Sven Markelius (1889 – 1972) – Swedish Architect, Textile Designer

Sven Markelius Chairs
Sven Markelius Chairs

Sven Markeilus (1889- 1972) was a Swedish Architect, Town Planner and textile designer born in Stockholm.

Education

He studied at Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) and Kungliga Konsthögskolan (Royal Institute of Art), Stockholm.

Career

Markelius began his career in the office of Ragnar Östeberg and participated in the Functionalist movement of the mid-1920s. He built apartments, offices and the 1934 concert hall in Hälsingborg. He first won international recognition for his Swedish pavilion at the 1939 ‘New York World’s Fair.’  

Between 1938 and 1944 he was a building administration member of Stockholm. He was the head of the town-planning department responsible for the 1953-59 satellite town Vällingby, with a central pedestrian zone and a variety of architectural designs.

Vällingby Central Pedestrian Zone

He taught in Stockholm and at Yale University. In the 1950s, Markelius designed simple wooden furniture and printed fabrics with Astrid Sampe, produced by Nordiska in Stockholm.

A sample of his work

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.

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