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The Royal Institute of Art is located on Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm. Here, one can find modern workshops in historic buildings, all in an inspiring environment surrounded by water. The majority of our locations are owned and run by the National Property Board Sweden.
The Royal Institute of Art’s main building, Kasern (‘Barracks’) III, was erected 1778-79 as a grain depository, designed by Carl Fredrick Adelcrantz. One hundred years later, the warehouse was rebuilt into a barracks for the Royal Fleet, based on designs by Victor Ringheim, when the building got its current name.
The Royal Institute of Art moved into the building in the mid-1990s, after an extension and redevelopment managed by Gösta Edberg Architects, where the original building was integrated with the newly built structure by a glass atrium. Today, this area is used as an exhibition space.
Kasern III contains student studios, workshops, lecture halls, libraries and exhibition areas. This is where the school administration and most teachers are located.
The name of the building Mindepartementet (‘the Ministry of Mines’) dates back to the time of the Crimean War, when the building served as a hub for manufacturing and servicing mines. The Royal Institute of Art then took over the premises in 2017, and it has since been renovated, modernized and adapted to meet its current function. The name lives on, but has gained a new meaning and resonance within the current setting.
When, in 1875, Sweden bought its first 25 torpedoes, a building was needed to store them. This became Torpedverkstaden (‘the Torpedo Workshop’), designed by Albin Ferdinand Medberg. The torpedoes were stored in waterproof cellars, and Torpeddepartementet (‘the Torpedo Ministry’) was housed in the attic. Since the 1980s, the building has been used for various cultural activities. Today our listening station is located here—including facilities for electro-acoustic music, radio performance, and sound art.
Hus 117 (‘House 117’), or Kanonverkstaden (‘the Canon Workshop’) was erected in 1943. When the Royal Fleet moved from Skeppsholmen, the Royal Institute of Art took over the premises. Today, we have the upstairs available for our use, where we keep a number of student studios.
The Royal Institute of Art’s workshops are a starting point for our students to develop and actualize their projects and ideas. We have the country’s largest selection of workshops. The range of techniques spans from print-making, painting and sculpture to video, audio, VR/AR, and digital form-making.
In addition to materials and equipment, our dedicated teachers are another very important resource in the workshops. They are professional artists, for the most part, with an understanding of the artistic work and its related processes. They provide the students with foundational technology- and material courses, as well as individual supervision. With the help of the teachers, the students can work towards creating a sketch, model, experiment, or artwork.
The 3D Lab provides the opportunity to work with 3D-modeling, -animation, -printing, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). The 3D lab is also developing a 3D-printer for wax, to be used by students working with wax, glass and bronze.
Workshop Manager: Martin Christensen
The Mechatronics Workshop lets the students experiment and develop projects within electronics, mechanics and interactivity. This includes everything from moving sculptures to sound installations. Here, students can either simply build with scrap metal, or create more advanced constructions with their own circuitry, industrial components, programmed mini-computers and control systems. In the workshop, there is a 3D-printer, plus soldering and lab equipment. Above all, there are a number of machine- and mechanical-components (among others) that can be borrowed to actualize these projects.
Workshop Manager: Andreas Hammar
The Laser Studio provides instruction in laser-cutting technology from an artistic perspective. Here, the students explore different technologies and possibilities within 2D and 3D, as well as digital and analogue expressions of art. Here, it is possible to laser-cut or laser-etch various materials with the help of programmed control systems and auxiliary programs for laser-cutting machines.
In the Laser Studio, we encourage the use of various organic and environmentally friendly materials and working methods. Approved materials include paper, cardboard, wood, plywood, acrylic, natural fabrics, wool felt, natural leather and metal.
The Laser Studio offers laser-cutters WS1390M (metal and non-metal) – 260W C02 and WS1309XLS – 80W C02, plus the software Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Metal Cut and RD Works V8.
