Alvar Aalto

Alvar and Elissa Aalto in the 1950s

Born Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto3 February 1898Kuortane, Finland

Died 11 May 1976 (aged 78)Helsinki, Finland

Nationality Finnish

Occupation Architect

Spouse(s) Aino Marsio(m. 1925–49; her death)Elissa Mäkiniemi(m. 1952–76; his death)

Children 2

Awards RIBA Gold MedalAIA Gold Medal

Buildings Paimio SanatoriumSäynätsalo Town HallViipuri LibraryVilla MaireaBaker HouseFinlandia Hall

Projects Helsinki City Centre

Design Savoy VasePaimio Chair

Alvar AaltoFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (3 February 1898 – 11May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer, aswell as a sculptor and painter.[1] His work includesarchitecture, furniture, textiles and glassware. Aalto'searly career runs in parallel with the rapid economicgrowth and industrialization of Finland during the firsthalf of the twentieth century and many of his clientswere industrialists; among these were the Ahlström­Gullichsen family.[2] The span of his career, from the1920s to the 1970s, is reflected in the styles of hiswork, ranging from Nordic Classicism of the earlywork, to a rational International Style Modernismduring the 1930s to a more organic modernist stylefrom the 1940s onwards. His furniture designs wereconsidered Scandinavian Modern.[3] What is typicalfor his entire career, however, is a concern for designas a Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art; wherebyhe – together with his first wife Aino Aalto – woulddesign not just the building, but give specialtreatments to the interior surfaces and designfurniture, lamps, and furnishings and glassware. TheAlvar Aalto Museum, designed by Aalto himself, islocated in what is regarded as his home cityJyväskylä.[4]

Contents

1 Biography1.1 Life1.2 Architecture career

1.2.1 Early career: classicism1.2.2 Early career: functionalism1.2.3 Mid career:experimentation1.2.4 Mature career:monumentalism

2 Furniture career3 Awards4 Works

4.1 Significant buildings4.2 Furniture and glassware

5 Quotes6 Critique of Aalto's architecture7 Memorials8 See also

9 Notes

Alvar Aalto portrayed on a stamppublished in 1976

The signature of Alvar Aalto onthe wall of Jyväskylä's theatrebuilding.

Auditorium of the Viipuri MunicipalLibrary in the 1930s.

Alvar Aalto Studio, Helsinki (1954–56)

9 Notes10 References11 Sources12 Further reading13 External links

Biography

Life

Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was born in Kuortane, Finland.[6] Hisfather, Johan Henrik Aalto, was a Finnish­speaking land­surveyorand his mother, Selly (Selma) Matilda (née Hackstedt) was aSwedish­speaking postmistress. When Aalto was 5 years old, thefamily moved to Alajärvi, and from there to Jyväskylä in CentralFinland. Aalto studied at the Jyväskylä Lyceum school, where hecompleted his basic education in 1916 and took drawing lessonsfrom a local artist named Jonas Heiska. In 1916 he then enrolled tostudy architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology. Hisstudies were interrupted by the Finnish Civil War, which he foughtin. He fought on the side of the White Army and fought at the Battleof Länkipohja and the Battleof Tampere.[7] He built hisfirst piece of architecturewhile still a student, a housefor his parents, at Alajärvi.[8]Afterwards, he continued hiseducation, graduating in1921.[9] In the summer of1922 he began his officialmilitary service, finishing atthe Hamina reserve officertraining school, and was

promoted to reserve second lieutenant in June 1923.[10]

In 1920, while still a student, Aalto made his first trip abroad,travelling via Stockholm to Gothenburg, where he even brieflyfound work with the architect Arvid Bjerke.[11] In 1922, heaccomplished his first independent piece at the IndustrialExposition in Tampere.[8] In 1923 he returned to Jyväskylä,where he opened his first architectural office,[12] under the name'Alvar Aalto, Architect and Monumental Artist'. At that sametime he also wrote articles for the Jyväskylä newspaper Sisä­Suomi under the pseudonym Remus.[10] During this time, hedesigned a number of small single­family houses in Jyväskylä,and the office's workload steadily increased. In 1925, he marriedarchitect Aino Marsio.[13][nb 1] Their honeymoon journey to Italy was Aalto's first trip there, though Aino

Alvar Aalto Studio, Helsinki (1954–56)

Main Building of the JyväskyläUniversity (1955)

Heilig­Geist­Church Wolfsburg(1958­62), photo: Gänshirt 2009.[5]

had previously made a study trip there.[13] The latter trip together sealed an intellectual bond with theculture of the Mediterranean region that was to remain important to Aalto for the rest of his life. On theirreturn, they continued with a number of local projects, notablythe Jyväskylä Worker's Club. However, the Aaltos moved theiroffice to Turku in 1927, and started collaborating with architectErik Bryggman. The office moved again in 1933 toHelsinki.[12][14]

