Stora Nygatan 19
in Malmö

in Swedish

A House adorned with Ornament and Stucco

The house at Stora Nygatan 19 gleams white—just as its builder, the stucco artist Edwin Notini, wished back in 1897. He kept his workshop in the courtyard, and many Malmö buildings still showcase his decorative handiwork. Edwin was also a skilled entrepreneur, founding a roof felt factory in 1904.

Owner Information

• Available premises
• Contact   Tel. 040 - 611 34 00
• Owner: Fastighets AB Trianon

The house was designed by Alfred Arwidius, who created many buildings in Malmö. How did Edwin market his stucco designs—and what happened to the roof felt factory?

About the Property

Ornamental sculptor Edwin Notini chose, in 1897, to erect a grand building on Stora Nygatan in a freely interpreted Italian Renaissance style. The architect was Alfred Arwidius and the builder Frans Andersson. They had earlier collaborated on the Sjöberg Palace on Östergatan.

The house featured shops on the lower level and, above, three floors each with a five-room apartment. The façade was lavishly adorned with ornament, serving as a billboard for Notini’s studio.

Renovated in 1986, the building still looks much as it did in its original form.

The Architect Arwidius

Alfred Arwidius (1861–1915) was the son of a builder, trained as an architect at KTH Stockholm and the BauAcademie in Berlin. After travel and apprenticeships across Europe, he established a busy practice in Malmö. Beside many homes, he designed factories and offices throughout Malmö and Skåne. Notable commissions in Malmö include the Fire Station, Valhallapalatset (IDstory) at Gustav Adolfs Torg (IDstory), the Sjöberg Palace, and the former Insurance AB Skåne building at Norra Vallgatan 64 (IDstory) across from the Savoy Hotel.

He died in a tragic accident, as gas leaked into his home after the water heater flame failed.

The Notini Family

Many Swedish stucco artists took on Italian names for professional prestige. But the Notini lineage is genuinely Italian: Edwin’s grandfather, stucco artist and ornamental sculptor Giovanni Domenico Nutini (!), immigrated from Lucca in 1826. He opened studios in Stockholm, then in Gothenburg.

The Gothenburg studio then passed to his son Ferdinand. He later moved with his son Edwin to Malmö, joining Italians to work on Malmö’s City Hall during its 1870s transformation.

Edwin trained under his uncle in Stockholm, then founded his own ornamental carving studio on Stora Nygatan in Malmö. Around the turn of the century, demand for stucco was booming, coinciding with a construction surge across Rörsjöstaden, Södra Förstaden, and the city center.

Edwin died in 1932, just as appetite for ornamental stucco waned. Sweden’s 1930 Stockholm Exhibition introduced Functionalism, and fancy flourishes fell out of favor—modernism demanded smooth surfaces.

Notini’s workshop, built in the early 1800s, stood until 1986 before being demolished when the courtyard was covered. His tools were sold to stucco artist Hans Räthel in Lund.

Stucco

For a concise definition, look to Nordisk Familjebok from 1918: Stucco (Italian: Stucco), in building, is a mortar-like mixture tailored according to purpose, including lime, gypsum, fine sand, marble dust, chalk, pigments and more. Stucco is used for coating walls and ceilings, mouldings, ornament, reliefs and even imitating colored marbles.

Cover for Edward Notini’s pattern catalogue. 36 pages, about 30x21 cm, images in black and white.

Malmö Roof Felt Factory

Founded by Edwin Notini in 1904, perhaps foreseeing changing fashions and the decline of stucco. For 25 years, the company operated store rooms in this building’s ground floor.

He offered not only intricate decoration but also figures reflecting various moods. Compare with these statues at Gustav Adolfs Torg (IDstory) and building bosses (IDstory).

For more reading on stucco and the art of the stucco artist, see Stuckatörens hemligheter, published in 1979 by Domenico Inganni (1903–1988), who worked in Sweden, including at Valand in Gothenburg.

More About Mataki

In 1916, the factory introduced an American invention to Sweden: a protective roofing felt impregnated with oil asphalt, guaranteed maintenance-free for 10 to 15 years.

In 1928, the company became Danish-owned as Malmö Roof Felt Factory and Chemical Industry—or Mataki for short. Today Mataki is part of Nordic Waterproofing AB, which was owned (in 2014) by the investment group Axcel.

The 1950s brought many improvements and durability for the felt increased. By the 1980s, felt had disappeared entirely from the lineup—now it’s all polymers, with modern material lasting up to 40 years without maintenance.

Mataki↗ was, for a time, a division within Trelleborg Building Systems, manufacturing bitumen-based waterproofing products and materials for moisture insulation and roofing. The plant and headquarters remain in Höganäs. Their products are also sold in Finland, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Russia (per website info, last updated in 2002).

Mataki celebrated its centennial in 2004; you can read more about the milestones in this company presentation (PDF). And our Edwin Notini, in his workshop at Stora Nygatan 19, was one of those who set this whole ball rolling—twice over. Cool.

Stucco by Edwin Notini at the entrance to Stora Nygatan 19

Lions radiate fearless power. Here’s hoping more people notice these stuccoes of the king of beasts as they enter the now-closed restaurant La Casita. Speaking of lions—the world-famous song The Lion Sleeps Tonight was written in 1939 by Zulu musician Solomon Linda↗ enW.

Read/listen to this radio report↗. (English)

References

• About BiBB, a media company and an encyclopedia 4.0
• Text: Christian Kindblad | Photo: Johan Schlasberg

Published: 2007.06 Updated: 2025.09.10

Kategorier 20 Fastigheter 47 Trianon fastigheter 7

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