Workshop Manager: Guangjuan Zhang
The Glass Workshop provides students with the opportunity to work with many different technologies within the area of glass. The workshop is equipped with light tables, sandblast cabinets, glass grinding machines, glass saws and burners. There is a smaller repository for float glass, glass fusing, enamel paint and cast glass. The Glass Workshop also includes both larger and smaller fusing ovens, a cold glass oven and two ceramic ovens, where students who work with ceramics get help firing their works.
Workshop Manager: Ulrika Gustafsson Rosengren
The Metal Workshop is adapted for forging, sheet-metal and welding work, as well as for mechanical processes. It is possible to work with most metals, such as steel, stainless steel, aluminium, copper, bronze and brass. In addition to the sculptural fabrication of metal, the workshop is used to produce frames, reinforcements, pediments and stands. There is also a soundproof grinding- and cutting-room.
The Metal Workshop is equipped with: semi-automatic cold-saw, band-saw, plate shears, hydraulic punch, vertical drill presses, spot-welding, TIG-welding, MIG/MAG-welding, manual plasma-cutter, belt-grinder, rotary-grinder, vertical grinder, angle grinder, sheet-metal roller, manual edge-fold, lathe, milling machine, Pullmax, edge-press, ring roller, gas forge, English Wheel, tube bender, gas kit, blasters and various hand-machines. In addition, there is MMA-welding, PUK-welding, a polishing machine, and a 20-ton hydraulic press.
Workshop Manager: Göran Svenborn
In the Wood Workshop, students can experiment with, construct and build solid wood and other wood-based materials, as well as acrylate polymers.
The workshop is equipped with the highest quality wood-working machines. Here, you will find: jointer and jointer-planer, pendulum-saw, panel-saw, band-saw, disk-saw, table moulders, edge-trimming machines, long-hole drills, vertical drill, and wood lathe.
The stationary-machinery is complemented by a large selection of hand-machines and professional-grade accessories. There are also carving gouges, axes, hand-tools, and chainsaws for those who want to sculpt by hand, as well as a vacuum pump for moulding bendable wood.
Workshop Manager: Annette Felleson
In the workshop for polymeric materials, commonly known as the Plastics Workshop, students can work with various thermosetting resins, thermopolymers, composite materials and other polymeric materials. Spray- and varnishing-work is also available, as well as a work surface for vacuum moulding.
Workshop Manager: Lars Hammarström
In the Bronze Workshop, casts are made partly by the traditional clay/chamotte method (which means that the mould is created from plaster and clay) and partly by the ceramic-shell method where a thin ceramic shell is produced around the waxy copy. The shell-moulds then become easy to handle and give a precise impression of what one intends to cast.
The workshop is equipped for wax- and mould-work, firing, chiseling and patination. The bronze casting takes place at Herman Bergman Fine Art Bronze Foundry (Bergmans Konstgjuteri).
Workshop Manager: Anneli Scheutz
In the Sculpture Studio, students can work with the following materials: plaster, synthetic plaster, acrystal, jesmonite, various silicones, alginate, cast-wax and clay.
Workshop Manager: Lars Hammarström
In Mindepartementet’s Photo- and Film Studio, there is analogue film-equipment for 135mm and 120mm, as well as for 4×5 inch and 8×10 inch film. Cameras: Nikon F, Mamiya 6, Pentax 6×4.5, Mamiya RB, Mamiya RZ, Sinar Norma and Sinar P. The SLR-system is based on Canon cameras and lenses, Mark II and Mark IV. The Hasselblad system is H4D. Flashes: portable and stationary studio-lightning from Pro.
Studio Manager: Petra Bauer
The Digital Darkroom can be found in Mindepartementet. The computers are equipped with Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat X Pro and Bridge) and Microsoft Office. The screens are Eizo Color Edge CG. The monitors and the room’s lighting environment are calibrated to create a controlled digital workflow.
The Digital Darkroom has the following scanning equipment: Imacon Flextight X1 (film scanning up to 4×5 inches), Epson V 750 pro, A4 scanner, Epson 15000 GT and A3 scanner. The following color printers are available: Epson 9000 (up to 44 inches) and Epson 5000 (up to 17 inches). Print materials can purchased in the school’s technology store. There is also equipment for mounting and lamination of formats up to 150cm.
