Hakon Ahlberg was born in Harplinge, Sweden on 10 June 1891 and trained as an architect at the Kungliga Tekniska högskolan in Stockholm until 1914, and at the Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna in Stockholm from 1914 to 1917. He subsequently practised as an architecture in Stockholm. He also wrote extensively on architecture and was awarded the Prince in 1957 and the Alvar Aalto Medal in 1973. He died in Stockholm on 12 March 1984