Uno Åhren studied architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology from 1915 to -19, whereafter he joined the office of buildings counselor Ragnar Hjorth until 1921, and Gunnar Asplund until 1923. As an interior architect and furniture designer, Åhrén made his debut at Hemutställningen at Liljevalsch in Stockholm in 1917, where he presented a complete residence interior.
Åhrén participated in the Jubilee exhibition in Gothenburg in 1923, and some years later, he exhibited a lady’s lounge at the World’s Fair in Paris. At the exhibition in Paris, Åhrén was introduced to the ideas of Le Corbusier, which he took with him back to Sweden, where he became their most prominent advocate. During the late 1920’s and the early -30s, Åhrén created most of his relatively few buildings, including the townhouse in Bromma (1927-34), the student’s union house at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm together with Sven Markelius (1928-30), the office for Ford Motor Company in Frihamnen (1930-31), and the cinema Flamman in Hornstull (1930-31).
As a furniture designer, Åhrén is most known for the Windsor-inspired bent wood chair Pinnstolen (eng. The Carver) by Gemla, which he showed at the Gothenburg exhibition in 1923. At the Stockholm Exhibition in 1930, Åhrén showed several interiors and furniture and was one of the co-writers of the manifesto Acceptera, published the following year.
From 1927 to -31, Åhren worked for the company Svenskt Tenn. From 1932 to -43, Åhrén was the director of the Gothenburg city planning office and from 43-45 in the same position at Svenska Riksbyggen. In 1947, Åhrén became Sweden’s first professor in city planning at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Uno Åhrén passed away in 1977 at the age of 80. He is represented as a furniture designer at a.o. the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Furniture Studies in Stockholm.
