Nyrop, who had a background as a carpenter, had just experienced his breakthrough as an architect with his design of the buildings for the 1888 Nordic Exhibition in Copenhagen. He constructed all his exhibition pavilions of wood at a time when iron and glass was favored for temporary structures, justifying the decision by claiming the result would be prettier for the same cost. Both Rytterhuset and many of his buildings for the Nordic Exhibition (cf. Det Norske Hus) were inspired by Nordic Vernacular architecture, wood ornamentation and polychromy which mirror the National romantic currents in architecture at the time.