Thalias Tempel: En studie av Malmö Stadsteaters arkitektoniska uttryck i sin samtid

Sammanfattning: Malmö City Theater was built 1944, in a time when society was rapidly changing and the social democrats in Sweden were expanding the country’s welfare system. The purpose of this thesis is to approach how the predominant ideals, political and architectural, influenced the planning and construction of Malmö City Theater's design. This is made in a closer analysis on the connections between "building", "folkhemmet" and "discipline". The thesis is based on Ronny Ambjörnsson’s idea of the ideal citizen as a conscientious worker in the so-called folkhem. Further, the thesis investigates the connections between the ideals of the folkhem, using Mattias Kärrholm’s thesis Arkitekturens Territorialitet and concepts that emanates from the post structural thinker, Michel Foucault and art historian, Tony Bennett. This is combined with a formal analysis of selected parts of the building. The result of the thesis shows that Malmö City Theater can be understood as a product of its origination era, considering the contemporary development of the Swedish society towards the folkhem ideals, and the coeval modernist architectural development. It also shows a connection between functionalism, folkhemmet, and discipline, discussing how Swedish politicians collaborated with ambitious architects, to more or less subconsciously, create disciplining environments in the pursuit of building a new, and better society.