Chapter 2: The Humanistic influence of Asplund and Aalto This chapter will look at key works from architects Gunnar Asplund and Alvar Aalto. Catalysts in the modernist movement throughout Scandinavia, their works demonstrate the interior architecture qualities and techniques that cater to the human experience of an individual and apply them to the masses within their public architecture. It is vital to acknowledge how the architectural style of modernism was a tool used by architects such as Asplund and Aalto to improve the everyday lives of as many people as they could through rationality and a scientific approach to human behaviour (Levine 2018: 13). However, the efforts of Asplund and Aalto went beyond the universal requirements associated with functionalism. Asplund and Aalto acted as architects focusing on the notions of place, memory and experience within modernism (Miller 1990: 12). Shortly after the Stockholm Exhibition in 1930, Asplund together with Paulsson, Markelius and Åhrén released their manifesto titled Acceptera – Swedish for accept – pushing their egalitarian agenda and pleading with the public to embrace this new architectural style and bring it into their homes. Acceptera focused on social transformation through the idea of home and transforming the standard of living for the public (Levine 2018). It was the Stockholm Exhibition which launched this connection between architecture and ideology, as functionalism was propelled into the mainstream. The political initiative of Folkhemmet attached itself to the style, using it as a technique to solve the welfare issue of housing (Levine 2018: 13).
Before the Stockholm Exhibition, Gunnar Asplund was a central figure in the Nordic Neo-Classical architectural style which dominated Scandinavian Architecture between 1910 and 1930 (Blundell Jones 2002: 41). This distinctive period can be seen as bridging between the ornate classicism of the 19th century and the functionalist modernism which dominated from the mid 20th century onwards. The façade of Asplund's 1918 Snellman House in Djursholm, Stockholm (Figure 2.01) provides evidence of his new interest in simplicity and restraint with the precise disposition of fenestration. Especially when viewed in conjunction with Asplund's Villa Callin (Figure 2.02) completed only three years prior in 1915, featuring a much more ornate traditional façade. The façades indicate the first change as Asplund moves towards modernism, this chapter will analyse the effects of this change on the interiors of Asplund's Stockholm Public Library, completed in 1928.
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