Gunnar Asplund's Gothenburg : the transformation of public architecture in interwar Europe / Nicholas Adams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Adams, Nicholas, 1947- author.

Series:

Buildings, landscapes, and societies.

Buildings, landscapes, and societies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Asplund, Erik Gunnar, 1885-1940--Criticism and interpretation.

Asplund, Erik Gunnar.

Göteborgs Rådhus (Göteborg, Sweden).

Architecture--Europe.

Architecture.

Architecture--History.

Göteborg (Sweden)--Buildings, structures, etc.

Göteborg (Sweden).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (289 pages).

Place of Publication:

University Park, Pennsylvania : The Pennsylvania State University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the west coast port city of Gothenburg, Sweden, the architect Gunnar Asplund built a modest extension to an old courthouse on the main square (1934–36). Judged today to be one of the finest works of modern architecture, the courthouse extension was immediately the object of a negative newspaper campaign led by one of the most noted editors of the day, Torgny Segerstedt. Famous for his determined opposition to National Socialism, he also took a principled stand against the undermining of urban tradition in Gothenburg. Gothenburg’s problems with modern public architecture, though clamorous and publicized throughout Sweden, were by no means unique. In Gunnar Asplund’s Gothenburg, Nicholas Adams places Asplund’s building in the wider context of public architecture between the wars, setting the originality and sensitivity of Asplund’s conception against the political and architectural struggles of the 1930s. Today, looking at the building in the broadest of contexts, we can appreciate the richness of this exquisite work of architecture. This book recaptures the complex magic of its creation and the fascinating controversy of its completed form.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

A Note on Translation

Introduction: Public Architecture in the Modern World

Chapter 1. Sweden: Gothenburg and Its Courthouse

Chapter 2. Asplund’s Multiple Visions, 1913–1937

Chapter 3. Asplund’s Building and Modern Law

Chapter 4. Asplund’s Reputation and the Catastrophic Reception

Chapter 5. Managing Modernisms at Home

Chapter 6. Public Architecture After Asplund

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780271065205

0271065206

OCLC:

1253314027