ArkDes is Sweden’s national centre for architecture and design. The museum opened in the 1950s, with the aim to create an archive of photographs to showcase contemporary architecture to the public. In the 1970s it became the national museum of architecture, and in 2009 its mission widened to also include other fields of design. Today, the collections gather the most important 20th-century Swedish architecture and design, including works by some of the country’s most famous architects, examples of extraordinary local engineering and design from the golden age of Swedish modernism.

Since the 1990s, ArkDes is located on the scenic island of Skeppsholmen, overlooking the inlet and the Old Town. The museum building, by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo,was awarded the prestigious Kasper Salin-prize and is in itself worth a visit. The annual gingerbread house competition attracts a great deal of interest from both the media and the general public during December.