This thesis is structured in six chapters. Chapter I contains an introduction and includes purpose, theory, method, and concepts. The main purpose, as depicted by the title, is to examine the roots of Swedish ideology concerning what today is generally named design, as embodied in the concept of more beautiful or better things for everyday life (in Swedish: ”vackrare vardagsvara”). Chapter II contains a background and includes philosophical ideas and aesthetic movements in Europe which have influenced the Swedish Society of Arts and Crafts (in Swedish ”Svenska Slöjdföreningen”, abbreviated SSF) which was later renamed the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design (in Swedish: ”Föreningen Svensk Form”). It considers these activities: the Arts and Crafts movement in England, the Swedish national romantic movement, Deutscher Werkbund in Germany, and Swedish moulders of public opinion and new ideas, like Ellen Key, Carl Larsson and Gregor Paulsson. Chapter III is an ideological biography of Gregor Paulsson. The chapter deals with biographical data and ideological development, and the social aesthetical texts which were important in his activity in the National Museum and as director of The Swedish Society of Arts and Crafts. Gregor Paulsson is considered mainly in his role as social aesthetical propagandist and museologist. Chapter IV concerns the early history and activities of the Swedish Society of Arts and Crafts seen as an introduction to the Baltic Exhibition 1914, and the subsequent schism which eventually led to its reorganization and a new ideological orientation. Its activities were directed towards increased cooperation between artists and industry, and a special department was established as an employment office for companies and designers under the management of the textile artist Elsa Gullberg. This chapter also includes a brief portrait of key persons in the Society. Chapter V is a study in several sections of the articles for everyday use seen in industrial practice, with Gustavsberg’s china factory and Orrefors’ glassworks as two separate historical studies. The 1917 Home Exhibition is surveyed as an example of the educational ambitions in the development of people’s taste. The focus of the chapter, however, is the international industrial art exhibition in Paris 1925, Exposition International des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, and the debate about it in the Swedish and French press. Chapter VI consists of a concluding discussion with a final epilogue. It contains suggested questions for future research including relations between design and ethics.

Die Kirche von San Isidoro in León besitzt einen der umfangreichsten und ambitioniertesten Kirchenschätze, der sich – aus einem Stiftungszusammenhang stammend – über die Wirren der Jahrhunderte in Europa erhalten hat. Als kulturelles Erbe des christlichen Königreiches Spanien wird der Schatz in unzähligen Beiträgen erwähnt. Wiederholt hervorgehoben wird seine Bedeutung für die Einführung und Ausbreitung des romanischen Stils auf der Iberischen Halbinsel und die damit verbundene Europäisierung der spanischen Königreiche. Aus welchen Quellen die neu eingeführten Stilmittel schöpften, wird in der Wissenschaft konträr diskutiert. Sowohl Frankreich als auch England, Byzanz und die arabische Welt werden als Vorbilder in Betracht gezogen. In den 1920er und 1930er Jahren nahmen Arthur Kingsley Porter und Manuel Gómez-Moreno erstmals an, dass die visuelle Ursprünge auch in der ottonische Kunst zu finden seien. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, dieser vor rund 100 Jahren formulierten und immer wieder aufgegriffenen Vermutung erstmalig in vertiefenden Studien kritisch nachzugehen. Die nordspanischen Könige, so die These, rezitierten die ottonisch-frühsalische Herrschaftspräsentation, um den eigenen imperialen Machtanspruch auf der Iberischen Halbinsel zu manifestieren. Mit den neuen ikonographischen Formen zog analog dazu ein neuer künstlerischer Stil ein. / The Church of San Isidoro in León has one of the most extensive and ambitious ecclesiastical treasures, which - based on a foundation context - has survived the turmoil of the centuries in Europe. Being a cultural heritage of the Christian Kingdom of Spain, the treasure is mentioned in countless articles. Its importance for the introduction and spread of the Romanesque style on the Iberian Peninsula and the associated Europeanization of the Spanish kingdoms is repeatedly emphasized. It is contrarily discussed in science from which sources the newly introduced stylistic devices drew. Both France and England, Byzantium and the Arab world are considered role models. In the 1920s and 1930s, Arthur Kingsley Porter and Manuel Gómez-Moreno first assumed that the visual origins were also to be found in Ottonian art. The aim of the present dissertation is to critically investigate the assumption, which was formulated around 100 years ago and has been repeatedly taken up, in-depth studies for the first time. According to the thesis, the Northern Spanish kings recited the Ottonian-early Salian rule presentation to manifest their own imperial claim to power on the Iberian Peninsula. Analogous to this, a new artistic style was introduced with the new iconographic forms.

À partir de l'examen des maisons réalisées à flanc de coteaux par Bernard Maybeck (1862-1957) durant la période comprise entre 1892 et 1904 aux États-Unis à Berkeley, dans l'État de la Californie, l'auteur aborde comment s'est créé un langage architectural unique inspirée de le mouvement Arts and Crafts et plus particulièrement des écrits théoriques de l'auteur et critique John Ruskin (1819-1900). Sous l'influence de Maybeck, l'ensemble bâti des maisons « gothiques » devient un outil d'influence majeur dans la mise en place d'un nouveau mode de vie centré autour de l'architecture et de la nature. Le site lui-même influence substantiellement les recherches plastiques par leur liaison importante au site d'implantation. Comprenant ce développement architectural comme étant une interprétation du paysage et de l'esprit gothique théorisé par Ruskin, l'architecte affirme la nécessité de revenir à une vie plus « simple » où l'immixtion entre l'homme et la nature est en harmonie. / Using residential architecture constructed by Bernard Maybeck (1862-1957) in the hillside of Berkeley (United States of America, California) during the period comprised between 1892 and 1904, this thesis shows how was articulated a unique architectural language inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement and more specifically the English author, theorician and critic John Ruskin (1819-1900). Under Maybeck's guidance, the architectural ensemble that he affectionately called his « gothic houses » became an important tool helping the establishment of a new way of life centered around architecture and nature. Berkeley's hillsides and landscape influenced considerably the artistic research, as the houses had to reflect their surroundings. Understanding this architectural development as an interpretation of the landscape and of the nature of Gothic as defined by Ruskin, Maybeck shows the necessity to go back to a « simpler » life where man and nature are in harmony.