1845-1932.
Architect.
Carl Axel Ekholm was born in Sund in Östergötland and was Uppsala's first city architect from 1878 to 1912.
Ekholm began his education at Tekniska Elementarskolan in Norrköping before starting architectural studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Ekholm was inspired early by the New Renaissance, which in the future came to characterize many of the buildings he designed.
After being employed at various architectural offices and as a city engineer and builder in Oskarshamn in 1877, Ekholm became city architect in Uppsala. In the 1870s it became forbidden to build new wooden houses because of the fire risk and in Uppsala the cityscape consisted of 75 percent of wooden houses.
Ekholm designed about 150 buildings in Uppsala during his active years. He created houses in different styles such as New Renaissance, New Baroque and Art Nouveau, several of which remain. In 2005, despite protests, the so-called Bodén house and several other 19th-century houses in the block were demolished to make way for the criticized Uppsala Concert & Congress.
Österplan 13 in Uppsala, built in 1888. Photo: Unknown Photographer and Unknown Year / Upplandsmuseet.
Vaksalagatan in Uppsala in 1970. The building at the far end of the picture is Ekholm's. The block was demolished to make way for Uppsala Concert & Congress. Photo: Ola Ehn / Upplandsmuseet.
Examples of houses that Ekholm was involved in, which are still standing are: Gästrike-Hälsinge nation (1880), Norrlands nation (1887-1889, the facade facing Fyrisån by I.G. Clason), the old Gravkapellet at Gamla kyrkogården in Uppsala (1882-1883), Österplan 13 (1888), Dragarbrunnsgatan 48 (1889), Flickskolan Magdeburg (1890) and Regnellianum (1891-1892).
Burial site: 0128-1256
Image description: Carl Axel Ekholm and family in 1899, wife Anna Ottilia Hildegard and daughter Signe Hedvig. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUB. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image
