Spotlight: Gunnar Asplund

As a professor of architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology and often cited for his contributions to Nordic Classicism, Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund (September 22 1885 – 20 October 1940) was a notable theorist on the most important architectural challenges of his time, first exemplified by his lecture entitled “Our architectonic concept of space.”

Stockholm Public Library / Gunnar Asplund. Image © Sam Teigen

Asplund is often considered one of the most influential modernist architects of Sweden and was a proponent of the modernist style first seen at the Stockholm International Exhibition of 1930. He completed numerous works regarded as prototypical examples of Nordic Classicism and the so-called Swedish Grace movement, including the Stockholm Public Library.

Other notable works include the extension of the Gothenburg Courthouse, and his collaboration with architect Sigurd Lewerentz for the design of Skogskyrkogården cemetery.

Acclaimed Finnish architect Alvaar Alto regarded Asplund as a mentor, modeling the initial designs for his Viipuri Library after Asplund’s Nordic Classicism.