Architecture of Sweden
Encyclopedia
This article covers the architecture of Sweden from a historical perspective.
As is the norm in architecture history, an architectural history of a nation naturally lends itself to a history of those monuments to the development of that nation and its institutions of power; palaces, castles, and churches. This also applies in the case of the history of architecture in Sweden being related here. The break comes with the modern era, with the chánge in the role of architects in society, towards a concern with questions concerning the entire population, such as housing and the infrastructure of a social democracy.
In Sweden
, the Middle Ages
lasted for approximately 500 years, from the baptism of Olof of Sweden in 1000 AD until Gustav I of Sweden
seized power in 1523. At first almost all buildings, urban and rural, were constructed of timber. In the 12th century, stone became the predominant building material for the construction of Romanesque
monasteries and churches. Notable examples are Lund Cathedral
, Sigtuna monastery
, Husaby Church
and Alvastra monastery
. The smaller Romanesque churches in the countryside were often fortified.
The advent of the Gothic
style brought brick to Sweden as a new building material. The cathedrals of Västerås, Strängnäs
and Uppsala
were all constructed of brick, whereas the cathedrals of Skara
and Linköping
were made of limestone.
While about 1,500 of Sweden's 4,000 churches date to the Middle Ages, very few secular buildings survive from this period. There are however a few Burgher's houses in Stockholm
and Visby
, some castles, fortresses, and fortifications. The 13th century city walls around Visby are some of the best-preserved medieval city walls in Europe. The street layout of Stockholm's Old City
is still medieval. In other Swedish cities secular buildings from the Middle Ages are very rare and often heavily rebuilt during the following centuries. One example of that is Skytteanum in Uppsala
.
After the Rise of Sweden as a Great Power
in the 17th century, the aristocracy began to build again. At the same time, the notion of the architect was established and the profession developed, its reputation bolstered by the works of Simon De la Vallée and Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
. Numerous city palaces and Landschlösser were built following Western European and above all, French models. Additionally, the building of churches was resumed. Katarina Church
in Stockholm became the model for many buildings and churches in the realm.
The work of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
moved architectural development in Sweden into High Baroque; examples include Stockholm Palace
and Kalmar Cathedral
.
The 17th century also saw the founding of a number of cities. They were set out with a regular Grid plan
street pattern with central squares. The exceptions to this are the Danish Skåne and in Gothenburg
, which were laid out to Dutch models in 1619 and include canals. The designs are still recognizable today, even where the original timber buildings have now perished.
a new direction was taken employing classical precedents. In 1773 the Building School of the Academy of Arts was founded, shortly afterwards the Office for Supervision of the Building Industry was instituted. Both raised the quality of architecture, but at the expense of local building traditions. Testimony to the new classical ideals in architecture can be found in the Palace Theatre in Gripsholm, the Botany building in Uppsala or the high school in Härnösand
.
After the Napoleonic Wars
and the loss of Finland
, national building activity was concentrated within the military sector. The Karlsborg Fortress
and the Göta Canal
, employing 60,000 men in a 23-year period, were the largest Swedish building projects of all time. The leading architect of the first half of the 19th century was also a soldier, Colonel Fredrik Blom, he designed a series of barracks and also the classically styled Skeppholm Church in Stockholm and, as the house architect to the royal family, he built the Rosendal Palace
.
In the second half of the 19th century the industrialisation of Sweden began. The population of the cities trebled in the space of a few decades. This rapid urbanisation lead to prolific construction activity:Tenement houses and public buildings such as schools, hospitals, prisons, hotels, banks, market halls, theatres and churches were built. An eclectic historicism distinguishes many of the buildings. The German Friedrich August Stüler
received the prestige commission for the building of the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts
, which he designed in a renaissance style. Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander's Stockholm Synagoge is inspired by Assyrian architecture
. His pupil Helgo Zettervall
, followed in his footsteps with the comprehensive renovations to the cathedrals of Uppsala
, Skara
and Linköping
which express his interpretation of the Gothic style
. Johan Fredrik Åbom, the most prolific Swedish architect of his age, designed numerous churches and a series of Burgher
houses in Neo-Renaissance
style. The Berns Salonger
with its restaurant and stages is also a notable expression of the new civic pride, as immortalised in August Strindberg
's novel The Red Room
.