The Aaltos designed and built a joint house­office (1935–36) forthemselves in Munkkiniemi, Helsinki, but later (1954–56) had apurpose­built office erected in the same neighbourhood –nowadays the former is a "house museum" and the latter thepremises of the Alvar Aalto Academy. In 1926 the young Aaltosdesigned and had built a summer cottage in Alajärvi, Villa Flora.In 1938, the Aaltos visited the United States for the first time,[12]ostensibly to visit the Finnish Pavilion, which they had designed,for the New York World Fair of the following year.[15] AinoAalto died of cancer in 1949. Aino and Alvar Aalto had 2children, a daughter Johanna "Hanni" Alanen, born Aalto, 1925,and a son Hamilkar Aalto, 1928. In 1952 Aalto married architectElissa Mäkiniemi (died 1994), who had been working as anassistant in his office. In 1952 Aalto designed and had built asummer cottage, the so­called Experimental House, for himselfand his new wife in Muuratsalo in Central Finland. Alvar Aaltodied on 11 May 1976, in Helsinki,[9] and is buried in theHietaniemi cemetery in Helsinki.

Architecture career

Early career: classicism

Although he is sometimes regarded as among the first and mostinfluential architects of Nordic modernism, a closer examinationof the historical facts reveals that Aalto (while a pioneer inFinland) closely followed and had personal contacts with otherpioneers in Sweden, in particular Gunnar Asplund[16][17] andSven Markelius.Aalto 1998, p. 76 What they and many others ofthat generation in the Nordic countries had in common was thatthey started off from a classical education and were firstdesigning classical architecture, though what historians now call Nordic Classicism[18] – a style that hadbeen a reaction to the previous dominant style of National Romanticism – before moving, in the late1920s, towards Modernism. On returning to Jyväskylä in 1923 to establish his own architect's office,Aalto busied himself with a number of single­family homes, all designed in the Nordic Classicism style,such as the manor­like house for his mother's cousin Terho Manner in Töysa in 1923, a summer villa forthe Jyväskylä chief constable in 1923 and the Alatalo farmhouse in Tarvaala in 1924. During this periodhe also completed his first public buildings, the Jyväskylä Workers' Club in 1925, the Jyväskylä DefenceCorps building in 1926 and the Seinäjoki Defence Corp building in 1924–29. Aalto also entered severalarchitectural competitions for prestigious state public buildings, both in Finland and abroad, includingthe two competitions for the Finnish Parliament building in 1923 and 1924, the extension to the

Villa Mairea in Noormarkku

Detail of Baker House facade on theCharles River

Auditorium of the University ofTechnology, Helsinki, Finland(1949–66)

House of Culture, Helsinki

University of Helsinki in 1931, and the building to house the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland,in 1926–27. Furthermore, this was the period when Aalto was most prolific in his writings, with articlesfor professional journals and newspapers. Among his most well­known essays from this period are"Urban culture" (1924),[19] "Temple baths on Jyväskylä ridge" (1925),[20] "Abbé Coignard's sermon"(1925),[21] and "From doorstep to living room" (1926).[22]

Early career: functionalism

The shift in Aalto's design approach from classicism tomodernism is epitomised by the Viipuri Library (1927–35),which went through a transformation from an originally classicalcompetition entry proposal to the completed high­modernistbuilding. Yet his humanistic approach is in full evidence in thelibrary: the interior displays natural materials, warm colours, andundulating lines. Due to problems over financing and a change ofsite, the Viipuri Library project lasted eight years, and during thatsame time he also designed the Turun Sanomat Building (1929–30)[nb 2] and Paimio Sanatorium (1929–32). Thus, the TurunSanomat Building first heralded Aalto's move towardsmodernism, and this was then carried forward both in the PaimioSanatorium and in the ongoing design for the library. Althoughthe Turun Sanomat Building and Paimio Sanatorium arecomparatively pure modernist works, they too carried the seedsof his questioning of such an orthodox modernist approach and amove to a more daring, synthetic attitude. It has been said that hiswork on two of these three buildings (not the Viipuri Library)showed similarities to Walter Gropius' style, in particular hiswork on the Bauhaus school of design in Dessau.[9] His work onthe Viipuri building started to show his individuality in adeparture from the European norms.

Through Sven Markelius, Aalto became a member of theCongres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM),attending the second congress in Frankfurt in 1929 and the fourthcongress in Athens in 1933, where he established a closefriendship with László Moholy­Nagy, Sigfried Giedion andPhilip Morton Shand. It was during this time that he followedclosely the work of the main driving force behind the newmodernism, Le Corbusier, and visited him in his Paris officeseveral times in the following years.

