Ernst Carl Westman (20 February 1866 – 23 January 1936) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and interior

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

. He was an early adopter of the

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 centuries. It is often considered to be a form of Art Nouveau. The National Romantic style spread ...

, but turned later to the neo-classical style of the 1920s.

Biography

Carl Westman was born in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

in 1866. He studied at the

Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technol ...

in 1885-1889, and then at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, archite ...

in 1889–1892, in Stockholm. In 1893 he married artist Elin Andersson and moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

where he practiced with architect R. L. Daus in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 1893–1895. In 1895, he returned to Stockholm to work for architect

Aron Johansson Aron may refer to: Characters *Aron (comics), from the Marvel Universe comic ''Aron! HyperSpace Boy!'' *Aron (Pokémon), in the ''Pokémon'' franchise * Aron Trask, from John Steinbeck's novel ''East of Eden'' *Áron or Aaron, the brother of Mos ...

(who at that time was the architect working with the new

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * Parliament House, Darwin, Parliame ...

(1895–1904) in Stockholm). In 1897, Westman opened his own architect bureau. He became a member of the

in 1912 and in 1916 he became the chief architect of the

National Swedish Board of Health The National Swedish Board of Health ( sv, Medicinalstyrelsen) was a Swedish government agency between 1878 and 1968, with responsibility for the health and medical services and the pharmacy services. All the activities in the field of public health ...

. 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 Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

who developed the new Nordic National Romantic Style, a style which took the cultural and building precedents and merged them with ideas from the English Arts and Crafts movement to create a very distinct

Swedish architecture This article covers the architecture of Sweden from a historical perspective. As is the norm in the history of architecture, the architectural history of a nation naturally lends itself to the history of its monuments, and to the development of ...

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 in Gothenburg (1910–1914) and

Stockholm Court House The Stockholm Court House ( sv, Stockholms rådhus) is situated on Kungsholmen in Central Stockholm, Sweden. The building is connected to the Stockholm Police House through an underground pedestrian walkway. The Stockholm City Court was situate ...

(1911–1915), providing another two prominent examples. The Stockholm Court House has striking similarities with the medieval Vadstena Castle, 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 (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

of furniture and utility supplies such as tiled stoves. He died in Stockholm in 1936.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Westman, Carl Swedish architects Swedish interior designers KTH Royal Institute of Technology alumni 1866 births 1936 deaths Art Nouveau architects Westman family