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century a new generation of architects emerged who turned away from historicism and classicism. On the one hand they absorbed influences from abroad, e.g. the Jugendstil execution of the Royal Dramatic Theatre
in Stockholm, on the other hand they looked for precedents in Swedish cultural history and Swedish building traditions. From this search they developed the National Romantic Style
, which took the cultural and building precedents and merged them with ideas from the English Arts and Crafts Movement
to create a very distinct Swedish architecture often in brick and wood. Carl Westman
's Swedish General Medical Association building in Stockholm was one of the first buildings built in the style, with the Röhss Museum
in Gothenburg and Stockholm Court House
providing two further examples. The crowning achievement of the National Romantic Style is however Stockholm City Hall
, designed by Ragnar Östberg
and built between 1903 and 1923.
Gustaf Wickman dedicated himself to a task of a different nature, he built the entire city of Kiruna
within 3 decades in an uninhabited wilderness. After a rich source of iron ore was found and a railway line built, Witman was charged with the design of the city. Within a few years he had completed the design and construction of the directors and engineers Villas, the worker's housing, offices, schools, a hospital, a fire station, the post office and bank, and a swimming pool. Amongst his best work is the Kiruna Church
designed in the National Romantic style. Its timber construction demonstrates and connects the influences of Norwegian Stave church
es and American architectural traditions.
Modern architecture in Sweden was prefaced by a group of architects, who took up a very rigorous and stark form of Neo-classicism
. Gunnar Asplund
and Ivar Tengbom
were two of the most well-known representatives during the 1910s and 1920s, contributing to the style which became known internationally as Swedish Grace. http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/FactSheet____14340.aspx Asplund's most important works include the Listers District Court House in Sölvesborg
, Stockholm Public Library
and, in collaboration with Sigurd Lewerentz
, both the (temporary) Stockholm Exhibition (1930) and the Stockholm South (Woodland) Cemetery
(today a UNESCO World Heritage Site).
The Stockholm Exhibition for Industry, Arts and Crafts 1930 helped functionalism
break-through in Sweden. In the forthcoming years — particularly in housing — this was to become the dominant ideology. A typical example of the strong link between functionalism and the political left is the Kvarnholmen quarter in Nacka
, designed in the 1930s by the architecture department of the Consumer Cooperative which was founded in 1924 as the first collectively organised architects practice.
Despite these initiatives, housing standards in Sweden were low. After the Second World War a massive building project was undertaken to satisfy the housing shortage and improve standards. In 1965 the government announced the Million Programme
— the building of a million new dwellings within ten years (with a population of 7.8 million). Entire dormitory suburbs were built within a very short time. Land in many city centre areas was purchased and replanned in a modern and functional way to make room for offices. The enormous building projects were planned and led by large architect's offices. Often the quality of buildings and their design were of secondary importance to the delivery of such large numbers of projects.
The 1973 oil crisis
put an end to the Million Programme. Even before this, the programme was receiving vociferous criticism against the pattern book architecture and negative social consequences which these buildings produced.
Out of this criticism, the term Postmodern emerged in Sweden, encompassing a variety of different trends. A rich use of form developed that had not been seen since the National Romantic Style. One of the most important exponents of postmodernism in Sweden was the British-born Ralph Erskine
. Today, architecture in Sweden is being definied by such architects as Gert Wingårdh
, who started as a postmodernist but is known to pick up new trends (the works show influences from ecological design as well as minimalism, high-tech, expressionism, and neofunctionalism).
As is the norm in architecture history, an architectural history of a nation naturally lends itself to a history of those monuments to the development of that nation and its institutions of power; palaces, castles, and churches. This also applies in the case of the history of architecture in Sweden being related here. The break comes with the modern era, with the chánge in the role of architects in society, towards a concern with questions concerning the entire population, such as housing and the infrastructure of a social democracy.
