Fred Forbat (1897-1972) was born in Pécs, Hungary. He was educated as an architect in Budapest and Munich. After having finished his studies in 1920, Forbat was employed in Walter Gropius' architect's office at the Bauhaus in Weimar. Due to the political situation, Forbat decided to emigrate to Sweden in 1938. During the 1940s and 1950s he concentrated on urban planning, and was appointed Professor of Urban Planning at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm in 1959.
The Fred Forbat Book Collection is one of nearly 250 architects' collections donated to or otherwise acquired by the Swedish Museum of Architecture. The Forbat Collection mainly consists of literature on architecture and housing questions in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s, which reflects the early Functionalistic period in Europe. The collection contains approximately 200 titles. The author's text concentrates on some 50 titles, selected with regard to Forbat's architectural work and his reading interests. The book collection is divided into six categories or subjects: art and architectural theory, monographs on architects and artists, art history, history of architecture, literature on housing questions and urban planning.