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Modern Swedish student housing : the institutionalisation of a building type 1870–1970

Torisson, Fredrik LU and Kärrholm, Mattias LU orcid (2026) In City, Territory and Architecture 13.
Abstract
Student housing as a type of housing is regularly overlooked in architectural historiography and theory. Yet, student housing is a category of housing that an ever-larger portion of society inhabit, albeit for a limited time. Looking more closely at this category of housing reveals that it is a field of study that runs parallel to society’s more general questions of housing whilst also showing variation and experimentation; student housing is thus something more than a mirror of the history of housing architecture. In this article we map the institutionalisation process of Swedish student housing. This process is characterised by a transformation from less- to more formal, as the informal institutions of the nineteenth century developed... (More)
Student housing as a type of housing is regularly overlooked in architectural historiography and theory. Yet, student housing is a category of housing that an ever-larger portion of society inhabit, albeit for a limited time. Looking more closely at this category of housing reveals that it is a field of study that runs parallel to society’s more general questions of housing whilst also showing variation and experimentation; student housing is thus something more than a mirror of the history of housing architecture. In this article we map the institutionalisation process of Swedish student housing. This process is characterised by a transformation from less- to more formal, as the informal institutions of the nineteenth century developed into formalised and crystallised institutions by the middle of the following century. This institutionalisation is not as straightforward as one might think, however. Instead, it can be seen as developed through a series of parallel institutionalisation processes where older types of student housing may prevail and exist side by side with newer ones. We will provide a summary overview of the various twists and turns of the institutionalisation process of Swedish student housing. We will trace how student housing entered public discussion in Sweden in the 1800s and how various types of student housing were introduced by different actors with different agendas, and we will examine what happened to these types over time. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Student housing, Architecture, 20th century, Sweden
in
City, Territory and Architecture
volume
13
article number
18 (2026)
pages
20 pages
publisher
Springer
ISSN
2195-2701
DOI
10.1186/s40410-026-00319-6
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8c6b78b1-334f-4f91-ae43-7bb04ff23e9f
date added to LUP
2026-07-30 08:40:38
date last changed
2026-08-31 15:30:34
@article{8c6b78b1-334f-4f91-ae43-7bb04ff23e9f,
  abstract     = {{Student housing as a type of housing is regularly overlooked in architectural historiography and theory. Yet, student housing is a category of housing that an ever-larger portion of society inhabit, albeit for a limited time. Looking more closely at this category of housing reveals that it is a field of study that runs parallel to society’s more general questions of housing whilst also showing variation and experimentation; student housing is thus something more than a mirror of the history of housing architecture. In this article we map the institutionalisation process of Swedish student housing. This process is characterised by a transformation from less- to more formal, as the informal institutions of the nineteenth century developed into formalised and crystallised institutions by the middle of the following century. This institutionalisation is not as straightforward as one might think, however. Instead, it can be seen as developed through a series of parallel institutionalisation processes where older types of student housing may prevail and exist side by side with newer ones. We will provide a summary overview of the various twists and turns of the institutionalisation process of Swedish student housing. We will trace how student housing entered public discussion in Sweden in the 1800s and how various types of student housing were introduced by different actors with different agendas, and we will examine what happened to these types over time.}},
  author       = {{Torisson, Fredrik and Kärrholm, Mattias}},
  issn         = {{2195-2701}},
  keywords     = {{Student housing; Architecture; 20th century; Sweden}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{City, Territory and Architecture}},
  title        = {{Modern Swedish student housing : the institutionalisation of a building type 1870–1970}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40410-026-00319-6}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s40410-026-00319-6}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}