Transnational Networks in the ArkDes collection

A study of transnational collaborations during and after the Second World War.

Through tracing architectural exchanges in the ArkDes collection, Marcelo Rovira Torres sheds light on how Swedish and international architects joined forces and built networks that extended beyond national borders in the rebuilding of society after the Second World War.

Marcelo Rovira Torres is an architect with a strong foundation in architectural theory and history. He was educated at KTH in Stockholm, ETH Zurich, and EPFL Lausanne in Switzerland. Alongside his professional practice, he teaches in the Master’s programme in Architecture at KTH.

In his research project at ArkDes, Rovira Torres investigated architectural projects in the collection that exemplify transnational exchange—projects that highlight both Swedish architects working abroad and international architects working in Sweden during the 20th century.

The analysis includes works by Fred Forbat, Sven Ivar Lind, Sune Lindström, Charles-Édouard Geisendorf, and Sven Hesselgren. The study focuses particularly on the period during and immediately after the Second World War, revealing a dense international network in which Swedish and Sweden-based architects played a key role in postwar reconstruction.