Aino Aalto: “A Quietly Flowing Stream” Eva Brydson
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Aalto and History
Keynote - Alvar Aalto Researchers’ Network March 12th – 14th 2012, Seinäjoki and Jyväskylä, Finland Aalto and history Aino Niskanen Professor Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture Department of Architecture Finland [email protected] Publisher Alvar Aalto Museum ISSN-L 2323-6906 ISSN 2323-6906 www.alvaraalto.fi www.alvaraaltoresearch.fi Keynote - Alvar Aalto Researchers’ Network March 12th – 14th 2012, Seinäjoki and Jyväskylä, Finland www.alvaraaltoresearch.fi In the present seminar the history of Alvar Aalto’s work is being dealt with on many different levels. As an introduction, I should like to discuss Aalto’s relationship with history. Many of the presentations over the course of the seminar will no doubt take these issues further. What do we know about Aalto’s formative years as an architect? During the period he was studying at the Helsinki Institute of Technology, 1916-1921, the teaching there had a strong emphasis on history: examples from the antiquities beckoned as a foundation for everything new. (Fig 1) Fig 1. Alvar Aalto in 1916. Photo: Schildt, Göran: The Early Years, p. 75. Nevertheless, those teachers considered important by Aalto were, according to Göran Schildt, above all important as pedagogues of attitudes: Usko Nyström, who taught the history of architecture of the antiquities and Middle Ages, emphasised the values of modesty, humanity, vitality, comfort and practicality. Armas Lindgren, who taught more recent architectural history, awoke a love in Aalto for Italian Renaissance architecture and an understanding of the organic thinking of Jugend architecture.1 In the paintings he made during his youth Aalto often portrayed historically layered urban milieus. -
Alvar Aalto's Masterpiece – Villa Mairea a DVD Film
PRESS RELEASE Free use Alvar Aalto’s Masterpiece – Villa Mairea a DVD Film Alvar Aalto’s Masterpiece – Villa Mairea is a sensitive documentary film written, filmed and directed by Rax Rinnekangas. Villa Mairea was the home of Maire and Harry Gullichsen, designed by Alvar Aalto and built in Noormarkku, the Ahlström ironworks estate in 1939. The narration for the film has been written by architect Juhani Pallasmaa, who is also the film’s narrator. He leads the viewer through the rooms of Villa Mairea, and helps in understanding the different levels of Aalto’s philosophy as well as the building itself, a building which has become one of the icons of modern architecture. The booklet accompanying the film includes two articles. In the first, architect Kristian Gullichsen writes about the ideal home to which he moved in 1939 when he was seven years old. The house has since become an uninhabited monument. At times, however, Villa Mairea awakes to the life of a family, the games and laughter of children or as a discussion forum and meeting place for international artists and architects. In the second article Juhani Pallasmaa delves deep into the philosophy of the house. Rax Rinnekangas is a director, photographer and author. He has published over 20 books: novels, short stories, essays and photography books. He has held over 40 private exhibitions in Finland and around the world and has received several awards. His central theme is man and the memory of the past. In his documentary Alvar Aalto’s Masterpiece – Villa Mairea the importance of light as one particular visual element is also strongly present. -
Artek – a Bridge to the International Art World
Issue No. 3/2017 Artek – a Bridge to the International Art World Susanna Pettersson, PhD, Museum Director, Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum Art Museum Also published in Sointu Fritze (ed.), Alvar Aalto – Art and the Modern Form. Ateneum Publications Vol. 93. Helsinki: Finnish National Gallery / Ateneum Art Museum, 2017, 48–69. Transl. Wif Stenger The exhibitions organised by the Artek gallery enjoy an almost iconic status in the field of Finnish art. These exhibitions were bold and ambitious. The idea behind them was to bring together modern art, industry, interior design and ‘propaganda’, by which was meant publishing activity. The exhibitions also left a lasting mark on Finnish art and on the Ateneum art collection. ‘Europe – its symbol could be […] an airplane above a cathedral. America – its symbol is an airplane above a skyscraper. In the latter picture, there is perfect harmony. In the first there is not. The former represents the present day. The latter, the future.’ 