The Flame of Functionalism

Celebrating the spirit of the 1930s, when Scandinavian design first gained wide acclaim, this film juxtaposes period movie clips and documentary footage with images of a wide range of Finnish architecture, interior design and furnishings by Rivel and many others. It explores the idealistic, even naïve ideology of the day, with its faith in the 'light, health and efficiency' of Functionalism (or funkkis, as the Finns call it), and in 'optimism with pragmatism.' The film also charts the continued influence of the epoch in the 'new functionalism' of design today.