Architecture and design

Most of the articles in this category are by William C. Miller, who is Professor and Dean Emeritus at the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Utah. His areas of research span the history of Nordic architecture, and he has written many books including Nordic Modernism: Scandinavian Architecture 1890-2017.

Nordic architecture has been informed by a dialogue between modernity and tradition, and has persistently shown a respect for local environmental and social conditions. This has provided a creative and expressive foundation for architecture throughout the second half of the twentieth century, which has not only been responsive to context, but also socially responsible and expressive. You can read about the development of Scandinavian architecture from the Second World War in Nordic architecture: a continuing modernism, post-war to 2000.

You can also read about trends in the 21st century within Nordic architecture which have included a variety of ideas and directions. Fresh approaches have been combined with a renewed sense of the importance of architecture as a form of cultural expression. There has also been an explosion of civic architecture more recently; cultural, educational, and communal buildings are being produced at a previously unseen rate and are widely regarded as being of high quality and fit for purpose - although the international tendency towards sensationalism may be pulling Nordic egalitarianism in architecture in new directions.

If you are interested in reading more about modernism, then check out Modernism in the Nordic Countries, or more generally about the arts in the Nordics, go to the category The arts or Literature.