It was not until the completion of the Paimio Sanatorium (1932)and Viipuri Library (1935) that Aalto first achieved worldattention in architecture. His reputation grew in the USAfollowing the critical reception of his design for the FinnishPavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair, described by FrankLloyd Wright as a "work of genius".[24] It could be said thatAalto's international reputation was sealed with his inclusion inthe second edition of Sigfried Giedion's influential book on Modernist architecture, Space, Time andArchitecture: The growth of a new tradition (1949), in which Aalto received more attention than any

Cultural Center Wolfsburg (1958­62),photo: Gänshirt 2009.[23]

Finlandia Hall (1962–71)

The Aalto­Theater opera house inEssen, Germany

other Modernist architect, including Le Corbusier. In his analysis of Aalto, Giedion gave primacy toqualities that depart from direct functionality, such as mood, atmosphere, intensity of life and evennational characteristics, declaring that "Finland is with Aaltowherever he goes".

In 1938, the Museum of Modern Art, in New York organized anexhibit that eventually went on a 12­city tour. Afterwards hevisited America for the first time and gave a series of lectures atYale.[8]

Mid career: experimentation

During the 1930s Alvar spent some time experimenting withlaminated wood, making sculptures, and abstract reliefs,characterized by irregular curved forms. Utilizing this knowledgehe was able to solve technical problems concerning the flexibilityof wood and also of working out spatial issues in his designs.[1]Aalto's early experiments with wood and his move away from apurist modernism would be tested in built form with thecommission to design Villa Mairea (1939) in Noormarkku, theluxury home of the young industrialist couple Harry and MaireGullichsen. It was Maire Gullichsen who acted as the mainclient, and she worked closely not only with Alvar but also AinoAalto on the design, inspiring them to be more daring in theirwork. The original design was to include a private art gallery, butthis was never built. The building forms a U­shape around acentral inner "garden" the central feature of which is a kidney­shaped swimming pool. Adjacent to the pool is a sauna executedin a rustic style, alluding to both Finnish and Japaneseprecedents. The design of the house is a synthesis of numerousstylistic influences, from traditional Finnish vernacular to puristmodernism, as well as influences from English and Japanesearchitecture. While the house is clearly intended for a wealthyfamily, Aalto nevertheless argued that it was also an experimentthat would prove useful in the design of mass housing.[25] Itcreated zones for different activities within the structure.[12]

His increased fame led to offers and commissions outsideFinland. In 1941 he accepted an invitation as a visiting professorto Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA. This wasduring the Second World War, and he involved his students in designing low­cost, small­scale housingfor the reconstruction of war­torn Finland. While teaching at MIT, Aalto also designed the studentdormitory, Baker House, completed in 1948. The dormitory lay along the Charles River and itsundulating form provided maximum view and ventilation for each resident.[12] This building was thefirst building of Aalto's redbrick period. Originally used in Baker House to signify the Ivy Leagueuniversity tradition, on his return to Finland Aalto used it in a number of key buildings, in particular, inseveral of the buildings in the new Helsinki University of Technology campus (starting in 1950),Säynätsalo Town Hall (1952), Helsinki Pensions Institute (1954), Helsinki House of Culture (1958), aswell as in his own summer house, the so­called Experimental House in Muuratsalo (1957).

In the 50's he immersed himself in his sculpting, be it with bronze, marble, or mixed media. This paidoff as he produced an outstanding piece for the memorial of the Battle of Suomussalmi (1960), locatedon the battlefield. It consists of a leaning bronze pillar on a pedestal.[1]

Mature career: monumentalism

The early 1960s and 1970s (up until his death in 1976) were marked by key works in Helsinki, inparticular the huge town plan for the void in centre of Helsinki adjacent to Töölö Bay and the vastrailway yards, and marked on the edges by significant buildings such as the National Museum and themain railway station, both by Eliel Saarinen. In his town plan Aalto proposed a line of separate marble­clad buildings fronting the bay which would house various cultural institutions, including a concert hall,opera, museum of architecture and headquarters for the Finnish Academy. The scheme also extendedinto the Kamppi district with a series of tall office blocks. Aalto first presented his scheme in 1961, but itwent through various modifications during the early 1960s. Only two fragments of the overall plan wereever realized: the Finlandia Hall concert hall (1976) fronting Töölö Bay, and an office building in theKamppi district for the Helsinki Electricity Company (1975). The Miesian formal language of geometricgrids employed in the buildings was also used by Aalto for other sites in Helsinki, including the Enso­Gutzeit building (1962), the Academic Bookstore (1962) and the SYP Bank building (1969).

