THE 

SOUTH 

AFRICAN 

ARCHITECTURAL 
Vol. XVI. No. 64. 
THE INTERNATIONAL TENDENCY IN ARCHITECTURE 

RECORD 
DECEMBER, 1931. 
CONTEMPORARY 

WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO SWEDISH WORK. 
BY REX MARTIENSSEN. 

If we look back a few years in the rapid development of the new movement in European architecture we will find in general that there are two tendencies in the movement. A tendency towards nationalism and a tendency towards internationalism. In the earlier years nationalism predominated, especially in the countries unaffected by the war. In Holland Berlage's Stock Exchange at Amsterdam is a landmark in nationalist development. In Germany Mendelsohn's Einstein Tower at Potsdam. In Sweden Ostberg's Stadshus at Stockholm. 
In Germany the national (or romantic) spirit was fairly rapidly displaced by the international (or intellectual) spirit for economic reasons. National prosperity such as existed in Holland and Sweden is the natural forerunner to romanticism in architecture. Where there is no prosperity the exigencies of economy inevitably produce an intellectual and logical architecture. Thus in post-war Germany we find the general problem, that of housing great numbers of people cheaply and comfortably. Where efficiency is the first essential the approach to the problem is naturally scientific rather than romantic. 
In Sweden where the problem of housing is not so acute (for the great reconstruction which the war necessitated in Germany is absent) the characteristic or significant architecture is to be found in great townhalls, libraries, theatres and luxurious office buildings. In Holland) the housing problem, especially in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, though urgent did not include the factor of rigid economy which was a fundamental in the corresponding german system. Thus we find large blocs of flats in Amsterdam designed by de Klerk and others in which the free and amusing facades, though significantly demonstrating the possibilities of new processes and materials, are actually an exact index of superfluous money. 

If we compare these flats with those of Walter Gropius in Germany we will see to what extent enforced economy affects architectural form. And in turn we will see that technical processes, the use of steel, reinforced concrete and glass are not arbitrary conventions, but the direct outcome of economic necessity. Where surplus money renders a maximum efficiency unnecessary, it is obvious that old and wasteful methods will continue to be employed, and that there will be some money over for applied decoration. In other words there must always be a demand before a method can be evolved for coping with that demand. The analogy of telephone, aeroplane, etc., suggests itself. 
We find then, that as the economic conditions of different countries approach one another, there will be a corresponding approach in architectural style. This is the basis of internationalism in architecture. If we consider the tendencies in Swedish architecture in detail we will find that at present there exists a fairly evenly balanced dimorphism. Ostberg and his school strongly national and romantic, Asplund with hints of romanticism in some of his work but predominantly intellectual and international in his greatest projects. 
If we are to have a reasonably accurate conception of the intellectual movement as a whole it would be necessary while discussing Asplund (the most important Swedish exponent) to bear in mind the corresponding exponents in other countries and to correlate our conclusions from one branch with those of the others. This would necessitate a close examination of the work and writings of Professor Gropius (Germany), Ie Corbusier (France) and Oud (Holland), so that I must presuppose the reader to have a working knowledge of these authorities if the present note is not to become unduly long. 

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Before discussing Asplund and his two mast important works (the Public Library and Exhibition Buildings at Stockholm) I think it would be advisable first to consider those buildings which have their origin in the purely national movement, so that we may not comparatively in what respects the essential divergence in tendency is created. 
Undoubtedly the greatest influence in the romantic movement in modern Sweden is Ragnar Ostberg's Stadshus at Stockholm. It is romantic in conception, romantic in execution, romantic in setting, and completely Swedish as an architectonic unity. Before designing, and while formulating his final scheme for the Stadshus, Ostberg travelled widely, sketching in Belgium, in Italy, in England; and steeping himself in the atmosphere of  architectural form which he encountered. Stockholm is the Venice of the north, so that it was inevitable that Ostberg would associate the Doge's Place (with its mystic arches suggestive of vistas across the water) with his own project so similarly placed. And in execution too, Ostberg built his great idea on public enthusiasm. All the best artists wor ked with him, influential men ga.ve him their entire confidence and support, and money was forthcoming for any unforseen emergency. The setting was superb and Ostberg took full advantage of the dramatic possibilities both in viewing the Stadshus, and in viewing Stockholm from his building. The plan is too well known to need description, it breaks all the rules formulated by the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and provides in the Blue Hall and Golden Hall, two of the most exciting and glorius examples of architectural virtuosity of  this century. 
The first impression of f the Stadshus is overwhelming. As a whole it seems impossible of analysis, but if we allow our enthusiasm to cool, the Stockholm Town Hall is in truth a strange mixture. A strange mixture of contradictions and inconsistencies like most romantic things. There seems no reason why the arches from the Doges Palace should be grafted on to a building essentially symbolical of  things Swedish. Or why Ostberg should under light a number of his rooms to fulfill a preconceived system of fenestration. Or why parts should appear gothic, parts classic and parts Swedish vernacular. There are no positive reasons, one can analyse a romantic conception, but synthesis is a rational process foreign to romance. 