Middle Ages
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
lasted for approximately 500 years, from the baptism of Olof of Sweden in 1000 AD until Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....
seized power in 1523. At first almost all buildings, urban and rural, were constructed of timber. In the 12th century, stone became the predominant building material for the construction of Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
monasteries and churches. Notable examples are Lund Cathedral
Lund Cathedral
The Lund Cathedral is the Lutheran cathedral in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the bishop of Lund of the Church of Sweden.- History :...
, Sigtuna monastery
Sigtuna
Sigtuna is a locality situated in Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 18 inhabitants in 2005. It is the namesake of the municipality even though the seat is in Märsta....
, Husaby Church
Husaby
Husaby, near Kinnekulle, is a village belonging to Götene municipality in the province of Västergötland, Sweden. It is most known for the old stone church Husaby Church...
and Alvastra monastery
Alvastra
Alvastra is a small village in Ödeshög Municipality in eastern Sweden. It is known for being the seat of the Cistercian Alvastra Abbey in the Middle Ages. After the Swedish Lutheran reformation in the 1530s, the monastery was demolished, never to be rebuilt....
. The smaller Romanesque churches in the countryside were often fortified.
The advent of the Gothic
Brick Gothic
Brick Gothic is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northern Europe, especially in Northern Germany and the regions around the Baltic Sea that do not have natural rock resources. The buildings are essentially built from bricks...
style brought brick to Sweden as a new building material. The cathedrals of Västerås, Strängnäs
Strängnäs Cathedral
Strängnäs Cathedral is a cathedral church in Strängnäs, Sweden, since the Protestant Reformation the seat of the Lutheran Diocese of Strängnäs.It is built mainly of bricks in the characteristic Scandinavian Brick Gothic style...
and Uppsala
Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral is a cathedral located centrally in the city of Uppsala, Sweden. It dates back to the late 13th century and at a height of 118.7 m is the tallest church building in Scandinavia. Originally built under Roman Catholicism and used for coronations of the Swedish monarch, since the...
were all constructed of brick, whereas the cathedrals of Skara
Skara Cathedral
Skara Cathedral is a church in the Swedish city of Skara. The cathedral is the seat for the bishop of the Church of Sweden Diocese of Skara....
and Linköping
Linköping Cathedral
The Linköping Cathedral is a church in the Swedish city of Linköping. The cathedral is the seat for the bishop in the Church of Sweden Diocese of Linköping. It is situated opposite Linköping Castle.-History:...
were made of limestone.
While about 1,500 of Sweden's 4,000 churches date to the Middle Ages, very few secular buildings survive from this period. There are however a few Burgher's houses in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
and Visby
Visby
-See also:* Battle of Visby* Gotland University College* List of governors of Gotland County-External links:* - Visby*...
, some castles, fortresses, and fortifications. The 13th century city walls around Visby are some of the best-preserved medieval city walls in Europe. The street layout of Stockholm's Old City
Gamla stan
Gamla stan , until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna , is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. The surrounding islets Riddarholmen, Helgeandsholmen, and Strömsborg are officially part of, but not colloquially included in, Gamla stan...
is still medieval. In other Swedish cities secular buildings from the Middle Ages are very rare and often heavily rebuilt during the following centuries. One example of that is Skytteanum in Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
.
Renaissance
Baroque
Rise of Sweden as a Great Power
During the 17th century, despite having scarcely more than 1 million inhabitants, Sweden emerged to have greater foreign influence, after winning wars against Denmark–Norway, The Holy Roman Empire, Russia, and The Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania...
in the 17th century, the aristocracy began to build again. At the same time, the notion of the architect was established and the profession developed, its reputation bolstered by the works of Simon De la Vallée and Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder was an important Swedish architect.-Biography:Nicodemus Tessin was born in Stralsund in Pomerania and came to Sweden as a young man. There he met and worked with the architect Simon de la Vallée...