Following Aalto's death in 1976 his office continued to operate under the direction of his widow, Elissa,completing works already to some extent designed. These works include the Jyväskylä City Theatre andEssen opera house. Since the death of Elissa Aalto the office has continued to operate as the Alvar AaltoAcademy, giving advice on the restoration of Aalto buildings and organising the vast archive material.

Furniture career

Whereas Aalto was famous for his architecture, his furniture designs were well thought of and are stillpopular today. He studied Josef Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstätte, and for a period of time, workedunder Eliel Saarinen.[3] He also gained inspiration from Gebrüder Thonet.[3] During the late 1920s and1930s he, working closely with Aino Aalto, also focused a lot of his energy on furniture design, partlydue to the decision to design much of the individual furniture pieces and lamps for the PaimioSanatorium. Of particular significance was the experimentation in bent plywood chairs, most notably theso­called Paimio chair, which had been designed for the sitting tuberculosis patient. The Aaltos, togetherwith visual arts promoter Maire Gullichsen and art historian Nils­Gustav Hahl founded the Artekcompany in 1935,[12] ostensibly to sell Aalto products, but also other imported products.[26] He becamethe first furniture designer to use the cantilever principle in chair design using wood.[3]

Awards

Aalto's awards included the Prince Eugen Medal in 1954, the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture fromthe Royal Institute of British Architects in 1957 and the Gold Medal from the American Institute ofArchitects in 1963. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts andSciences in 1957.[27] He also was a member of the Academy of Finland, and was its president from 1963to 1968. From 1925 to 1956 he was a member of the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne.[9] In1960 he received an honorary doctorate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology(NTNU).[28]

Works

KUNSTEN Museum of Modern ArtAalborg, Denmark (1958–72)

Aalto's career spans the changes in style from (Nordic Classicism) to purist International StyleModernism to a more personal, synthetic and idiosyncratic Modernism. Aalto's wide field of designactivity ranges from the large scale of city planning and architecture to interior design, furniture andglassware design and painting. It has been estimated that during his entire career Aalto designed over500 individual buildings, approximately 300 of which were built, the vast majority of which are inFinland. He also has a few buildings in France, Germany, Italy and the USA.[29]

Aalto's work with wood, was influenced by early Scandinavian architects; however, his experiments anddeparture from the norm brought attention to his ability to make wood do things not previously done.His techniques in the way he cut the beech tree, for example, and also his ability to use plywood asstructural and aesthetic. Other examples include the rough­hewn vertical placement of logs at hispavilion at the Lapua expo, looking similar to a medieval barricade, at the orchestra platform at turkuand the Paris expo at the World Fair, he used varying sizes and shapes of planks. Also at Paris and atVilla Mairea he utilized birch boarding in a vertical arrangement. Also his famous undulating walls andceilings made of red pine.[30] In his roofing, he created massive spans (155­foot at the covered statium atOtaniemi) all without tie rods. His stairway at Villa Mairea, he evokes feelings of a natural forest bybinding beech wood with withes into columns.[31]

Aalto claimed that his paintings were not made as individual artworks but as part of his process ofarchitectural design, and many of his small­scale "sculptural" experiments with wood led to later largerarchitectural details and forms. These experiments also led to a number of patents: for example, heinvented a new form of laminated bent­plywood furniture in 1932.[nb 3] His experimental method hadbeen influenced by his meetings with various members of the Bauhaus design school, especially LászlóMoholy­Nagy, whom he first met in 1930. Aalto's furniture was exhibited in London in 1935, to greatcritical acclaim, and to cope with the consumer demand Aalto, together with his wife Aino, MaireGullichsen and Nils­Gustav Hahl founded the company Artek that same year. Aalto glassware (Aino aswell as Alvar) is manufactured by Iittala. Aalto was one of the first architects outside of Germany,France, and the Netherlands to master modern architecture.[12]

Aalto's 'High Stool' and 'Stool E60' (manufactured by Artek) are currently used in Apple Stores acrossthe world to serve as seating for customers. Finished in black lacquer, the stools are used to seatcustomers at the 'Genius Bar' and also in other areas of the store at times when seating is required for aproduct workshop or special event. Aalto was also influential in bringing modern art to the Finnishpeople, in particular the work of his friends, Alexander Milne Calder and Fernand Léger.[1]

Significant buildings

For a more comprehensive list, see List of Alvar Aalto'sworks.

