Alternative strands within functionalism: Stockholm as a case study

Functionalist housing developments were constructed in Stockholm between 1930 and 1980, a period marked by rapid urban growth and expansion. Despite the wide variety of urban spaces produced over these five decades, functionalism is commonly associated with the rationalist codification and stylistic evolution promoted by the Modern Movement. In order to address this internal diversity, this study understands functionalism not as a unified style but as a design philosophy or approach, expressed through a multiplicity of forms—as it was originally formulated in the 1920s and later revisited around 1950 by architects such as Ralph Erskine. The research draws on Adolf Behne’s seminal 1923 text, in which four functionalist approaches to design are identified: expressionism, rationalism, a middle ground between the two, and utilitarianism. While styles are often organised as a succession of discrete historical periods, design approaches are here conceptualised as strands that cut across and persist through those periods. Case studies of housing developments were selected on the basis of established classifications of Stockholm’s urban development phases and subsequently analysed in relation to contemporary European trends and comparable experiences, identifying the driving forces that shaped their final form. The study also examines the extent to which Behne’s functionalist approaches remained relevant throughout the period under consideration and how they manifested in the selected cases. Finally, each housing development is interpreted through the interaction of three key factors: the mode of stylistic expression, the underlying design strand from which the project emerges, and the driving forces that informed its realisation.