There is a general answer, however, and that is the romantic knows no laws, he is a free agent, his premises are of his own choosing, and his approach to a problem is essentially personal, so that the results can be judged only in terms of the thing in itself, and success or failure is consequently a matter of individual opinion. 
In romantic work there is no general solution to a problem. In intellectual work every problem is capable 'Of a general solution. Romantic creation is individual and makes little claim on the intellect. The particular is always easy by comprehension, the general always difficult. It is part by the same law that necessitates teaching small children with particulars. "If I have four oranges and take away one, how many oranges have I left?" 
In exactly the same way the romantic architect particularises the elements of his building. Columns used as supports today do not require foliated capitals structurally, but they would appear dull without a little fun at the top, so the romantic rummages in his historic stock and produces his favourite capital. From Venice, or the Acropolis, or Egypt-it matters very little so long as the reinforced concrete underneath does its work thoroughly in tying the column to its beam! Windows and doors, all the elements receive their 
	applied coating of  romance. 	The" intellectual" or, 
"rational" architect is satisfied with his columns and windows to appear as columns and windows in the general sense. They must function, and in their functioning properly lies their innate beauty. Thus the elements fall into a collective unity, there is a mathematical relation and harmony in their separate and combined duties. It is clear from the foregoing that it is impossible to judge intellectual architecture on the same bases as those used for romantic work. Taste in intellectual work is defined in scientific and logical terms. The farms of building must have a significance other than literary-historical. Taste in romantic work has its roots in the accumulated standards of individual traditional examples. The bases are essentially arbitrary, and not susceptible of a rational interpretation. Thus Ostberg in his Stadshus deliberately embodies those motives which appeal to him personally; the pattern which he weaves into his building is independent of  the actual requirements. The fulfillment of those requirements is secondary and only approximate. This approach to an architectural problem equipped with pre-selected farms is the characteristic and weakness of romantic architecture. 
By our definition of intellectual architecture it will be apparent that a given set of conditions worked out a solution in a logical and scientific process, will produce a work of architecture definitely related to those conditions and peculiar to them alone. The Stockholm Public Library is a building worked out on this  basis. The conditions have dictated the plan arrangement, and the forms of building have embraced that plan as simply and directly as the means at the architect's disposal would allow. This method is in direct contrast to Ostberg's. 
Of the modern house Professor Gropius says: "The ground plan of a dwelling house is a geometrical projection of its spatial idea-the organizing plan for moving within the house. The elevation, facade, is the result of that plan and not the starting point of 

 

	

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THE SOUTH AFRICAN ARCHITECTURAL RECORD 

 

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STOCKHOLM PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

E. G. Asplund, Architect. 

STOCKHOLM PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

The Entrance Hall 

 
THE SOUTH AFRICAN ARCHITECTURAL RECORD 
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December, 1931. 

STOCKHOLM PUBLIC LIBRARY. 
The Ground Floor Plan. 
the house design. Hence no artificial symmetry, but a free functional arrangement of the succession of rooms, short, time-saving passages of communication, 
moving space for the children, clear separation between the living, the sleeping, and the housekeeping parts of the house, and finally proper utilization of the ground and especially the sunny aspect. The natural measurements of the human body, its movements and functions determine the limits for the minimum sizes of rooms and furniture, but the manner of using a home has undergone a change in the course of time" The ground plan of any building is the organizing plan for moving within that building, in traditional work the organization is imperfect, confused, in intellectual planning the organization is exact and scientific. If we apply Professor Gropius test to Asplund's Library building we will find that function is predominant in the arrangement of the plan. The human body and its requirements are the measure of space. Asplund himself says of the Library "In the planning of the building, the decisive factor was the principal room, with its lending hall, reading-rooms, study rooms, etc. The concentrated design of the plan is explained by the desire, in actual operation, to leave the least possible distance between the entrance and the counter of the lending hall. The entrance for the adult general public is through the main doorway from the Sveavagen, straight forward and up stairs which are run in close to the lending desk in order to provide the compact passage necessary for checking purposes. The public, 
whose objectives are the study circle rooms or the offices on the top floor, must pass along the two narrow staircases, which in addition provide, for the staff, communication with the galleries of the hall, the study rooms and newspaper reading room. The entrance for children is placed on the park side, forming an entirely separate division. Officials and servants enter from the Odengatan. The inner communication for officials from their work room to the main room, the packing room, the book magazine and the workshop and galleries runs via the stairs and two passenger lifts. " 
It is interesting to note that in describing his building Asplund does not discuss "the sources of his inspiration," or the "style" in which he built. He plunges directly into the problem as it presents itself to him. The arrangement of rooms, communications, convenience, simplicity, and the necessity for practical functioning. The building forms inevitably about the nucleus, the idea of a library. The ultimate form of the building is "Stockholm Public Library" and no other building whatever. But it is international and general in its solution of a problem, just as the Bauhaus by Walter Gropius is international and general, or the "Haus im Garten" by Mies van der Rohe.