1 It was with these words that the writer Olavi Paavolainen, in his book Nykyaikaa etsimässä (In Search of Modern Time), published in 1929, expressed his generation’s desire to see the world through new eyes. Finnish artists were accustomed to finding inspiration broadly in European countries, primarily in France, Germany and Italy. Paavolainen had, in his dreams, travelled further afield, as far as New York and Chicago. Paavolainen’s book tackled three themes: the modern European lifestyle, new trends in art and the new image of humanity. Paavolainen wrote with great passion on behalf of modernity and against conservatism. He emphasised that in ‘developing a modern view of life’ one should pay attention to all the arts, meaning literature, the visual arts, theatre and music. -
Alvar Aalto and the Theory of Play: Through Analysis on Alvar Aalto’S Furniture Design
Alvar Aalto and the theory of play: Through analysis on Alvar Aalto’s furniture design Mayu Kamamoto / Osaka University / Osaka / Japan Blucher Design Abstract Proceedings November 2016, Play was an important concept for Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976). He Number 1, Volume 1 http://www.proceeding emphasized the importance of play in design activities. Aalto seems to have been influenced by s.blucher.com.br/articl Yrjö Hirn (1870-1952), a Finnish aesthetician and author of Barnlek [Child’s play, 1916]. From e-list/icdhs2016/list the late 1920s to 1940s, Aalto designed not only buildings, but also furniture. In functionalism, which spread from the early 1920s, experimentation with wood for furniture played a very im- portant role for Aalto. He emphasized that this experimentation was closely related to the idea of play. This study demonstrates Aalto’s suggestive idea through an analysis of his furniture de- sign. It can be said that the concept of play guided him to develop this idea. Keywords Alvar Aalto, Yrjö Hirn, play, furniture design, functionalism Introduction Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) was a Finnish architect and talented designer of furniture, glassware, lamps, and so on. He placed a lot of emphasis on play, a trait he shared with the Finnish aesthetician Yrjö Hirn (1870-1952). In 1916, Hirn wrote the book Barnlek [Child’s play], where he explained the importance of play. Aalto wrote an article entitled ‘Koetalo, Muuratsalo’ [Experimental house at Muuratsalo], pub- lished in the Finnish architectural journal Arkkitehti [Architect], where he stated the following: Whether or not Yrjö Hirn was the direct cause, at any rate the influence of his personality con- tributed to my firm conviction and instinctive feeling that in the midst of our laboring, calculating, utilitarian age, we must continue to believe in the crucial significance of play when building a society for human beings, those grown-up children. -
ARTEK – Furnishing a Nation
Alvar Aalto Researchers’ Network Seminar – Why Aalto? 9-10 June 2017, Jyväskylä, Finland ARTEK – Furnishing a nation Laura Berger Doctoral candidate Department of Architecture Aalto University, Finland address: Töölönkatu 50 D 82 00250 Helsinki tel: +358 44 065 33 59 email: [email protected] Laura Berger Doctoral candidate Department of Architecture Aalto University, Finland ARTEK - Furnishing a nation ‘As a child, I was afraid of this chair. The chair lived upstairs my grandparents house. It was unsteady. It was difficult to climb to sit on it, and impossible to stand on. Adults forbade standing on the chair, and after an attempt even a four-year-old realised the stool was not meant for this purpose. Quite a few others have not been afraid of this chair, because Alvar Aalto ‘stool number 60’ has been sold in millions since it was first designed in 1933..’1 This is a description by a journalist in a Finnish interior magazine ‘Deko’, which leads me to the topic of this paper. This paper begins with two notions: First, it is