Some architects had already reached the peak of their careers when the nationalist romantic style arrived, but their later works were in the Nordic classicist style (e.g. Carl Westman), others' careers culminated in Nordic classicism (e.g. Ivar Tengbom and Ragnar Östberg), while others later achieved much greater prominence as modern architects (e.g. Arne Jacobsen, Alvar Aalto and Sven Markelius). Both Figures who achieved greater influence in both periods, however, were the Swedish architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz.

Among the most relevant architects of this style are the following:[2]​.

Although these architects are classified by country, during this period there was an intense cultural exchange between the Nordic countries, so that many architects worked in more than one, and also a considerable development in the sphere of activity of the architect, from consultant to the bourgeoisie to urban planner concerned with infrastructure, housing and public services. As Swedish historian Henrik O. Anderson said, this was an architecture of democracy, not radical avant-garde.[4] Furthermore, with the exception of Finland, the other Nordic countries did not participate in World War I, allowing for continued cultural development.

Interest in Nordic classicism, especially in its most classical form, increased in the late 1970s and early 1980s, at the height of postmodernism, when architectural critics, historians, and professors sought historical precedents for the work of architects such as Michael Graves, Leon Krier, and Robert Stern. Nordic classicism provided such a precedent, especially with such seminal buildings as Gunnar's Scandia Cinema. Asplund in Stockholm (1924), the Listers District Court of Justice (1917–21), the Snellman Villa in Djursholm (1917–18) and the Stockholm Public Library (1920–28), as well as the landscaping and buildings of Stockholm's Skogskyrkogården Cemetery (1917–1940) by Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz.[3]​.

When it comes to architectural style, there were several precedents or reasons for the rise of Nordic classicism. The first was the existing classical tradition, transmitted from the architecture of absolutism – that is, the classical architectural symbols of power of the Swedish and Danish monarchies – to the popular, for example in terms of considerations of symmetry, detail and proportion.

Throughout the century there were several factors that contributed to the development of a more simplified classicism. The teachings of Jean Nicolas Louis Durand at the École Polytechnique in Paris at the beginning of the century had attempted to rationalize the language and construction techniques of classicism, while allowing for simple additive compositions. Durand's teachings spread, entering German culture in the form of romantic classicism through the work of Friedrich Gilly and Karl Friedrich Schinkel. At the time, scholars were discovering the remains of Pompeii, rediscovering the use of bright colors in Roman architecture, an aspect that had been virtually forgotten in the Renaissance, but also rediscovering Greece and Egypt. These aspects were incorporated into neoclassicism and continued to be present in Nordic classicism. For example, the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen (1839–48), by M.G. Bindesbøll, incorporates Egyptian motifs, as does Asplund's Stockholm Public Library.[5]​.

There are also “reaction circles” to consider. Modernism "Modernism (art)") and the nationalist romantic style had little impact in Denmark, while in Sweden, Norway and Finland there were strong reactions linked to nationalist romanticism. Neoclassicism had arrived in Finland through Saint Petersburg as a universal language, but at the end of the century it came to represent an external presence, that of Russia. Therefore, when desires for political independence appeared in Finland and Norway, a rustic architecture in a nationalist romantic style prevailed—a local variation of modernism—that played with nationalist myths. Nordic classicism was therefore a counterreaction to that style and to eclecticism in general, a movement directed towards universalism, internationalism and simplification.[1]​.

Many of the architects who created works in the Nordic classicist style made pilgrimages to northern Italy to study Italian vernacular architecture. Due to the close cultural connections at that time between the Nordic countries and Germany, another important source came from German critics of modernism, notably Hermann Muthesius—who had been a promoter of the English Arts and Crafts movement and founded the Deutscher Werkbund in 1907—and Paul Schultze-Naumburg, as well as Heinrich Tessenow, a student of the latter, and Peter Behrens.

In turn, the thought of Nordic classicism became one of the bases for the development of modern architecture in the Nordic countries. The idea that there would have been a continuity between vernacular and modern architecture is considered contrary to received historical opinion about the rise of the Modern Movement, beginning with Le Corbusier and his five points of modern architecture, which are considered to turn five basic principles of classicism on their head. A real-time demonstration of the shift from Nordic classicism to pure functionalism is offered by Alvar Aalto's design of the Viipuri Library (1927–35), which underwent a profound transformation from the original proposal for the 1927 architectural competition (which owed much to Gunnar Asplund) to the severe functionalist-style building completed eight years later in a purist modern style, influenced by Le Corbusier.[2]

Some architects had already reached the peak of their careers when the nationalist romantic style arrived, but their later works were in the Nordic classicist style (e.g. Carl Westman), others' careers culminated in Nordic classicism (e.g. Ivar Tengbom and Ragnar Östberg), while others later achieved much greater prominence as modern architects (e.g. Arne Jacobsen, Alvar Aalto and Sven Markelius). Both Figures who achieved greater influence in both periods, however, were the Swedish architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz.

