Agnes Magnell (26 November 1878,

Uddevalla Uddevalla is a Stad (Sweden), town in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It’s the seat of Uddevalla Municipality. In 2015, it had a population of 34,781, making it the largest town fully in Bohuslän. Uddevalla is located where the river Bäveån ...

– 1966) was a Swedish architect. She was the first woman in Sweden to be admitted to the

Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest technical university. Since 2018, KTH consist ...

to study architecture.

Life and work

Agnes Magnell came from an affluent family, her father was an officer and a landowner. She started artistic studies in 1894 at

Konstfack Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, is a university college for higher education in the area of art, crafts and design in Stockholm, Sweden. History Konstfack has had several different names since it was founded in 1844 by the eth ...

in Stockholm and was there encouraged by one of her teachers to apply to study architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology. Although in principle women were not allowed to study at the institute, an exception was made after her father had written a formal request to the

King in Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it refers to the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of app ...

. She was the first woman to be admitted to the school for the purpose of studying architecture. She studied at the Royal Institute of Technology for four years. In the last year of her studies she met and married an engineer named Schmitt, and spent some time working with her husband designing

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

s and electricity power plants. She never graduated, and after a few years stopped working actively to instead become a housewife. The water tower in Sala is an example of her work.

Life and work

References

Further reading