suggested that an essential part of Alvar Aalto’s fame is rooted in furniture designs and the distribution of these via the Artek company, established in 1935. Second, the hypothesis is that so many Finns, far beyond architecture and design enthusiasts recognise Aalto’s name still today because the Artek furniture remains to be part of many peoples’ mundane, ’everyday life’. The motivation for focusing on Artek furnishings in buildings not by Aalto is on one hand to not tease apart Artek’s independent role, but on the other hand, because living in Finland, I have found myself only too often awakening to the realisation of being surrounded by Artek furniture in spaces as kindergartens, hospitals, governmental offices, and libraries. -
Lecture 22 Alvar Aalto and the Nordic Tradition
5/18/16 Lecture 22! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Alvar Aalto and the Nordic Tradition Alvar Aalto 1898-1975 *Eliel Saarinen Hvitträsk *Eliel Saarinen Luomo, Finland, 1903 Hvitträsk Luomo, Finland, 1903 *Eliel Saarinen, Hvitträsk, Luomo, Finland, 1903 *Asplund, Stockholm Public Library, Stockholm, 1920-28 Erik Gunnar Asplund (1885-1940), *Stockholm Public Library, Stockholm, Sweden, 1920-28 *Eliel Saarinen, Hvitträsk, Luomo, Finland, 1903 1 5/18/16 *Asplund, Stockholm Public Library, Stockholm, 1920-28 *Asplund, Stockholm Public Library, 1920-28 *Asplund, Stockholm Public Library, 1920-28 Boullee, National Library project Stockholm Public Library *Asplund, Stockholm Public Library, 1920-28 Aalto, Civil Guard Buildings: Stables, Seinajoki, Finland, 1924-26 Alvar Aalto (1898-1975) Aalto, Villa Vekara Karstula, Finland, 1924 Turun Sanomat News, Turku, Finland, 1928 Aalto, House for Terho Manner, Töyszä, Finland, 1923 2 5/18/16 * Alvar Aalto, * Alvar Aalto, Library, Library, Viipuri, Viipuri, Finland, 1927-35 * Alvar Aalto, Library, Viipuri, Finland, 1927-35 Finland, 1927-35 * Alvar Aalto, Library, Viipuri, Finland, 1927-35 * Alvar Aalto, Library, * Alvar Aalto, Library, Viipuri, Finland, 1927-35 Viipuri, Finland, 1927-35 * Alvar Aalto, (Tuberculosis) Sanitorium, Paimio, Finland, 1928-33 *(Tuberculosis) Sanitorium, Paimio, Finland *Alvar Aalto, (Tuberculosis) Sanitorium, Paimio, Finland 3 5/18/16 * Alvar Aalto, (Tuberculosis) Sanitorium, Paimio, Finland, 1928-33 *Alvar Aalto, (Tuberculosis) Sanitorium, Paimio, Finland Alvar Aalto, three-legged stacking -
Paimio Sanatorium
MARIANNA HE IKINHEIMO ALVAR AALTO’S PAIMIO SANATORIUM PAIMIO AALTO’S ALVAR ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY: : PAIMIO SANATORIUM ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY: Alvar Aalto’s Paimio Sanatorium TIIVISTELMÄ rkkitehti, kuvataiteen maisteri Marianna Heikinheimon arkkitehtuurin histo- rian alaan kuuluva väitöskirja Architecture and Technology: Alvar Aalto’s Paimio A Sanatorium tarkastelee arkkitehtuurin ja teknologian suhdetta suomalaisen mestariarkkitehdin Alvar Aallon suunnittelemassa Paimion parantolassa (1928–1933). Teosta pidetään Aallon uran käännekohtana ja yhtenä maailmansotien välisen moder- nismin kansainvälisesti keskeisimpänä teoksena. Eurooppalainen arkkitehtuuri koki tuolloin valtavan ideologisen muutoksen pyrkiessään vastaamaan yhä nopeammin teollis- tuvan ja kaupungistuvan yhteiskunnan haasteisiin. Aalto tuli kosketuksiin avantgardisti- arkkitehtien kanssa Congrès internationaux d’architecture moderne -järjestön piirissä vuodesta 1929 alkaen. Hän pyrki Paimion parantolassa, siihenastisen uransa haastavim- massa työssä, soveltamaan uutta näkemystään arkkitehtuurista. Työn teoreettisena näkökulmana on ranskalaisen sosiologin Bruno Latourin (1947–) aktiivisesti kehittämä toimijaverkkoteoria, joka korostaa paitsi sosiaalisten, myös materi- aalisten tekijöiden osuutta teknologisten järjestelmien muotoutumisessa. Teorian mukaan sosiaalisten ja materiaalisten toimijoiden välinen suhde ei ole yksisuuntainen, mikä huo- mio avaa kiinnostavia näkökulmia arkkitehtuuritutkimuksen kannalta. Olen ymmärtänyt arkkitehtuurin -
The Utzon Paradigm
