Swedish Bauhaus

Words Vidula KotianImages AM StudioDate 08 April 2020

Modern Scandinavian design has its roots in traditional crafts, but it owes much to the functionalism of the first half of the 20th century.

One particular movement, or rather school, that has had the biggest impact on it is Bauhaus. The school’s three highly influential directors—Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe—spread their ideas to Scandinavia when they left Germany during the Second World War and returned thereafter.

“Good architecture should be a projection of life itself, and that implies an intimate knowledge of biological, social, technical, and artistic problems.”

Walter Gropius

Raw concrete, steel, and exposed metal contrast with natural materials

Their lasting legacy can be seen in the works of Sigurd Lewerentz, one of Europe’s greatest, relatively unsung 20^th-century architects.

Lewerentz was educated as a mechanical engineer at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, but it was an architectural apprenticeship in Munich that set him on his career path—a path that led him to be revered as one of Sweden’s most eminent architects.

The bi-level rooftop restaurant and bar overlooking Hagastaden

A curved 1990 structure designed to echo the Roman palaces of the late Renaissance

Small quadratic windows reflect the Bauhaus building's initial function as a warehouse

The creator of functionalist masterworks like the Malmö Opera House and the Church of St. Peter in Klippan, he also designed a warehouse building in 1931 for Philips. This building is one of two buildings that make up Blique by Nobis, reworked by contemporary master Gert Wingårdh into a contemporary urban hotel and dynamic community hub.

Blique by Nobis is featured in the Design Hotels Book. The 2020 edition marks an innovative new editorial and artistic direction for the design anthology, created in collaboration with some of the world’s leading photographers.

Get your copy here