Carl Westman
Encyclopedia
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and interior designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
. He was an early adopter of the National Romantic Style
National Romantic Style
The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the national romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th century. Designers turned to early Medieval and even prehistoric precedents to construct a style appropriate to the perceived character of a people...
, but turned later to the neo-classical style of the 1920s.
Biography
Carl Westman was born in UppsalaUppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
in 1866. He studied at the Royal Institute of Technology
Royal Institute of Technology
The Royal Institute of Technology is a university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH was founded in 1827 as Sweden's first polytechnic and is one of Scandinavia's largest institutions of higher education in technology. KTH accounts for one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education...
in 1885-1889, and then at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts
Royal Swedish Academy of Arts
The Royal Swedish Academy of Arts or Kungl. Akademien för de fria konsterna, founded in 1773 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden...
in 1889-1892, in Stockholm. In 1893 he married artist Elin Andersson and moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where he practiced with architect R. L. Daus in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1893-1895.
In 1895, he returned to Stockholm to work for architect Aron Johansson (who at that time was the architect working with the new Parliament building
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
(1895-1904) in Stockholm). In 1897, Westman opened his own architect bureau. He became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts
Royal Swedish Academy of Arts
The Royal Swedish Academy of Arts or Kungl. Akademien för de fria konsterna, founded in 1773 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden...
in 1912 and in 1916 he became the chief architect of the Swedish Royal Medical Board.
Carl Westman was one of the foremost advocators in Sweden for a return to the national characteristics in architecture. He was one of the first Swedish architects who developed the new Nordic National Romantic Style
National Romantic Style
The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the national romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th century. Designers turned to early Medieval and even prehistoric precedents to construct a style appropriate to the perceived character of a people...
, a style which took the cultural and building precedents and merged them with ideas from the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
to create a very distinct Swedish architecture often in brick and wood.
Carl Westman's Swedish General Medical Association building in Stockholm (1904-1906) was the first building built in the National Romantic Style, with the Röhss Museum
Röhss Museum
The Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden, is a museum focused on design and applied arts. It was created through donations from Wilhelm and August Röhss and opened to the public in 1916; it has since expanded. The museum has a fine collection of Chinese art and craft and a permanent exhibition of...
in Gothenburg (1910-1914) and Stockholm Court House
Stockholm Court House
Stockholm Court House is situated on Kungsholmen in Central Stockholm, Sweden. The building was constructed between 1909 and 1915. The architecture is influenced by the Castles of the Vasa era and it bears a resemblance to Vadstena Castle...
(1911-1915), providing another two prominent examples. The Stockholm Courthouse has striking similarities with the medieval Vadstena Castle
Vadstena Castle
Vadstena Castle is a former Royal Castle in Vadstena, the province of Östergötland, Sweden.-History:Vadstena Castle was originally built by King Gustav Vasa in 1545 as a fortress to protect Stockholm from enemies from the south...
, and provides a dazzling sight in downtown Stockholm, though the building proves quite inflexible for its purposes.
Later on, Westman worked particularly as a hospital architect, gradually adopting the classical style of the 1920s, with noted examples being the Beckomberga Hospital
Beckomberga Hospital
Beckomberga Hospital was a Swedish psychiatric hospital, situated in Bromma west of Stockholm. Opened in 1932, Beckomberga was in its mid-20th century heyday one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Europe, housing some 2,000 mentally ill patients...
(1927-1935), and the Karolinska Hospital (1935-1940) which was completed after his death. Whereas the psychiatric hospital at Beckomberga was strictly symmetrically planned, with massive buildings grouped in a fairly functional pattern, the Karolinska hospital strives towards a more functional architecture where the symmetrical design was toned down.
Carl Westman was also a part-time interior designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
of furniture and utility supplies such as tiled stoves. He died in Stockholm in 1936.