Among the most relevant architects of this style are the following:[2]​.

Although these architects are classified by country, during this period there was an intense cultural exchange between the Nordic countries, so that many architects worked in more than one, and also a considerable development in the sphere of activity of the architect, from consultant to the bourgeoisie to urban planner concerned with infrastructure, housing and public services. As Swedish historian Henrik O. Anderson said, this was an architecture of democracy, not radical avant-garde.[4] Furthermore, with the exception of Finland, the other Nordic countries did not participate in World War I, allowing for continued cultural development.

Interest in Nordic classicism, especially in its most classical form, increased in the late 1970s and early 1980s, at the height of postmodernism, when architectural critics, historians, and professors sought historical precedents for the work of architects such as Michael Graves, Leon Krier, and Robert Stern. Nordic classicism provided such a precedent, especially with such seminal buildings as Gunnar's Scandia Cinema. Asplund in Stockholm (1924), the Listers District Court of Justice (1917–21), the Snellman Villa in Djursholm (1917–18) and the Stockholm Public Library (1920–28), as well as the landscaping and buildings of Stockholm's Skogskyrkogården Cemetery (1917–1940) by Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz.[3]​.

When it comes to architectural style, there were several precedents or reasons for the rise of Nordic classicism. The first was the existing classical tradition, transmitted from the architecture of absolutism – that is, the classical architectural symbols of power of the Swedish and Danish monarchies – to the popular, for example in terms of considerations of symmetry, detail and proportion.

Throughout the century there were several factors that contributed to the development of a more simplified classicism. The teachings of Jean Nicolas Louis Durand at the École Polytechnique in Paris at the beginning of the century had attempted to rationalize the language and construction techniques of classicism, while allowing for simple additive compositions. Durand's teachings spread, entering German culture in the form of romantic classicism through the work of Friedrich Gilly and Karl Friedrich Schinkel. At the time, scholars were discovering the remains of Pompeii, rediscovering the use of bright colors in Roman architecture, an aspect that had been virtually forgotten in the Renaissance, but also rediscovering Greece and Egypt. These aspects were incorporated into neoclassicism and continued to be present in Nordic classicism. For example, the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen (1839–48), by M.G. Bindesbøll, incorporates Egyptian motifs, as does Asplund's Stockholm Public Library.[5]​.

There are also “reaction circles” to consider. Modernism "Modernism (art)") and the nationalist romantic style had little impact in Denmark, while in Sweden, Norway and Finland there were strong reactions linked to nationalist romanticism. Neoclassicism had arrived in Finland through Saint Petersburg as a universal language, but at the end of the century it came to represent an external presence, that of Russia. Therefore, when desires for political independence appeared in Finland and Norway, a rustic architecture in a nationalist romantic style prevailed—a local variation of modernism—that played with nationalist myths. Nordic classicism was therefore a counterreaction to that style and to eclecticism in general, a movement directed towards universalism, internationalism and simplification.[1]​.

Many of the architects who created works in the Nordic classicist style made pilgrimages to northern Italy to study Italian vernacular architecture. Due to the close cultural connections at that time between the Nordic countries and Germany, another important source came from German critics of modernism, notably Hermann Muthesius—who had been a promoter of the English Arts and Crafts movement and founded the Deutscher Werkbund in 1907—and Paul Schultze-Naumburg, as well as Heinrich Tessenow, a student of the latter, and Peter Behrens.

In turn, the thought of Nordic classicism became one of the bases for the development of modern architecture in the Nordic countries. The idea that there would have been a continuity between vernacular and modern architecture is considered contrary to received historical opinion about the rise of the Modern Movement, beginning with Le Corbusier and his five points of modern architecture, which are considered to turn five basic principles of classicism on their head. A real-time demonstration of the shift from Nordic classicism to pure functionalism is offered by Alvar Aalto's design of the Viipuri Library (1927–35), which underwent a profound transformation from the original proposal for the 1927 architectural competition (which owed much to Gunnar Asplund) to the severe functionalist-style building completed eight years later in a purist modern style, influenced by Le Corbusier.[2]