Archives of American Art
Olav Hammarstrom papers
Hammarstrom, Olav, 1906-2002
AAA.hammolav
Archival Resource Key
0.7 Linear feet
1939-1980
The scattered papers of architect and furniture designer Olav Hammarstrom measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1939 to 1980. The bulk of the collection consists of project files of architectural works in the United States and around the world. Project files may include correspondence, drawings and architectural renderings, photographs, and printed material.
English
.
Biographical / Historical
Olav Hammarstrom (1906-2002) was a Finnish-born architect active in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Wellfleet, Massachusetts.
Born in Heinola, Finland in 1906, Olav Hammarstrom studied and began his career as an architect in Helsinki. In 1948, Hammarstrom came to the United States to work on a project with Alvar Aalto in Massachusetts. He stayed in the United States after marrying textile artist Marianne Strengell and settled in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Together, Strengell and Hammarstrom served as consultants for the United States government and the United Nations and reported on the cottage industry of weaving in the Philippines and Jamaica. After Strengell retired from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, she and Olav moved to Wellfleet, Massachusetts where Hammarstrom took many commissions.
Olav Hammarstrom died in 2002 in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archive's Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Terms of Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Olav Hammarstrom donated his papers to the Archives of American Art in 1983.
Preferred Citation
Olav Hammarstrom papers, 1939-1980. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Processing Information
The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson in 2019.
Related Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview with Olav Hammarstrom, conducted 1982 October 21-1983 March 10 by Robert F. Brown. The Cranbrook Archives also holds a collection of Olav Hammarstrom's papers.
Scope and Contents
The scattered papers of architect and furniture designer Olav Hammarstrom measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1939 to 1980. The bulk of the collection consists of project files of architectural works in the United States and around the world. Project files may include correspondence, drawings and architectural renderings, photographs, and printed material.
Drawings
Architects -- Massachusetts -- Wellfleet
Architects -- Michigan -- Bloomfield Hills
Furniture designers -- Massachusetts -- Wellfleet
Furniture designers -- Michigan -- Bloomfield Hills
Finnish Americans
Furniture design
Strengell, Marianne, 1909-1998
Olav Hammarstrom Papers
Series 1
Archival Resource Key
0.7 Linear feet
Box 1-2
1939-1980
Scope and Contents
Correspondence includes scattered letters from architectural groups. Additional correspondence, printed material, and a report concerning furniture design concerns Strengell's and Hammarstrom's trip to the Philippines in the mid-1950s. Project files for Hammarstrom's commissions date from the 1930s to the 1970s and may include drawings and architectural renderings, photographs, correspondence, and printed material. The material is scattered, with some files only containing clippings. Also found is printed material, photographs of Hammarstrom and photographs of artworks, and unlabeled architectural drawings.
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1952-1958
1
1
United National Technical Assistance Administration, Philippines Trip
Archival Resource Key
1949-1952
1
2-3
Project File--Air Force Museum (Akron, Ohio)
Archival Resource Key
1963
1
4
Project File--Angove Residence
Archival Resource Key
1957
1
5
Project File--Oversized Bellapaise Villas (Cyprus, Greece)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960
2
3
Project File--Chapel of St. James the Fisherman (Cape Cod, Massachusetts)
Archival Resource Key
1957
1
6
Project File--Oversized Chapel of St. James the Fisherman Photos
Archival Resource Key
1957
2
2
Project File--Ellis Residence
Archival Resource Key
1957
1
7
Project File--General Motors Technical Center
Archival Resource Key
circa 1950s
1
8
Project File--Hammarstrom Residence
Archival Resource Key
1956-1970s
1
9
Project File--Harsen's Island Residence
Archival Resource Key
1959-1960
1
10
Project File--Hotel Bernadin (Piran, Slovenia)
Archival Resource Key
1973
2
5
Project File--Immanuel Lutheran Church (Amherst, Massachusetts)
Archival Resource Key
1965
1
11
Project File--Kumo River Valley Association (Russia)
Archival Resource Key
1946-1948
1
12
Project File--Levy Residence
Archival Resource Key
1963
1
13
Project File--Oversized Levy House Drawing
Archival Resource Key
1963
2
1
Project File--Missionary Chuches
Archival Resource Key
1960
1
14
Project File--Oakland Museum
Archival Resource Key
1961-1962
1
15
Project File--Oversized Oakland Museum
Archival Resource Key
1961-1962
2
4
Project File--Nurme Residence
Archival Resource Key
1962-1965
1
16
Project File--Petsamon Nikkeli
Archival Resource Key
1939-1945
1
17
Project File--Saarinen Residence (Lily Swann)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960
1
18
Project File--St. Anselm's Episcopal Church (Lafayette, California)
Archival Resource Key
1960
1
19
Clippings
Archival Resource Key
1945-1959
1
20
Press Releases and Announcements
Archival Resource Key
1945-1958
1
21
Photographs
Archival Resource Key
1952-1980
1
22
Artwork
Archival Resource Key
1952-1954
1
23-24