1921–1923: Bell tower of Kauhajärvi Church, Lapua,Finland1924–1928: Municipal hospital, Alajärvi, Finland1926–1929: Defence Corps Building, Jyväskylä, Finland1927–1935: Municipal library, Viipuri, Finland (nowVyborg, Russia)[9][nb 4]1928–1929, 1930: Turun Sanomat newspaper offices,Turku, Finland[9]

1928–1932: Paimio Sanatorium, Tuberculosis sanatorium and staff housing, Paimio, Finland[nb 5]

Table and chairs designed by AlvarAalto

Tea cart (tea trolley)

Armchair 400 with reindeer fur

1931: Toppila paper mill in Oulu, Finland[9]1931: Central University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia (formerYugoslavia)1932: Villa Tammekann, Tartu, Estonia1934: Corso theatre, restaurant interior, Zürich,Switzerland1936–1939: Ahlstrom Sunila Pulp Mill, Housing, andTown Plan, Kotka[9]

1937–1939: Villa Mairea, Noormarkku, Finland[9]1939: Finnish Pavilion, at the 1939 New York World's Fair1945: Sawmill at Varkaus[9]1947–1948: Baker House, Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA[9]

1949–1966: Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo,Finland1949–1952: Säynätsalo Town Hall, 1949 competition, built1952, Säynätsalo (now part of Jyväskylä), Finland[9]1950–1957: Kansaneläkelaitos (National PensionInstitution) office building, Helsinki, Finland1951–1971: University of Jyväskylä various buildings andfacilities on the university campus, Jyväskylä, Finland1952–1958: House of Culture, Helsinki, Finland[9]1953: The Experimental House, Muuratsalo, Finland1956–1958: Home for Louis Carre, Bazoches, France[9]1956–1958: Church of the Three Crosses, Vuoksenniska,Imatra, Finland[9]1957–1967: Town center (Town library, Lakeuden RistiChurch and central administrative buildings), Seinäjoki,Finland[9]

1958: Post and telegraph office, Baghdad, Iraq[9]1958–1972: KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art Aalborg,Aalborg, Denmark[9]

1959–1962: Community Center, Wolfsburg, Germany[9]1959–1962: Enso­Gutzeit Headquarters, Helsinki, Finland1962: Aalto­Hochhaus, Bremen, Germany1964–1965: Institute of International Education, New YorkCity[9]1965: Regional Library of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland1962–1971: Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland[9]1963–1965: Building for Västmanland­Dala nation,Uppsala, Sweden1967–1970: Library at the Mount Angel Abbey, St. Benedict, Salem, Oregon, USA[9]

1965–1968: Nordic House, Reykjavík, Iceland1973: Alvar Aalto Museum, a.k.a. Taidemuseo, Jyväskylä, Finland[9]1959–1988: Essen opera house, Essen, Germany

Furniture and glassware

Chairs

1932: Paimio Chair

1933: Three­legged stacking Stool 601933: Four­legged Stool E601935­6: Armchair 404 (a/k/a/ Zebra Tank Chair)1939: Armchair 406

Lamps

1954: Floor lamp A8051959: Floor lamp A810

Vases

1936: Aalto Vase

Quotes

"God created paper for the purpose of drawing architecture on it. Everything else is at least for mean abuse of paper." Alvar Aalto, Sketches, 1978, 104."We should work for simple, good, undecorated things" and he continues, "but things which are inharmony with the human being and organically suited to the little man in the street." Alvar Aalto,speech in London 1957.

Critique of Aalto's architecture

As already mentioned, Aalto's international reputation was sealed with his inclusion in the secondedition of Sigfried Giedion's influential book on Modernist architecture, Space, Time and Architecture:The growth of a new tradition (1949), in which Aalto received more attention than any other Modernistarchitect, including Le Corbusier. In his analysis of Aalto, Giedion gave primacy to qualities that departfrom direct functionality, such as mood, atmosphere, intensity of life and even national characteristics,declaring that "Finland is with Aalto wherever he goes". However, a few more recent architecture criticsand historians have questioned Aalto's position of influence in the canonic history. Italian Marxistarchitecture historians Manfredo Tafuri and Francesco Dal Co put forward the viewpoint that Aalto's"historical significance has perhaps been rather exaggerated; with Aalto we are outside of the greatthemes that have made the course of contemporary architecture so dramatic. The qualities of his workshave a meaning only as masterful distractions, not subject to reproduction outside the remote reality inwhich they have their roots."[32] Their viewpoint was propounded by their own priority given tourbanism, seeing Aalto as an anti­urban, and thus consequently disparaging what they regarded asperipheral non­urban areas of the world: "Essentially his architecture is not appropriate to urbantypologies." Similarly concerned with the appropriateness of Aalto's form language, at the other end ofthe political spectrum, American postmodernist critic Charles Jencks made a claim for the need forbuildings to signify meaning; however, he then lifted out Aalto's Pensions Institute building as anexample of what he termed Aalto's 'soft paternalism': "Conceived as a fragmented mass to break up thefeeling of bureaucracy, it succeeds all too well in being humane and killing the pensioner with kindness.The forms are familiar red brick and ribbon­strip windows broken by copper and bronze elements – allcarried through with a literal­mindedness that borders on the soporific."[33] But also during Aalto'slifetime he faced critique from his fellow architects in Finland, most notably Kirmo Mikkola and JuhaniPallasmaa; by the last decade of his life Aalto's work was seen as idiosyncratic and individualistic, whenthe opposing tendencies of rationalism and constructivism – often championed under left­wing politics –argued for anonymous virtually non­aesthetic architecture. Mikkola wrote of Aalto's late works: "Aaltohas moved to his present baroque line..."[34]