. Numerous city palaces and Landschlösser were built following Western European and above all, French models. Additionally, the building of churches was resumed. Katarina Church
Katarina kyrka
Katarina kyrka is one of the major churches in central Stockholm, Sweden. The original building was constructed 1656–1695. It has been rebuilt twice after being destroyed by fires, the second time during the 1990s...
in Stockholm became the model for many buildings and churches in the realm.
The work of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle-most generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which have had a lasting influence on...
moved architectural development in Sweden into High Baroque; examples include Stockholm Palace
Stockholm Palace
The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...
and Kalmar Cathedral
Kalmar Cathedral
Kalmar Cathedral is in the city of Kalmar in Småland in south east Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea.The new city of Kalmar built on Kvarnholmen around the mid-1700s. The transfer from the old town was largely completed 1658th The new, fortified town was planned after the current renaissance ideals...
.
The 17th century also saw the founding of a number of cities. They were set out with a regular Grid plan
Grid plan
The grid plan, grid street plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid...
street pattern with central squares. The exceptions to this are the Danish Skåne and in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, which were laid out to Dutch models in 1619 and include canals. The designs are still recognizable today, even where the original timber buildings have now perished.
Classicism and empire style
In the second half of the 18th century, particularly after the coup of Gustav IIIGustav III of Sweden
Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....
a new direction was taken employing classical precedents. In 1773 the Building School of the Academy of Arts was founded, shortly afterwards the Office for Supervision of the Building Industry was instituted. Both raised the quality of architecture, but at the expense of local building traditions. Testimony to the new classical ideals in architecture can be found in the Palace Theatre in Gripsholm, the Botany building in Uppsala or the high school in Härnösand
Härnösand
Härnösand is a locality and the seat of Härnösand Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 18,003 inhabitants in 2005. It is called "the gate to the High Coast" because of the world heritage landscape rises just some miles north of Härnösand...
.
After the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and the loss of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, national building activity was concentrated within the military sector. The Karlsborg Fortress
Karlsborg Fortress
Karlsborg Fortress is situated on the Vannäs peninsula in Karlsborg by lake Vättern, the province of Västergötland, Sweden. Construction on the fortress began 1819 to realize the so-called central defense idea adopted by the Swedish military after the Finnish and Napoleonic Wars...
and the Göta Canal
Göta Canal
The Göta Canal is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. It formed the backbone of a waterway stretching some 382 miles , linking a number of lakes and rivers to provide a route from Gothenburg on the west coast to Söderköping on the Baltic Sea via the river Göta älv and the...
, employing 60,000 men in a 23-year period, were the largest Swedish building projects of all time. The leading architect of the first half of the 19th century was also a soldier, Colonel Fredrik Blom, he designed a series of barracks and also the classically styled Skeppholm Church in Stockholm and, as the house architect to the royal family, he built the Rosendal Palace
Rosendal Palace
Rosendal Palace is a Swedish royal pavilion located at the Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm. It was built between 1823 and 1827 for King Karl XIV Johan, the first Bernadotte King of Sweden...
.
Revivalism
Friedrich August Stüler
Friedrich August Stüler was an influential Prussian architect and builder. His masterwork is the Neues Museum in Berlin, as well as the dome of the triumphal arch of the main portal of the Berliner Stadtschloss.-Life:...
received the prestige commission for the building of the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts
Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts
-External links:*...
, which he designed in a renaissance style. Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander's Stockholm Synagoge is inspired by Assyrian architecture
Art and architecture of Assyria
The architecture of Mesopotamia is the ancient architecture of the region of the Tigris–Euphrates river system , encompassing several distinct cultures and spanning a period from the 10th millennium BC, when the first permanent structures were built, to the 6th century BC...
. His pupil Helgo Zettervall
Helgo Zettervall
Helgo Nikolaus Zettervall, older spelling Zetterwall, was a Swedish architect and professor of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts...
, followed in his footsteps with the comprehensive renovations to the cathedrals of Uppsala
Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral is a cathedral located centrally in the city of Uppsala, Sweden. It dates back to the late 13th century and at a height of 118.7 m is the tallest church building in Scandinavia. Originally built under Roman Catholicism and used for coronations of the Swedish monarch, since the...
