ArkDes, the Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design, have launched a new Instagram account showcasing “surprising objects” and never-before-seen gems from Sweden’s national architecture collection. ArkDes Collections, which presents an eclectic mix of drawings, models, and photographs by architects including Ralph Erskine, Gunnar Asplund, Sigurd Lewerentz and Bernt Nyberg, has also highlighted significant work by lesser-known practitioners, such as Léonie Geisendorf and Mariana Manner.
With four million objects, the museum cares for one of the largest collections of architectural objects in Europe. Covering Swedish architecture from the mid-19th Century up to the present day, with an emphasis on the first half of the 20th Century, objects posted on the account are selected by curators, architects, designers, and thinkers.
In 2017, Kieran Long—formerly of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)—became director of the museum. International curators, including James Taylor-Foster, have since joined. In recent months, ArkDes has launched a Fellowship Programme and will soon open a new gallery designed by Stockholm-based practice Dehlin Brattgård Arkitekter. Public Luxury, an exhibition about “architecture, design and the struggle for public life” in Sweden and beyond opens in Stockholm on June 1st, 2018.
