The Tekniska Högskolans Studentkår in Stockholm: A Collective Springboard to Modernity

The Students’ Union Building (THS) at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, inaugurated in October 1930 shortly after the Stockholm Exhibition, is a key work in Swedish modernism. Designed by Sven Markelius and Uno Åhrén after their 1928 competition win, it embodied funkis ideals, as a result of a new architectural vision shaped by foreign impulses. Yet the history of the students’ hub did not stop there: it spans nearly a century of transformation through architectural competitions and direct commissions. Extensions by Markelius and Bengt Lindroos in 1952, and by Lindroos with Hans Borgström in 1977, reflected evolving paradigms of modernity − from New Empiricism to spontanitet. This paper dismantles narratives that isolate authorship and amplify individual architects’ aura, overlooking the overall THS’s development and collaborative genesis. Drawing on unpublished archival sources, this paper examines the building’s evolving identity and repositions it as a layered, interdisciplinary project shaped by multiple actors across architecture, interiors, and planning. Unpacking its architectural stratification reveals how the institution continuously adapted to social change, economic shifts, and broader cultural transitions.