Södervärnstornet, Water tower in Möllevången, Malmö, Sweden
Södervärnstornet is a 54-metre brick water tower at the corner of Nobelvägen and Spårvagnsgatan in the Möllevången district of Malmö. Its cylindrical body is built of brick from the Börringe, Lomma and Helsingborg brickworks, with a raised vertical rib and recessed panels, slit windows set in groups of three, and a pale green copper dome above a band of small openings.
Planning for Södervärnstornet began in 1913, as the water towers at Pildammarna and Kirseberg could no longer meet the growing city's needs. The tower was connected to Malmö's water network in March 1916 and remained in service until 2015, when VA Syd judged renovation impractical. Malmö Municipality bought it for 1 krona on 1 July 2018.
Locals call the tower "Kuken" ("The Cock") because of its phallic shape. In the mid-2000s a condom-use campaign showed the tower wearing a giant condom, an image made by a student at Mediegymnasiet. The tower also appears in the 2001 book Guide till Malmös arkitektur.
Södervärnstornet stands where Nobelvägen meets Spårvagnsgatan in Möllevången, a short walk from the Möllevången square and its market. The tower is a closed building with no public interior access, so it is seen from the street; the brick body and the green copper dome are best lit in the morning from the Spårvagnsgatan side.
In April 1983, during roof repairs, a vandal climbed the scaffolding and spray-painted "Mörda Bilar Hata Data" ("Murder Cars Hate Data") on the brickwork. Sandblasting was needed to remove it, and the slightly lighter patch under the copper roof still marks the spot.
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