ABSTRACT
This chapter draws upon the theatre archives in Malmö Stadsteater, some previously unpublished, and other Swedish-language sources, is a contribution towards such an exploration. The period from 1920 to 1940 in Sweden saw a deliberate architectural shift from a highly refined Classicism to a near-comprehensive embrace of what came to be called 'Functionalism'. Lewerentz's winning proposal in the first competition had reflected the rapidly shifting architectural theories of the period, but now the Classical architecture of the investigatory study was utterly rejected in favour of an austere, rationalist style. The various elements of the programme were separated into four main volumes in a manner that appears to owe much to Le Corbusier's recent work, notably his design for the Palace of the Soviets of 1931. The foyer and main auditorium are heavily adorned with Grecian motifs and theatrical figures, in a manner that is much more closely tied to the traditions of nineteenth-century European theatres.
