“A church you never forget”

Biography Sigurd Lewerentz (1885 – 1975)

1885 • Sigurd Lewerentz is born on July 29, in Bjärtrå, Västernorrlands län. • Parents: Factory manager Gustav Adolf Lewerentz (28 Aug. 1847-31 Jan. 1909) and Hedvig Matilda Lewerentz, born Holmgren (7 Jan. 1857-26 May 1945). 1903 • Confirmation in Maria Magdalena parish in Bjärtrå on May 18. • Breaks off studies at the Södra Latin upper secondary school in Stockholm before graduation. • Takes rooms on Götgatan at ''Mrs. Billström's.'' • Accepted as a student at Chalmers lnstitute of Technology, in the lower division for Mechanics but transfers after a while to the Department of Housing Construction. • Resides at Erik Dahlbergsgatan 2, Gothenburg. 1905 • Wins a place in the higher division for Housing Construction. • Summer work with the smith, Olle, at his father's glassworks. 1906 • Summer work with the smith, Olle. 1907 • Exempted from military service. • Summer work in the office of Professor Bruno Möhring in Berlin. 1908 • Passes exams in the Department of Housing Construction at Chalmers lnstitute of Technology on June 9. • Becomes engaged to Edith (Etty) Fanny Maria Engblad, born in Örgryte on 27 Nov. 1887. Ediths parents: Wallpaper manufacturer Carl Fredrik Engblad and Helga Charlotta Engblad, born Peterson. • Employed in the office of Professor Bruno Möhring in Berlin from July 1. Resides at Neue Winterfeldstrasse 8, Berlin. 1909 • Leaves Möhring's office on Feb. 17, of his own accord. • Takes a long trip to ltaly. • Employed in the office of Professor Theodor Fischer in Munich from July I to Sept. 15. • Employed in the office of Professor Richard Riemerschmid in Munich's Pasing borough from Sept. 15. • Resides at Hillenbergstrasse 17 until October. • Moves to Fiirstenriederstrasse 14A, Munich. • Father dies on Jan. 31. 1910 • Leaves the office of Riemerschmid on May 9, of his own accord. Attends the School of Architecture at the Academy of Arts in Stockholm. Completes the first year Renaissance program under Professor Claes Amos Grundström. • Takes private lessons in the Klara School, under Carl Bergsten, Ivar Tengbom, Carl Westman, and Ragnar Östberg. • Employed by Westman in September. • Resides at Skeppargatan 13, Stockholm. 1911 • Marries Edith Engblad on April 12. • Leaves Westman's office in September, of his own accord. • Founds his own architectural firm with Torsten Stubelius (1883-1963). • Address: Lilla Nygatan 13, Stockholm. 1912 • A son, Per Fredrik, is horn. 1914 • Becomes a member of Svenska Slöjdföreningen (Swedish Society of Arts and Crafts) on Oct. 21. 1915 • A daughter, Ewa Dagmar, is born. 1916 • Association with Torsten Stubelius ends in October 1921 • A son, Carl Sigurd, is horn. 1927 • Accepted as consulting architect to the Royal Board of Building and Planning on Dec. 6. • Board member of Ljungqvist Wallpaper Manufacturing (owned by father-in-law Carl Engblad) in Norrköping. • Member of the Society Men's Club. • Moves to Strandvägen 19, Stockholm. 1929 • Forms Illuminated Advertisement of Stockholm, lnc. together with the civil engineer Claes Kreuger. Registers IDESTA as a trade name for construction details. • Moves office to Kungsgatan 33. Later opens an office on Norrlandsgatan 31-33. • Member of the Stockholm Exhibition's professional committee and review board of the Planning Commission, in the division for architecture. 1930 • Forms BLOKK, Inc., offices and interiors. • Honorary citation for exhibited work at the XII Intemational Congress of Architecture in Budapest in September. I93I • Represented in Swedish Architectural Exhibition in connection with the 46th Annual Exhibition of the Architectural League of New York, with the Chapel of the Resurrection, the Malmö Eastern Cemetery, the building for the Social Security Administration, and the Gröna Udden cafe and pastry shop, April I8-25. I932 • Knight of the Vasa Order (RVO). • Moves to Strandvägen 37, Stockholm. 1933 • Member of the board of Gothenburg Wallpaper Manufacturing, lnc. • Forms IDESTA, lnc. 1935 • Diplome commemorative, groupe III classe 17- Suede. Exposition Universelle et lnternationale, Brussels. 1940 • Purchases a factory building on Bruksgatan 14, Eskilstuna, for the production of primarily steel window and door assemblies according to his own patented inventions. 1943 • Moves to Bruksgatan 14, Eskilstuna. 1945 • Mother dies, May 26. 1950 • Awarded Prins Eugen medallion on Nov. 5. 1951 • Jury member for an open competition for the cemetery in Örebro. • Jury member for an open competition for a church and parish house in Oxelösund. 1954 • Made a member of the Academy of Arts in Copenhagen. • Jury member for an open competition for a church and parish house in Skoghall. 1956 • Moves to Mellangatan 21 (now no. 42), Skanör. • Son Carl takes over IDESTA. 1959 • Appointed a corresponding member of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Kilnste in Munich. • Awarded SAR's ''honorary cube'' by the National Association of Swedish Architects. 1962 • Named an honorary doctor of technology at the Royal lnstitute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. Awarded a Tessin Medallion by the Royal Academy of Liberal Arts, Stockholm. • St. Mark's Church in Björkhagen awarded the first Kasper Salin prize by the Swedish Society of Architects. 1963 • Knight Commander of the Vasa Order (KVO). 1965 • Awarded the Olof Högberg Plaque by the Norrland Association, March 17. 1967 • Named a fellow of the National Association of Swedish Architects. Given the title dr. techn. h. c. by the Technische Hochschule in Munich. 1968 • Traveling exhibition The Work of Sigurd Lewerentz is shown at the Architecture School in Århus, Denmark; the Academy of Arts in Copenhagen; and at the Technische Hochschule in Munich. The exhibition is reworked and shown under the title Sigurd Lewerentz, Architect at the Swedish Museum of Architecture in Stockholm and at the Archive for Decorative Arts in Lund. 1969 • His wife, Edith, dies in Skanör on March 17. 1970 • Moves to Kävlingevägen 26 in Lund 1975 • A portrait of Lewerentz is included in the National Portrait Collection in Gripsholm Castle. Executed by the artist Karl Erik Olsson_Snogeröd. • Sigurd Lewerentz dies on 29 december at the age of 90 years and five months.