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 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 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where he practiced with architect R. L. Daus in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1893–1895. In 1895, he returned to Stockholm to work for architect Aron Johansson (who at that time was the architect working with the new Parliament House (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 Government agencies in Sweden, Swedish government agency between 1878 and 1968, with responsibility for the health and medical services and the pharmacy services. All the activitie ...

. 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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Arts and Crafts movement to create a very distinct Swedish architecture 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 (1911–1915), providing another two prominent examples. The Stockholm Court House has striking similarities with the medieval

Vadstena Castle Vadstena Castle ( sv, Vadstena slott) is a former Royal Castle in Vadstena, the province of Östergötland, Sweden. History Vadstena Castle was originally built by King Gustav I in 1545 as a fortress to protect Stockholm from enemies approach ...

, 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 Beckomberga Hospital ( sv, Beckomberga sjukhus) was a Swedish psychiatric hospital, situated in Bromma west of Stockholm. Opened in 1932, Beckomberga was once one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Europe, at its peak housing some 2,000 me ...

(1927–1935), and the

Karolinska Hospital The Karolinska University Hospital ( sv, Karolinska universitetssjukhuset) is a teaching hospital affiliated with Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, with two major sites in the municipalities of Solna Municipality, Solna and Huddinge. The ...

(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