, Skara
Skara Cathedral
Skara Cathedral is a church in the Swedish city of Skara. The cathedral is the seat for the bishop of the Church of Sweden Diocese of Skara....
and Linköping
Linköping Cathedral
The Linköping Cathedral is a church in the Swedish city of Linköping. The cathedral is the seat for the bishop in the Church of Sweden Diocese of Linköping. It is situated opposite Linköping Castle.-History:...
which express his interpretation of the Gothic style
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
. Johan Fredrik Åbom, the most prolific Swedish architect of his age, designed numerous churches and a series of Burgher
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
houses in Neo-Renaissance
Neo-Renaissance
Renaissance Revival is an all-encompassing designation that covers many 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Grecian nor Gothic but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes...
style. The Berns Salonger
Berns Salonger
Berns Salonger is a restaurant and entertainment venue, in Berzelii Park, in central Stockholm, Sweden. The building was constructed from 1862–63, by H.R. Berns. The building was extended in 1886. Berns often holds concerts and other shows and has a capacity of 1,200.Berns is the setting for the...
with its restaurant and stages is also a notable expression of the new civic pride, as immortalised in August Strindberg
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
's novel The Red Room
The Red Room (Strindberg)
The Red Room is a Swedish novel by August Strindberg that was first published in 1879. A satire of Stockholm society, it has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. While receiving mixed reviews in Sweden, it was acclaimed in Denmark, where Strindberg was hailed as a genius. ...
.
National romantic style and Jugendstil
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
in Stockholm, on the other hand they looked for precedents in Swedish cultural history and Swedish building traditions. From this search they developed the National Romantic Style
National Romantic Style
The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the national romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th century. Designers turned to early Medieval and even prehistoric precedents to construct a style appropriate to the perceived character of a people...
, which took the cultural and building precedents and merged them with ideas from the English Arts and Crafts Movement
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
to create a very distinct Swedish architecture often in brick and wood. Carl Westman
Carl Westman
Ernst Carl Westman was a Swedish architect and interior designer. He was an early adopter of the National Romantic Style, but turned later to the neo-classical style of the 1920s.-Biography :...
's Swedish General Medical Association building in Stockholm was one of the first buildings built in the style, with the Röhss Museum
Röhss Museum
The Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden, is a museum focused on design and applied arts. It was created through donations from Wilhelm and August Röhss and opened to the public in 1916; it has since expanded. The museum has a fine collection of Chinese art and craft and a permanent exhibition of...
in Gothenburg and Stockholm Court House
Stockholm Court House
Stockholm Court House is situated on Kungsholmen in Central Stockholm, Sweden. The building was constructed between 1909 and 1915. The architecture is influenced by the Castles of the Vasa era and it bears a resemblance to Vadstena Castle...
providing two further examples. The crowning achievement of the National Romantic Style is however Stockholm City Hall
Stockholm City Hall
Stockholm City Hall is the building of the Municipal Council for the City of Stockholm in Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands of Riddarholmen and Södermalm. It houses offices and conference rooms as well as...
, designed by Ragnar Östberg
Ragnar Östberg
Ragnar Östberg was a Swedish architect who is most famous for designing Stockholm City Hall. He is the most famous architect within the so-called "national romanticist" movement in Sweden...
and built between 1903 and 1923.
Kiruna
Kiruna is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is the seat of Kiruna Municipality Kiruna (Northern Sami: Giron, Finnish: Kiiruna) is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is...
within 3 decades in an uninhabited wilderness. After a rich source of iron ore was found and a railway line built, Witman was charged with the design of the city. Within a few years he had completed the design and construction of the directors and engineers Villas, the worker's housing, offices, schools, a hospital, a fire station, the post office and bank, and a swimming pool. Amongst his best work is the Kiruna Church
Kiruna Church
-External links:*...
designed in the National Romantic style. Its timber construction demonstrates and connects the influences of Norwegian Stave church
Stave church
A stave church is a medieval wooden church with a post and beam construction related to timber framing. The wall frames are filled with vertical planks. The load-bearing posts have lent their name to the building technique...
es and American architectural traditions.