THE UTZON PARADIGM Roger Tyrrell Co-Director of the Jørn Utzon Research Network (JURN) and Adrian Carter Co- Director of the Jørn Utzon Research Network (JURN), Director of the Utzon Research Center, Aalborg University. RE-CONSIDERING UTZON “Comparable in subtle ways to the protean achievements of Le Corbusier, Utzon’s architecture emerges today as paradigmatic at many levels not least of which is the manner in which, from the beginning of his career, he would challenge the assumed superiority of Eurocentric culture.” (Frampton. K. 2003 p 6) This Paper strives to address three objectives. The first is to discuss the Utzon’s oeuvre from a paradigmatic perspective, the second to layer that paradigm within two distinct but interconnected frameworks. The third objective is to explore the fusion of this dichotomous paradigm through the concept of ‘poetic conjunction’. Jørn Utzon (1918-2008) is now internationally recognised as one of the most original, innovative and socially concerned of modern architects, perhaps the last great exponent of the humanistic Nordic tradition within modern architecture. He is the architect of what is still widely considered the most noble and humane housing built in Denmark, a simple, yet poetic modern church at Bagsværd and the most iconic and popular building of the 20th Century, his great unfinished masterpiece, the Sydney Opera House. (Fig 1) The Opera House has become the symbol of not just Sydney, but also Australia; that owes it origins to the maritime environment of Aalborg, where Jørn Utzon spent his youth, and the inspiration of his father Aage Utzon, an esteemed yacht designer. -
Architecture NA
The Oxford Companion to Architecture NA Volume 1: A-J Aalto, Hugo Alvar Henrik C/lalto. Hugo Alvar HenrilT^i 898-1976) Finnish architect, the youngest by ten years of the masters of the Modern Movement (see MODERNISM). He set up his practice in 1922, and contributed briefly but with distinction to the body of work known as Nordic Classicism, of which his Swedish neighbours, *Asplund and *Lewerentz, were the dominant figures. Saynatsalo Town Hall, Finland (Alvar Aalto, 1949-52) This was just when Scandinavia was engaging with the ambitions of the Modern Movement, which were striking originality, which won for him accolades from to be brilliantly celebrated in Asplund's Stockholm both Le Corbusier and (rare indeed) Frank Lloyd exhibition of 1930. Wright. The outstanding buildings were the office In 1927 Aalto won the competition for a public headquarters for Turun Sanomat newspaper in Turku, library in Viipuri with a project that evolved quickly the Sanatorium at Paimio (1932), the Viipuri Library from Nordic classicist precedent into an inspired (1934), his own home and office in Helsinki (1937), the interpretation of the new values. His approach was Villa Mairea (1939), and two major Exhibition pavilions, fundamentally functionalist, but was unique in its at Paris (1937) and New York (1939). This group of attention to the personal experience and participation buildings was accompanied by an equally original by the users of the building. Thus the conditions of range of furniture and light-fittings, sensitively adapted study (and in particular the incidence of both natural to the user's perception and sense of touch. -
Nordic Classicism : Scandinavian Architecture 1910-1930 Pdf, Epub, Ebook
NORDIC CLASSICISM : SCANDINAVIAN ARCHITECTURE 1910-1930 PDF, EPUB, EBOOK John Stewart | 208 pages | 06 Feb 2020 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9781350154445 | English | London, United Kingdom Nordic Classicism : Scandinavian Architecture 1910-1930 PDF Book Visit the Australia site Continue on UK site. Engagement: Town Hall in Denmark. The only applied decoration is a relief of the Swedish coat of arms above the main entrance. About this product. Aalto was married twice. In the Nordic countries the lighting conditions and the weather are constantly changing. Finally, the best way to contemplate on Scandinavian architecture is to take a look at the examples. For the farmers and fishermen things need only be simple, basic, useful and essential. Alvar Aalto is remembered with the likes of Gropius, Le Corbusier, and van der Rohe as a major influence on 20th century modernism. Show More Show Less. But as time went on, they got more complex. See all in World Architecture. Packaging should be the same as what is found in a retail store, unless the item is handmade or was packaged by the manufacturer in non-retail packaging, such as an unprinted box or plastic bag. Yet what was conceived before tended to get overshadowed, such that socalled Swedish Grace with its classical resonances appeared alien to avant-gardism. Yet this brief classsical movement was quickly eclipsed by the rise of international modernism, and has often been overlooked in architectural studies. Go To Basket. Learn more…. The original occupant, also known in English as the Social Security Administration, remained until They were built of wood, and had stone walls around the base. -
