The Stockholm Exhibition of 1930
In the summer of 1930 the exhibition presented Swedish crafts and housing in an entirely new form: light pavilions of glass and steel, flags, advertising and a tall advertising mast. Functionalism made its breakthrough in Sweden in a single summer. The buildings were demolished, but the ideas became those of the folkhem, the Swedish welfare state.
The Swedish Society of Crafts and Design, with Gregor Paulsson as its driving force, wanted to show how modern design and industry could provide better homes and everyday objects for all. Paulsson had already written Vackrare vardagsvara (More Beautiful Everyday Things) in 1919, and the 1930 exhibition was to put these ideas into practice. Gunnar Asplund became chief architect and designed most of the pavilions, while other young architects, among them Sven Markelius and Uno Åhrén, were responsible for the housing section. The buildings were made as temporary structures of steel, glass, timber and thin boards, and they were painted in light colours. The exhibition opened in May 1930 on the shore of Djurgårdsbrunnsviken and ran through the summer. It drew a very large number of visitors and became one of the most talked-about events in the history of Swedish architecture.
The exhibition was laid out like a small town with streets, squares and a waterfront promenade. The pavilions had flat roofs, large windows and light structures, and flags, signs and neon advertising gave the area a festive and modern character. The Paradiset restaurant, with its glass walls and terraces, became one of the most photographed buildings. The advertising mast, a tall steel structure hung with signs, was intended as an eye-catcher visible from afar. The housing section displayed furnished flats and small houses, often compact and carefully thought out, to show how ordinary families could live in light, airy and hygienic homes. Crafts and industrial products were exhibited in halls that presented Swedish design in a new light.
The exhibition provoked fierce debate between supporters of the new style and traditionalists, who saw it as cold and alien. The word funkis became part of the language. The following year Asplund, Paulsson, Markelius, Åhrén and two others published acceptera, a manifesto arguing that Sweden should adapt to the new age. The buildings were demolished when the exhibition was over, but its ideas of light, air and standardisation lived on in housing policy and in the Swedish folkhem. Architects from other countries also took note of the exhibition, among them Alvar Aalto, who visited it. Today it survives in photographs and drawings, but its importance for Swedish architecture and design in the 20th century can hardly be overstated.