Born in Sandö, Sweden in 1885, Sigurd Lewerentz trained as a mechanical engineer in Gothenburg and later as an architectural apprentice in Germany. He studied with important Swedish architects Hans Gustaf Westman, Ragnar Östberg and Ivar Tengbom before opening an office in 1911. Lewerentz’ association with another former classmate, Gunnar Asplund, led to the commission for the highly admired Woodland Cemetery in Stockholm (1914-40), with the two also collaborating as main architects for the influential Stockholm International Exhibition (1930). In 1933 Lewerentz, this time in collaboration with Erik Lallerstedt and David Hellden, designed the Malmö Opera and Music Theatre, one of Sweden’s most important early functionalist buildings. Later work included St Mark’s Church, Björkhagen, Stockholm (1956) and St Peter’s Klippan (1963-66). These cemented Lewerentz’s place in architectural history as one of Scandinavia’s most talented and sensitive architects.

During his trip to Sweden in 1950, Robin Boyd visited and photographed Lewerentz’s bell tower and chapels in Malmö Eastern Cemetery. He also visited the Malmö Opera House, which he would highlight in a letter to Brian Lewis and Roy Grounds as particularly outstanding.