Memorials

Aalto has been commemorated in a number of ways:

Alvar Aalto is the eponym of the Alvar Aalto Medal, now considered one of world architecture'smost prestigious awards.Aalto was featured in the 50 mk note in the last series of the Finnish markka (before itsreplacement by the Euro in 2002).The centenary of Aalto's birth in 1998 was marked in Finland not only by several books andexhibitions, but also by the promotion of specially bottled red and white Aalto Wine and aspecially designed cupcake.In 1976, the year of his death, Aalto was commemorated on a Finnish postage stamp.Aalto University, a Finnish university formed by merging Helsinki University of Technology,Helsinki School of Economics and TaiK in 2010, is named after Alvar Aalto.An Alvar Aallon katu (Alvar Aalto Street) can be found in five different Finnish cities: Helsinki,Jyväskylä, Oulu, Kotka and Seinäjoki.

See also

Architecture of FinlandAino AaltoElissa Aalto

Notes

1. Some sources state that they were married in 1925.[9]

2. The Turun Sanomat building heralded Aalto's entrance onto the international field as an architect.[12]

3. The patent is dated 1933.[1]

4. Some sources inaccurately state that this was destroyed during the Second World War;[9][12] however it wasonly damaged. This damage whereas it was extensive, has been repaired over time.

5. Some sources state the completion date to be 1933.[9]

References1. Chilvers 2004, p. 12. Anon 20133. Boyce 1985, p. 14. Alvar Aalto Museum 20115. Heilig­Geist­Kirchengemeinde bei kirche­wolfsburg.de (http://www.kirche­

wolfsburg.de/gemeinde/gemeindedetails.php?ID=21), retrieved Jan. 25, 20156. Thorne 1984, p. 17. Pelkonen 2009, p. 128. Labò 1968, p. 19. Hoiberg 2010, pp. 2–310. Heporauta 1999, p. 1011. Weston 1997, p. 2012. Brown 1969, p. 413. Suominen­Kokkonen 2007, p. 1814. Heporauta 1999, p. 2415. Heporauta 1999, p. 3316. Paavilainen 1982, p. 2317. Aalto 1998, p. 29

18. Paavilainen 1982, pp. 11–1519. Aalto 1998, pp. 19–2020. Aalto 1998, pp. 17–1921. Aalto 1998, pp. 56–5722. Aalto 1998, pp. 49–5523. Das Alvar­Aalto­Kulturhaus auf der Website des Alvar Aalto Zentrums Deutschland e.V. Wolfsburg

(http://aalto­wolfsburg.com/content.php?id=kulturhaus), retrieved Jan. 25, 201524. McCarter 2006, p. 14325. Pallasmaa 1998, p. 3126. Pallasmaa 1998, p. 1927. Tourney 201328. Anon 201429. Schildt 1994, pp. 310–31330. Labò 1968, p. 231. Labò 1968, p. 332. Tafuri & Co 1976, p. 33833. Jencks 1973, pp. 80–8134. Mikkola 1969, p. 31

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Labò, Mario (1968) [1959]. "Aalto, Hugo Alvar Henrik". In Crandall, Robert W. Encyclopedia of World Art.I: Aalto­Asia Minor, Western. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc. LCCN 59013433(http://lccn.loc.gov/59013433).

McCarter, Robert (2006). Frank Lloyd Wright. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978­1861892683.

Mikkola, Kirmo (1969). "Suomalaisen arkkitehtuurin ajankohtaista pyrkimyksiä". Arkkitehti (in Finnish) 66:30–37.

Paavilainen, Simo (1982). Paavilainen, Simo, ed. Nordisk Klassicism – 1910–1930 [Nordic Classicism].Helsinki: Museum of Finnish Architecture. ISBN 951­9229­21­3.

Pallasmaa, Juhani (1998). Alvar Aalto: Villa Mairea 1938–39 (2nd ed.). Ram Pubns & Dist. ISBN 978­9525371314.

