Abstract 0

Abstract

Since its inception, architecture has had the potential to embody and promote social meaning which can influence the way people behave and think. Since Vitruvius in the 1st BC, architects "have maintained that buildings are more than utilitarian; they are instruments by which emotions, ideas, and beliefs are expressed" (Levine 2018: 5). The lasting effects of the functionalist movement which dominated Swedish interiors can still be seen today in the design of contemporary Scandinavian public interiors. This dissertation examines the role of interior architecture as a promotional tool to facilitate social and political ideologies, outlining the cultural and political climate of Sweden in the early 20th century and examining the rise of modernism in Europe. Above anything the interiors and design of Scandinavia today can be characterised by their democratic spirit, which can be linked directly to the Stockholm Exhibition in 1930 spearheaded by Gregor Paulsson. The link between the interior architecture techniques implemented and developed throughout the second half of the 20th century have rarely been compared directly to the interior architecture of the 21st century. This dissertation aims to fill that gap, through the analysis of critical works by significant proponents of functionalism, Gunnar Asplund and Alvar Aalto, illuminating their desire to combine the rural traditions of craftmanship and an environmental connection. Followed by the spatial analysis of 2 contemporary examples of interior architecture to demonstrate the direct link between the community-centric design philosophy of Folkhemmet and the affinity between the individual and the community felt in contemporary Scandinavian interior architecture.