Architecture in Sweden

Function, Design and Aesthetic through the Ages

Architecture in Sweden - Function, Design and Aesthetic through the Ages is the title of the base activity at the Swedish Museum of Architecture in Stockholm, where Swedish architecture is debated and discussed in the big, well-lit Drill Hall.

The exhibition shows how needs for buildings and construction techniques have changed over the centuries, based on function, design, and aesthetics. It contains many different elements and is regularly altered by means of additions and supplementary exhibitions. You will find a historical expose, from the very earliest building down to the present, on ten work tables.

Actually, the exhibit has something for everyone. Pause, read, look and touch! The texts are on various levels and both in Swedish and English. At several points there are multimedia stations for those wishing to delve deeper. The AudioGuide is recommended for a personalised tour of the exhibition. The Museum workshop has been directly integrated with the exhibition and offers experiments for all comers.

The chronological work-tables have models, pictures and texts describing a thousand years of building, with special emphasis on the past hundred years. Here you can read about influences, urban planning ideas and the evolution of the architect's profession. Each table has a box of materials and accessories for further study.

Running the length of one side of the room is a picture wall describing the various periods in the history of Swedish architecture and putting that history in general perspective. The shelf features full-scale sections, material specimens and furniture from our collection. "The world outside Sweden", containing buildings from three continents, can be seen here.