A Deep Organic Re-Reading of Alvar Aalto's Design Approach
A Deep Organic Re-reading of Alvar Aalto’s Design Approach Ari Hynynen Tampere University of Technology [email protected] Abstract The conceptual framework of ’organic architecture’ is the most common theory used in analysing Alvar Aalto’s life’s work. Actually, it could not be considered a real theory, but a quite fuzzy concept due to its many miscellaneous interpretations. Aalto himself talked about organic architecture without never explicating properly what it means. In this respect, more research should be done. For example, Aalto’s regional plans deserve to be analysed from this point of view. Perhaps the most favourable case is the Kokemäenjoki valley regional plan, for it offers new keys for interpretation due to its emphasis on textual representation. The other key used in this study is Goethe’s philosophy of science. Many writers have noticed its resemblance to Aalto’s thinking and approach. Unfortunately the argumentation is too often superficial, although more thorough processing seems to evoke new ideas on Aalto’s design approach, as well as on organic architecture on a more general level. Surprisingly these ideas appear quite topical in our digitalizing world. Introduction A vast number of different kinds of analyses have been published on the life’s work of architect Alvar Aalto (1898-1976). One of the most often applied interpretational frameworks has been the theory of organic architecture. The term ‘theory’ in this context, however, is misleading, in that there are almost as many interpretations of organic architecture as there are writers. The term ‘organic’ includes ‘naturalness’ – a concept that has been interpreted as equally often as the imitation of natural forms as the imitation of natural processes. -
Alvar Aalto and Jean-Jacques Baruël
Working papers - Alvar Aalto Researchers’ Network March 12th – 14th 2012, Seinäjoki and Jyväskylä, Finland Alvar Aalto and Jean-Jacques Baruël Jaime J. Ferrer Forés Ph D. Architect Barcelona School of Architecture. Barcelona TECH Spain [email protected] Publisher Alvar Aalto Museum ISSN-L 2323-6906 ISSN 2323-6906 www.alvaraalto.fi www.alvaraaltoresearch.fi Working papers -Alvar Aalto Researchers’ Network March 12th – 14th 2012, Seinäjoki and Jyväskylä, Finland www.alvaraaltoresearch.fi Introduction Alvar Aalto has a prominent place among modern architecture's masters and his widely acclaimed work spanning the decades between 1921 and 1976, with classicist beginnings, a functionalist period and a maturity characterized by the search for a synthesis between tradition and modernity is extraordinary, not only on account of its, but also because of the instruments, methods and reflections about the design process that his works offered: Aalto's architecture, all too frequently contemplated as a purely personal architecture, contains deep-rooted lessons and even its organic approach, if wisely applied, is transmissible. Aalto’s dedicated explorations and refining of significant universal themes in architecture provides an enormous resource for architects in the future. His timeless organic approach to design, rather than historic style ensures his continued relevance. This article explores Aalto's influence on the career of the Danish Architect Jean-Jacques Baruël. The article is divided in several sections. Firstly, the article present briefly Jean-Jacques Baruël's career. Secondly, the article will introduce the main distinctive characteristics of Jean-Jacques Baruël's architecture and Aalto's influence. It does not to attempt to describe his extensive work and projects, but to point out the central elements in his efforts.