Workshop Manager: Carl Johan Erikson
The fully-equipped Sound Studio in Mindepartementet provides the opportunity to borrow equipment, such as microphones and DAT recorders. At the so-called Torpeddepartmentet we host facilities for electro-acoustic music, radio performance, and sound art. Here, students can work with audio mixing, midi, sequencing and other forms of audio recordings.
Workshop Manager: Petra Bauer
The Risograph Workshop contains a Risograph, or stencil duplicator, for simpler printed material, such as fanzines and smaller brochures. There is also a machine that folds and staples the printed matter, and a glue binder.
Workshop Manager: Carl Johan Erikson
The Royal Institute of Art offers a vibrant and well-adapted Screen-Printing Workshop. Further specialization in the print-making field is done in collaboration with external organizations.
Workshop Manager: Jenny Olsson
In the Material Institute (Materialinstitutet), teaching and practical work in the materials and methods of painting are carried out. Here, students will find equipment and materials to produce their own artistic work, such as various paints, wax-based crayons, primers and hand-made pigments. The pigments are made from natural materials, partly organic—obtained from plant-life—and partly inorganic—from sand and stone. Here, we also grow several differently coloured plants—especially woads, that produce the blue pigment indigo.
Workshop Manager: Kristina Janni Ståhl
The Mural serves as both a workshop and course-room for the 2D-area. The workshop is used for painting as well as experimentation related to painting outside the studio. Students can book a place when needed, for example to build large-format works.The walls of The Mural are used for al fresco painting in connection with the courses we offer.
Workshop Manager: Kristina Janni Ståhl
Students in the five-year program in Fine Art have access to a studio space during their studies. All students are also allowed to use our project studios for both major and time-limited projects. The student studios are located at Kasern III, Annexet (‘The Annex’), Hus 117, and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Konstakademien).
Galleri Mejan is the Royal Institute of Art’s student gallery. The building was erected in the late-19th century, when the adjacent building Kasern II was in need of expansion. The structure was subsequently built multiple times, and has been used – among other things – as the Marine Corps’ depot.
In 1963, the structure was rebuilt into a sculpture studio for the Royal Institute of Art, which by then already used Kasern II. Hans Brunnberg, who was then the professor of architecture at the Royal Institute of Art, was the lead-architect for the renovation. Then came the prominent studio-windows, which still give the building its special character to this day. The building got its current appearance in 1988, after a redevelopment designed by the architects Anders Bodin and Bo Edblad.
For most of the year, our graduate students in Fine Art show their solo exhibitions here. An important part of each student’s education consists of completing, installing, and being examined on a solo exhibition.
About a week after the vernissage, the exhibition receives a critical review in seminar-form. It is lead by the exhibiting student’s professor.
An essential part of our educational philosophy is to give our students the opportunity to put together exhibitions and to showcase their projects. In this regard, the exhibition space Mellanrummet plays an important role.
Mellanrummet (‘The Space In-Between’) has a central location, and is directly aligned with the main building’s entranceway. It is a free space for our students to exhibit shorter-term works, or experiment with ongoing projects. Here, they create their own exhibitions.
Rutiga golvet (‘The Checkered Floor’), which was initiated by Vice-Chancellor Sara Arrhenius in 2017, is located on the entry-level floor of the main building. During some parts of the 1970s, it was the site of Moderna Museet’s set of experimental activities, named Filialen. Rutiga golvet builds on that legacy and provides a space for artistic risk-taking and the pleasure of experimentation.
Rutiga golvet is both a site and ongoing-project that links art theory and seminars with publication- and exhibition-production. The space serves as a workshop for thought- and discourse-production where different practitioners meet and thrive off each other’s work. Curators, editors, critics and art scholars are invited and contribute to the university’s environment. Here, artistic and educational projects are also being developed and presented at the school, and artists present important projects and issues. It is a place that opens the Royal Institute of Art to the world at large.