The main building of the

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

( in Swedish) was designed by architect Helgo Zettervall and inaugurated by

King Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

in 1882. Construction began in 1874, when the old main building Kungshuset had become too small for the growing number of students. The design is characterised by Zettervall's fascination with

classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

, and features

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s and fancy copings. There were originally four

sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

es on the roof, but they had to be removed within 30 years because of bad quality. In the 1990s, four new sphinxes were placed on the roof. Like many of Zettervall's buildings, it was criticized for a lack of uniformity and not being well thought out. Image:Universitetsbyggnaden 080508.jpg, Front Image:Universitetsbyggnaden, Lund, 2004.jpg, South side Image:lunds universitetsbyggnad sfinxer.jpg,

Sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

References

External links

{{commonscat-inline, Universitetshuset, Lund Buildings and structures in Lund Lund University 19th-century establishments in Malmöhus County Office buildings in Sweden Buildings and structures completed in 1882