Pelkonen, Eeva­Liisa (2009). Alvar Aalto: Architecture, Modernity, and Geopolitics. New Haven, CT: YaleUniversity Press. ISBN 978­0300114287.

Schildt, Göran (1994). Alvar Aalto, A life's work: Architecture, Design and Art. Helsinki, Finland: OtavaPub. Co. ISBN 978­9511129752.

Suominen­Kokkonen, Renja (2007). Aino and Alvar Aalto – A Shared Journey – Interpretations of aneveryday modernism. Helsinki: Alvar Aalto Foundation. ISBN 978­9525371321.

Tafuri, Manfredo; Co, Francesco Dal (1976). Architettura contemporanea [Modern Architecture] (in Italian).Milan: Electa.

Thorne, John, ed. (1984). "Aalto, Alvar". Chambers Biographical Dictionary (Revised ed.). Chambers.ISBN 0­550­18022­2.

Weston, Richard (1997) [1995]. Alvar Aalto. London, UK: Phaidon Press Limited. ISBN 978­0714837109.

Tourney, Michele (2013). "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A"(http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterA.pdf) (PDF). American Academy of Arts andSciences. Retrieved 13 November 2013.

www.infoa.fi (2013). "Alvar Aalto" (http://www.infoa.fi/lansisuomi/showinfo.php?county=29).

Further reading

Göran Schildt has written and edited many books on Aalto, the most well­known being the three­volumebiography, usually referred to as the definitive biography on Aalto.

Schildt, Göran (1984). Alvar Aalto. The Early Years. New York, NY: Rizzoli. ISBN 978­0847805310.Schildt, Göran (1987). Alvar Aalto. The Decisive Years. New York, NY: Rizzoli. ISBN 978­0847807116.Schildt, Göran (1991). Alvar Aalto. The Mature Years. New York, NY: Rizzoli. ISBN 978­0847813292.Alvar Aalto Archive Staff (1994). The Architectural Drawings of Alvar Aalto 1917–1939: Aalto'sOwn Home in Helsinki, the Finnish Pavilion at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris, and OtherBuildings and Projects, 1932–1937. Garland Architectural Archives. Routledge.Schildt, Göran (1994). Alvar Aalto: The Complete Catalogue of Architecture, Design and Art.New York, NY: Rizzoli. ISBN 978­0847818181.

Other books

Laaksonen, Esa (2013). Alvar Aalto Architect. 5: Paimio Sanatorium 1928–32. RakennustietoPublishing. ISBN 978­9516829541.

Holma, Maija; Pallasmaa, Juhani; Suominen­Kokkonen, Renja (2003). Alvar Aalto Architect. 6:

Wikimedia Commons has

The Aalto House 1935–36. Alvar Aalto Foundation. ISBN 978­9525498011.

Kaorvanmaa, Pekka (2007). Alvar Aalto Architect. 7: Sunila 1936–1954. Ram Distribution.ISBN 978­9525498035.

Alvar Aalto Architect. 9: Villa Mairea.

Aalto, Alvar (2008). Alvar Aalto Architect. 13: University of Technology, Otaniemi 1949–74.Ram Distribution. ISBN 978­9525498080.

Hipeli, Mia (2009). Alvar Aalto Architect. 16: Jyväskylä University 1951–71.ASIN B002QH2LMK (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QH2LMK).

Aalto, Alvar (2008). Alvar Aalto Architect. 20: Maison Louis Carre 1956–63. Ram Distribution.ISBN 978­9525498066.

Heporauta, Arne (1998). Alvar Aalto Arkkitehti: 1898–1976 (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland:Rakennustieto Oy. ISBN 978­9516825468.

Fleig, Karl (1975). Alvar Aalto. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978­0275496609.

Porphyrios, Demetri (1982). Sources of Modern Eclecticism. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978­0312746735.

Pallasmaa, Juhani (1985). Aalto: Alvar Aalto Furniture. MIT Press. ISBN 978­0262132060.

Korvenmaa, Pekka; Treib, Marc (2002). Reed, Peter, ed. Alvar Aalto: Between Humanism andMaterialism. New York, NY: The Museum of Modern Art. ISBN 978­0870701078.

Quantrill, Malcolm (1983). Alvar Aalto: A Critical Study. Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0941533352.

Ruusuvuori, Aarno, ed. (1978). Alvar Aalto 1898–1976. Helsinki, Finland: The Museum ofFinnish Architecture. ASIN B0000ED4GS (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000ED4GS).

Jormakka, Kari; Gargus, Jacqueline; Graf, Douglas The Use and Abuse of Paper. Essays on AlvarAalto. Datutop 20: Tampere 1999.

