Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930. The style was also known as Swedish Grace architecture in Sweden. Until a resurgence of interest for the period during the 1980s (marked by several scholarly studies and public exhibitions), Nordic Classicism was regarded as a mere interlude between two much better-known architectural movements, National Romanticism, or Jugendstil (often seen as equivalent or parallel to Art Nouveau), and Functionalism (a.k.a. Modernism).
History
The development of Nordic Classicism was no isolated phenomenon, but took off from classical traditions already existing in the Nordic countries, and from new ideas being pursued in German-speaking cultures. Nordic Classicism can thus be characterised as a combination of direct and indirect influences from vernacular architecture (Nordic, Italian and German) and Neoclassicism, but also the early stirrings of Modernism from the Deutscher Werkbund – especially their exhibition of 1914 – and by the mid-1920s the Esprit Nouveau emerging from the theories of Le Corbusier. The modernist influence went beyond mere aesthetics: urbanisation tied to modern building techniques and the introduction of regulations both in building and town planning, and moreover, to the rise of social forces that resulted in a change in political ideology toward the Left, resulting in the Nordic welfare state, and new programmes for public buildings such as hospitals (e.g. the Beckomberga Hospital in western Stockholm (1927–1935) by Carl Westman) and schools (e.g. the Fridhemsplan school, Stockholm, (1925–27) by Georg A. Nilsson). But while Nordic Classicism was employed for a number of important public buildings, it was also applied as a model for low-cost housing (e.g. the Puu-Käpylä Garden Town, Helsinki (1920–25) by Martti Välikangas) and domestic architecture in general (e.g. an affordable sense of style for the nouveau riche). The year 1930 is usually considered the end point of Nordic Classicism because that was the year of the Stockholm Exhibition, designed mostly by Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, when a more purist Modernism was unveiled as a model for a modern society. However, key buildings continued to be built in the classical style after that, notably Östberg's Maritime Museum in Stockholm (1931–34).
Notable architects
Certain architects had reached the culmination of their careers already when the National Romantic style came, but their latter works were in the Nordic Classicism style (e.g. Carl Westman), the career of others culminated with Nordic Classicism (e.g. Ivar Tengbom and Ragnar Östberg), while others later went on to achieve far greater significance as Modernist architects (e.g. Arne Jacobsen, Alvar Aalto, and Sven Markelius). The two figures who achieved greatest significance in both periods, however, were Swedish architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz. Denmark: Kay Fisker, Hack Kampmann, Kaj Gottlob, Ivar Bentsen, Povl Baumann, Poul Holsøe, Edvard Thomsen, Thomas Havning, Holger Jacobsen, Kaare Klint, Arne Jacobsen, Carl Petersen, Aage Rafn, Steen Eiler Rasmussen, Sven Risom, and Frits Schlegel. Finland: Gunnar Taucher, Uno Ullberg, Martti Välikangas, J.S. Sirén, Alvar Aalto, Pauli E. Blomstedt, Elsi Borg, Erik Bryggman, Hilding Ekelund, Heikki Siikonen, and Oiva Kallio. Norway: Lars Backer, Lorentz Ree, Sverre Pedersen, Nicolai Beer, Finn Berner, Harald Hals, Herman Munthe-Kaas, Gudolf Blakstad, Finn Bryn, Jens Dunker and Johan Ellefsen. Sweden: Ragnar Östberg, Gunnar Asplund, Carl Westman, Sigurd Lewerentz, Carl Bergsten, Sigfrid Ericson, Torben Grut, Ragnar Hjorth, Cyrillus Johansson, Erik Lallerstedt, Gunnar Leche, Sven Markelius, Gunnar Morssing, George Nilsson, Ture Ryberg, Albin Stark, Eskil Sundahl, Lars Israel Wahlman, Sven Wallander, Hakon Ahlberg and Ivar Tengbom. Though these architects are listed by country, during this period there was an intense cultural exchange among the Nordic countries (many architects worked in more than one), but also considerable development in the architect's sphere of activity, from consultant to the bourgeoisie to town planner concerned with infrastructure, dwelling and public services. As Swedish historian Henrik O. Anderson has put it, this was an architecture of democracy, not radical avant-gardism. Furthermore, with the exception of Finland, the other Nordic countries had avoided getting involved in the First World War, allowing for continued cultural development.
Relationship to other movements
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