Nordic Classicism presents the first English-language survey of an
important yet short-lived movement in modern architectural history.
It was through the Nordic classical movement that Scandinavian
architecture first attracted international attention. It was the Nordic
Pavilions, rather than Le Corbusier's modernism, which generated most
admiration at the 1925 World Fair, and it was the Nordic classical
architects - including Gunnar Asplund, Sigurd Lewerentz, and Alvar
Aalto - who went on to establish Scandinavia's reputation for modern
design. Yet this brief classsical movement was quickly eclipsed by the
rise of international modernism, and has often been overlooked in
architectural studies.
The book explores the lives and works of various key contributors to
Nordic classicism - with eleven chapters each focussing on a different
architect and on one of the period's outstanding works (including the
Stockholm Central Library, the Resurrection Chapel, and the Woodland
Cemetery). Famous architects and their works are examined alongside many
lesser-known examples, to provide a comprehensive and in-depth account.
As we approach the centenary of many of the events to which the book
refers, now is a timely opportunity to explore the key themes of the
Nordic classical movement, its architects, their buildings and the
social and cultural changes to which they were responding.