Connah, Roger (2008). Aaltomania. Rakennustieto Publishing. ISBN 978­9516826137.Karl Fleig – Alvar Aalto – Obras y proyectos. Works and Project – Publisher: Gustavo Gili – 1993(http://piaar.com.ua/information/item/368­alvar­aalto­kfleig­alvar­aalto­1994.html)

Aalto research

The extensive archives of Alvar Aalto are nowadays kept at the Alvar Aalto Museum(http://www.alvaraalto.fi/museum/), Jyväskylä, Finland. Material is also available from the formeroffices of Aalto, at Tiilimäki 20, Helsinki, nowadays the headquarters of the Alvar AaltoFoundation. (http://www.alvaraalto.fi/)Since 1995 the Alvar Aalto Museum and Aalto Academy has published a journal, Ptah(http://www.alvaraalto.fi/ptah/), which is devoted not only to Aalto scholarship but also toarchitecture generally as well as theory, design and art.

External links

Archives

media related to AlvarAalto.

Wikiquote has quotationsrelated to: Alvar Aalto

Alvar Aalto Foundation (http://www.alvaraalto.fi/)Custodian of Aalto's architectural drawings and writings.

Resources

Alvar Aalto (http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=34) at the Museum of Modern ArtAlvar Aalto biography (http://www.finnishdesign.com/finnish­designers/alvar­aalto) atFinnishDesign.comShort Biographies: Alvar Aalto (http://www.short­biographies.com/biographies/AlvarAalto.html)Aalto bibliography (http://www.alvaraalto.fi/alvar/biblio.htm) – From the official siteAlvar Aalto – Design Dictionary (http://www.designdictionary.co.uk/en/aalto.htm) Illustratedarticle about Alvar AaltoAlvar Aalto (http://www.iespana.es/legislaciones/Alvar_Aalto.htm) Biography in Spanish aboutAlvar AaltoModern Furniture and the history of Moulded Plywood(http://www.modernfurnitureclassics.com/index.php/main_page/editorial/title/Title%2015) Roleplayed by Alvar Alto in the use of Moulded plywood for furniture.Alvar Aalto in German (http://www.hls­dhs­dss.ch/textes/d/D8115.php), French (http://www.hls­dhs­dss.ch/textes/f/F8115.php) and Italian (http://www.hls­dhs­dss.ch/textes/i/I8115.php) in theonline Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

Alvar Aalto (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi­bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6390160) at Find aGraveMap of the Alvar Aalto works – Wikiartmap, the art map of the public space(http://en.wikiartmap.com/view/32050/­/­/alvar_aalto.html)"Alvar Aalto and Solar Geometry" (http://solarhousehistory.com/blog/2014/4/30/alvar­aalto­and­solar­geometry). solarhousehistory.com.

Catalogs

Artek.fi (http://www.artek.fi), Aalto furniture; company founded by Aalto.Alvar Aalto glassware (http://www.iittala.com/web/iittalacom.nsf/vwsearchview_en?SearchView&LANG=en&SearchOrder=4&Query=(aalto)), iittala.comBetween Humanism and Materialism (http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/1998/aalto/) New YorkMuseum of Modern Art exhibit site. Contains an especially useful timeline of his life and career.

Buildings and reviews

Checkonsite.com (http://www.checkonsite.com/browse/architect/featured­architects/alvar­aalto/) –Alvar Aalto architecture guide."Ahead of the curve" (http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/architecture/story/0,,2035974,00.html) TheGuardian – Fiona MacCarthy recalls a shared lunch of smoked reindeer and schnapps in hiselegant Helsinki restaurantBaker House (http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/aalto/aalto.html)North Jutland Museum (http://www.nordjyllandskunstmuseum.dk/Default.aspx?ID=656)S. Maria Assunta – Riola BO Italy (http://puredesign.it/mygallery/list.php?exhibition=10&lang=eng)

Shops

Alvar Aalto Collection (http://www.tomorrowsantique.com/en/Alvar­Aalto/) Tomorrow's AntiqueAlvar Aalto furniture collection.Coliseum­shop.com Alvar Aalto Furniture Selection. (http://www.coliseum­shop.com/en/catalog/designers/39­Alvar%20Aalto.html)

Aalto.com – Alvar Aalto Collection (http://www.aalto.com/) Shop dedicated to Alvar Aaltodesigns.

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Categories: 1898 births 1976 deaths People from KuortanePeople from Vaasa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) 20th­century Finnish architectsFinnish furniture designers Finnish industrial designers Modernist architectsInternational style architects Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne membersModernist architecture in Finland Alvar Aalto buildings Recipients of the Royal Gold MedalAalto University alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesRecipients of the Prince Eugen Medal

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