The Bauhaus is central in this general survey of modern functional design. 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.

art periods, early cultures, first civilizations, africa, pre-columbian america, romanesque and gothic, renaissance and mannerism, northern renaissance, rembrandt, baroque and rococo, neo-classicists and romantics, the victorians, impressionists and post-impressionists, art nouveau, expressionism, cubism and futurism, into abstraction, the bauhaus and de stijl, dada and surrealism, modern masters, modern and contemporary sculptors, contemporary painters, new directions new dimensions, modern architecture and design, henry lewes, edwin mullins, carlo l ragghianti, giorgio fabor, exceptional quality, georgia van der rohe, will grohmann, prehistoric rock paintings of the sahara, jean-dominique lajoux, max-pol fouchet, maurice le roux, gold medal, venice, bronze medal, bilbao, quality award and prize, french national film center, constructivist of the russian avant-garde, leo lorez, celtic art treasures, lutz becker, ron parks, jim stirling, historical survey: draw, bascule, lift and swing bridges, nico ng muyen,