Modern and postmodern
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
. Gunnar Asplund
Gunnar Asplund
Erik Gunnar Asplund was a Swedish architect, mostly known as a key representative of Nordic Classicism of the 1920s, and during the last decade of his life as a major proponent of the modernist style which made its breakthrough in Sweden at the Stockholm International Exhibition...
and Ivar Tengbom
Ivar Tengbom
Ivar Justus Tengbom was a Swedish architect and one of the best-known representatives of the Swedish neo-classical architecture of the 1910s and 1920s....
were two of the most well-known representatives during the 1910s and 1920s, contributing to the style which became known internationally as Swedish Grace. http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/FactSheet____14340.aspx Asplund's most important works include the Listers District Court House in Sölvesborg
Sölvesborg
Sölvesborg is a locality and the seat of Sölvesborg Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden with 7,883 inhabitants in 2005.Sölvesborg is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city...
, Stockholm Public Library
Stockholm Public Library
Stockholm Public Library is a rotunda library building in Stockholm, Sweden, designed by Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund. The library was prepared from 1918 and onwards by a committee in which Asplund himself took part. Construction began in 1924, and the library was completed in 1928...
and, in collaboration with Sigurd Lewerentz
Sigurd Lewerentz
Sigurd Lewerentz . He was an architect, but initially trained as a mechanical engineer at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg . Later he took up an architectural apprenticeship in Germany...
, both the (temporary) Stockholm Exhibition (1930) and the Stockholm South (Woodland) Cemetery
Skogskyrkogården
Skogskyrkogården is a cemetery located in the Enskededalen district south of central Stockholm, Sweden...
(today a UNESCO World Heritage Site).
The Stockholm Exhibition for Industry, Arts and Crafts 1930 helped functionalism
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...
break-through in Sweden. In the forthcoming years — particularly in housing — this was to become the dominant ideology. A typical example of the strong link between functionalism and the political left is the Kvarnholmen quarter in Nacka
Nacka
Nacka is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to an 16th century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mills are good...
, designed in the 1930s by the architecture department of the Consumer Cooperative which was founded in 1924 as the first collectively organised architects practice.
Million Programme
The Million Programme is the common name for an ambitious housing programme implemented in Sweden between 1965 and 1974 by the governing Swedish Social Democratic Party to make sure everyone could have a home at a reasonable price. The aim of the programme was to build a million new dwellings in a...
— the building of a million new dwellings within ten years (with a population of 7.8 million). Entire dormitory suburbs were built within a very short time. Land in many city centre areas was purchased and replanned in a modern and functional way to make room for offices. The enormous building projects were planned and led by large architect's offices. Often the quality of buildings and their design were of secondary importance to the delivery of such large numbers of projects.
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
put an end to the Million Programme. Even before this, the programme was receiving vociferous criticism against the pattern book architecture and negative social consequences which these buildings produced.
Out of this criticism, the term Postmodern emerged in Sweden, encompassing a variety of different trends. A rich use of form developed that had not been seen since the National Romantic Style. One of the most important exponents of postmodernism in Sweden was the British-born Ralph Erskine
Ralph Erskine
Ralph Erskine is the name of:*Ralph Erskine , British-Swedish architect*Ralph Erskine , the 18th century Scottish clergyman...
. Today, architecture in Sweden is being definied by such architects as Gert Wingårdh
Gert Wingårdh
Gert Wingårdh is a Swedish architect whose company, Wingårdh arkitektkontor, maintains an international practice.- Personal life :Gert Wingårdh was born 1951 into a wealthy family in Skövde, Västergötland county, as the only child. His father owned the local cement factory and the family’s house...
, who started as a postmodernist but is known to pick up new trends (the works show influences from ecological design as well as minimalism, high-tech, expressionism, and neofunctionalism).
See also
- List of historic buildings in Sweden
- Listed buildings in Sweden
- Architecture in StockholmArchitecture in StockholmArchitecture in Stockholm has a history that dates back to the 13th century, possibly even longer. The buildings in Stockholm are characterized by its unique location between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea...