Karl Gustaf Albin Brag (30 January 1878, near

Söderköping Söderköping is a locality and the seat of Söderköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,992 inhabitants in 2010. Söderköping is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''town''. ...

- 23 December 1937,

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

) was a Swedish architect.

Life and work

He completed his primary schooling in Jönköping in 1897. From 1898 to 1902, he studied at the

KTH 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 technolo ...

, followed by studies at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

from 1902 to 1903. Then came work at an architectural office, from 1903 to 1906; after which he established his own business. In 1908, he became a teacher at the

Konstfack Konstfack, or 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 e ...

(Technical College). At first, he also worked as a

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

ist and

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

; having been a student of

Axel Tallberg Axel Tallberg (23 September 1860 – 8 January 1928) was a Swedish visual artist and engraver. He is remembered for his etching course at the Royal Swedish Academy of Art and for his portraits, including those of King Oscar II, Leo Tolstoy and Th ...

and . He designed factory and office buildings, as well as worker housing, for several large Swedish companies; notably in

Hallstahammar Hallstahammar () is a locality and the seat of Hallstahammar Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,478 inhabitants in 2010. Overview The King Gustaf Vasa built Strömsholm Castle along the lake about 1558. Its current appearance g ...

Fagersta Fagersta is a locality and the seat of Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden, with 11,130 inhabitants in 2010. Geography The city is located at the junction of two railways between Ludvika-Västerås and Avesta (Krylbo)-Örebro, ...

, Stråssa,

Köping ''Köping'' was a Swedish denomination for a market town since the Middle Ages, derived from the Old Norse word ''kaupang''. The designation was officially abolished with the municipal reform of 1971, when Sweden was subdivided into the Munici ...

and

Nacka Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to a 16th-century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mil ...

. He also designed, retirement homes, manors, villas and spas, throughout the country. Notable examples are the Teachers' Rest Home, outside Stockholm and in

Lärkstaden Lärkstaden (Swedish for "Lark City") is an urban area within the city district of Östermalm in central Stockholm, Sweden. The name originates from the large block "Lärkan" which used to dominated the area before the present buildings were ...

, an area inspired by the English

garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and ...

. Numerous apartment buildings in

Aspudden Aspudden (''Aspen cape'') is a district of the Hägersten-Liljeholmen borough in Söderort Söderort (literally "the southern place", sometimes translated to ''South Stockholm'') is the southern suburban part of the Stockholm Municipality, Swe ...

and Midsommarkransen were of his design; commissioned by the development company, . They are enclosed neighborhood buildings with ornate gables,

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...

s and angled ceilings in a simplified

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style, and give those areas their distinctive character.Bostadsrättsföreningen Lövsmygen
/ref> They also commissioned him to design a sculpture for a water fountain in Aspudden. During the early part of the century, he designed eight villas in

and the surrounding areas; one of which burned down in 1930. Two of them were designed for artists;

Richard Bergh Sven Richard Bergh (28 December 1858 – 29 January 1919) was a Swedish painter, art critic and museum manager. Despite many years in France, he remained unattracted to Impressionism, preferring instead the Naturalism of painters such as Jule ...

(still known as the ), and

Georg Pauli Georg Vilhelm Pauli (2 July 1855, Jönköping - 28 November 1935, Stockholm) was a Swedish painter, known primarily for portraits and figures. He was also the author of numerous art-related books. Biography His father, August Ferdinand Pauli (18 ...

and his wife,

Hanna Hirsch-Pauli Hanna Hirsch, later Hanna Pauli (Stockholm, 13 January 1864 – 29 December 1940, Solna), was a Swedish painter; primarily of genre scenes and portraits. Life Hanna Hirsch was a daughter of music publisher Abraham Hirsch. She was a friend of Ev ...

. One was for the author,

Per Hallström Per August Leonard Hallström (29 September 1866 – 18 February 1960) was a Swedish author, short-story writer, dramatist, poet and member of the Swedish Academy. He joined the academy in 1908, and served as its Permanent Secretary from 1931 ...

. They were inspired by the small,

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

-style "palaces" that were popular in Germany at the time. He also designed some lesser-known villas 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 ...

References

External links

"Albin Brag – Aspuddens och Midsommarkransens arkitekt"
@ Carin på Sprätthöken
Albin Brag
@ KulturNav
Albin Brag
@ DigitaltMuseum {{DEFAULTSORT:Brag, Albin 1878 births 1937 deaths Swedish architects People from Söderköping Municipality