creativity to you?
Never stop dreaming up new ideas. Don’t let practical problems hold you back, you can always find a way.

What’s next?
Working with two incredibly exciting music acts – The xx and Grace Jones - on new art projects.

Anything else you want to add?
Thanks again!

Andreas Emenius universe unfolds between the rules of science - between the strict, defined and controlled, and its opposites, the abstract, chaos, the uncontrollable and undefined. A dualism that shows how he perceives the surrounding world. The real meets the unreal, control meets chaos in work that, as an amplifier, speaks loud about human conditions and situations, and the need to make the impalpable palpable as well as to create systems and put chaos into order - both the close and concrete and the big and unexplainable. / www.andreasemenius.com

Who are you and what do you do?
Andreas Emenius, artist

Do you consider yourself creative and if so, in what way?
By doing work

What was your reason for visiting Stockholm, and what happened while you were here?
I had an exhibition at Galleri Jonas Kleerup.

How did you like the room, and what do you think about the Creators Inn by Elvine concept?
Like the Kraftwerk records…. bit of shame there’s no tv, ohh, and the bathroom is good.

Any tips and recommendations for future guests?
Three days at Tranan, and a strömming sandwich at ‘Strömming boden’ in Slussen.

What’s creativity to you?
Being able to get a bigger budget out of exhibition spaces

What’s next? / Anything else you want to add?
Leaving for Japan now to exhibit… so, if you there.

Vibskov & Emenius: The Fringe Projects 1 – 10
The artistic collaboration between Henrik Vibskov & Andreas Emenius
www.vibskovemenius.com

David Macklovitch aka “Dave 1″, who together with Patrick Gemayel aka “P-Thugg” forms the electrofunk duo Chromeo might not be considered as “up-and-coming artists”. But we wanted to support the folks who worked really hard to bring him over to Stockholm by offering them our services. And let’s face it, it’s pretty awesome to have had half of Chromeo stay in the room.

Who are you and what do you do? Do you consider yourself creative and if so, in what way?
I’m Dave 1 from Chromeo. When I’m not working on my doctorate, I’m one half of an electrofunk band. I pay homage to the music I grew up listening to – that’s as creative as I can get, given that I don’t really believe in creation.

What was your reason for visiting Stockholm, and what happened while you were here?
I was doing a DJ gig. There for barely a night.

How did you like the room, and what do you think about the Creators Inn by Elvine concept?
The room was great! There’s nothing like getting off a long, dreadful cross-Atlantic flight (with a stop-over) and settling in a cosy suite – with a bathroom that’s larger than the one I have home. The design was great and it was fun seeing what the previous guests had left behind.

Any tips and recommendations for future guests? Did you include anything on the map?
I didn’t have a chance to include anything on the map. Only recommendations: some water bottles.

What’s creativity to you?
Bricolage.

What’s next? / Anything else you want to add?
Our new album out this summer. Oh and big up to all the graf writers. That’s our background too.

After spending the last couple of years in support of their triumphant Fancy Footwork album, Chromeo teamed up with Green Label Sound to offer a sneak peak of their upcoming musical odyssey, and their first original song since 2007: the heroic, guitar-laded, disco masterpiece “Night by Night.”

Click here to download Chromeo’s latest single “Night by Night” for free

For the autumn & winter collection 2009-2010 Elvine invited the Gothenburg-based street artist EKTA to design some prints.

A look at EKTA’s work quickly reveals the fun and humor that he injects in every piece with his use of characters and settings, even if a darker tone hovers just beneath. Don’t call him a graffiti artist: EKTA describes himself as a painter, whose art brings life to the streets of Gothenburg, and in exhibitions all over Europe.

Click here to check out the EKTA pimped web shop including the prints by EKTA.

We are excited to let you know that Elvine and Scandic Malmen have extended the successful collaboration in Stockholm, so that Creators Inn by Elvine will stay until Dec 31st! Please read more about it in the following press relase: “Elvine and Scandic Malmen extend successful collaboration – Creators Inn by Elvine”