Swedish Architect in the USA - August Nordin

Excerpt from the book 'Swedish Architects in the America, 1846-1930', due out in 2016. 

  • Swedish American Hall, San Francisco 2014. Photo: Jonathan Lammers.

  • August NORDIN
    (December 5, 1869 - January 8, 1936)

  • August Nordin, San Francisco Master Architect. Photo courtesy of Landmark Designation Report: Swedish American Hall.

  • Nordin was born in Stockholm, Sweden and came to the United States in 1891 after having received a thorough training in architecture in Sweden. He started working in his father’s office in 1916 and opened his first office in San Francisco already in 1899, on Market Street. He was married twice and had three children in California — sons Leonard and Robert, and a daughter, Alice.
    August Nordin made a name for himself as a master architect in San Francisco because of his great taste and wit. He designed more than 300 structures in California, one of which is the Swedish American Hall, built in 1907, which has been - and still is - used as a meeting place for many generations of Swedish Americans. He was a member of the Swedish Club, the Swedish-America Society and was a Freemason.
    Nordin designed various commercial and industrial buildings, hotels and churches, as well as many single-family residences and apartment houses. For the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, he was appointed supervisor and assistant to the famous Swedish architect Ferdinand Boberg who was the designer of the Swedish Pavilion. The Exposition opened on February 20, 1915 and the Swedish Pavilion was dedicated the same day. For his work, Nordin was honored with the Knight of the Order of Vasa.

  • Excerpt from the upcoming book Swedish Architects in America, 1846-1930, due out later this year. The new Nordstjernan book offers a sneak peak into the fascinating stories and lives of some of the 150 Swedish architects who immigrated to and worked in America during the Great Swedish Migration. While a lot is known about professionals in education, religion, journalism and farming, very little has been written about Swedish architects in America - until now. After years of research, Goran Rygert compiled this comprehensive collection of architectural histories in “Svenska Arkitekter i USA 1846-1930," which will be published in English by Nordstjernan. Here is an excerpt about one architect to whet your appetite.