Stockholm Public Library

Like many of Asplund’s other projects the Stockholm City Library (1920-1928) went through numerous modifications and alterations during the design process. Unlike most of his major projects, the design work of the Library was assigned to him without a normally required competition. This arrangement provided Asplund the opportunity to develop his design in a more relaxed manner. Eventually the design was a round hall surrounded by staircases, a tall cylinder with an opaque glazing in the roof lights. The base of the building is a square. The combination of spherical and cubic forms was a frequent motif, which can be found in both Asplund’s earlier projects and those of his contemporaries. A strict, symmetrical variation of this motif can be seen as a product of the search for innate aesthetic value of forms in the context of Classical Revival.