ARKDES

Description

Essentials about ArkDes in brief

Visitors to Stockholm who are passionate about architecture and design should make their way to the island of Skeppsholmen to visit the Swedish Center for Architecture and Design (Statens centrum för arkitektur och design). The center, usually called ArkDes for short, is housed in the same complex as the Moderna museet (Museum of Modern Art). Swedish architecture throughout history is presented in a permanent exhibition and temporary exhibitions using drawings, models, photographs and objects.

The history of ArkDes

The Museum of Architecture was founded in 1962 as a private foundation on the initiative of the Swedish Architects’ Association. In 1978, it was nationalized and housed in a building that had previously been used as a training hall for marines. A new building designed by Pritzker Prize winner Rafael Moneo was inaugurated in February 1998. In 2023, the museum changed its name to Statens centrum för arkitektur och design (Swedish Center for Architecture and Design).

The exhibitions at ArkDes

ArkDes has a permanent exhibition and several themed temporary exhibitions. The permanent exhibition takes visitors through 1,000 years of Swedish architectural history, from the Romanesque stone church from the 9th century to the modernist architecture of the post-war period. At the heart of the permanent exhibition are 80 detailed models, which are complemented by drawings, photographs and other historical objects.

The permanent exhibition is accompanied by various exhibitions on the themes of architecture and design that change throughout the year. One constant is the exhibition Ung Svensk Form, which takes place every February and March and shows works by young Swedish designers from all disciplines.

A particular public favorite is the Pepparkakshus exhibition, which takes place regularly during the Advent season and is all about edible architecture, or more precisely, gingerbread houses. The exhibition is also a competition in which the best gingerbread houses are awarded prizes by a jury at the end.

The ArkDes archive collections contain drawings, models and photographs of the works of around 500 architects. The museum’s library contains magazines from the 1930s onwards as well as over 24,000 books.