Gunnar Asplund's Gothenburg: The Transformation of Public Architecture in Interwar Europe Contributor(s): Adams, Nicholas (Author) |
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ISBN: 0271059842 ISBN-13: 9780271059846 Publisher: Penn State University Press OUR PRICE: $81.13 Product Type: Hardcover Published: December 2014 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Architecture | History - Modern (late 19th Century To 1945) - Art | History - Modern (late 19th Century To 1945) - Architecture | Buildings - Public, Commercial & Industrial |
Dewey: 725.15 |
LCCN: 2014005737 |
Series: Buildings, Landscapes, and Societies |
Physical Information: 1.08" H x 9.24" W x 10.35" (3.28 lbs) 288 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Adams, Nicholas: - Nicholas Adams is Mary Conover Mellon Professor in the History of Architecture at Vassar College. |