{"id":35002,"date":"2026-01-18T17:35:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T16:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arkdes.se\/?post_type=collection&p=35002"},"modified":"2026-02-09T12:07:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T11:07:42","slug":"gunnar-asplunds-collection","status":"publish","type":"collection","link":"https:\/\/arkdes.se\/en\/the-collection\/the-collection-that-shaped-modern-sweden\/gunnar-asplunds-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunnar Asplund\u2019s Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Gunnar Asplund, 1885\u20131940. Photographer unknown. ArkDes collection.<\/i>\n \n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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In the museum\u2019s archive are more than 27,000 drawings, sketches and documents that offer a unique and compelling insight into the life and work of architect Gunnar Asplund.<\/p>\n

The World Heritage Site Skogskyrkog\u00e5rden, Gothenburg City Hall and Stockholm Public Library are among the many buildings designed by Gunnar Asplund (1885\u20131940). His extensive body of archival material was donated to ArkDes in the late 1980s and provides a rich picture of an architectural practice that introduced several of the twentieth century\u2019s most influential stylistic ideals.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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In Djursholm, in 1917, in the midst of the First World War, a seemingly modest and light-filled villa was built, an early example of Nordic Classicism. The material of Villa Snellman reveals how Asplund worked with built-in perspectives and shifted window axes to break the building\u2019s symmetry. At the same time, he was engaged in designing emergency housing for less affluent residents, temporary homes intended to alleviate the acute housing shortage during the war years. The wooden houses Asplund designed in S\u00f6dermalm were demolished in the 1960s, but the drawings and sketches are preserved in the museum\u2019s archive on Skeppsholmen.<\/p>\n

As early as 1913, Asplund won the competition for the extension of Gothenburg City Hall, a commission that would occupy him for more than twenty years. The museum\u2019s collection contains thousands of sketches, drawings and photographs from this long process, allowing the development from strict classicism to the softer functionalism that characterises the interior in particular to be traced. When the building was completed in 1935, it was furnished with furniture and lighting designed by Asplund himself. The distinctive design also took shape through collaboration with others, including textile artist Elsa Gullberg (1886\u20131984), who designed the carpets.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n