On the ‘cultural transfer’ of modern architecture northwards - Akzeptiere: Das Buch und seine Geschichte

"Akzeptiere: Das Buch und seine Geschichte" is the latest in-depth contribution by Atli Magnus Seelow, one of several by him on the 1930 Stockholm exhibition and the book accepetera, the 200-page text often referred to as ‘the manifesto of Swedish functionalism’ which was co-authored by the group – Erik Gunnar Asplund, Wolter Gahn, Sven Markelius, Gregor Paulsson Eskil Sundahl and Uno Åhrén – responsible for what is still an important event in Nordic countries. In Nordic circles accepetera has had ‘a major impact over time in relation to the short-lived Stockholm exhibition, ‘ (Seelow 2018) but the Swedish manifesto lacks all textual or historical analysis until recently, unlike many manifestos of the time which were thoroughly explored and also translated. As stressed in the title, Seelow examines both the ‘book‘ (Das Buch) in all its facets, and the ‘ history‘ (seine Geschichte) or historical background from which the manifesto sprang. Eighty-seven years after accepetera, Seelow’s 2018 contribution provides the first thorough contextualisation of the text within the Swedish architectural, theoretical and political panorama, though he also eschews any uniquely Swedish-oriented perspective. The author says quite plainly that the main reason for his contribution was to get the text translated in its entirety, made at last available to a German readership. His intention of disseminating the manifesto outside Swedish borders is not a lone voice among recent studies - Lucy Creagh was a forerunner in curating the full English reprint translation in 2008. Nevertheless, Seelow’s is a pivotal contribution in that German culture was a primary reference point for Sweden. The choice of language for the book and the translation is hardly coincidental.