Alvar Aalto

1898 - 1976

History of Modern Architecture P.Shabitha

• 1898 – 1976
• Finish Architect
• Early 1920’s influenced by Neoclassical traditionalist modernism
• Late 1920’s influenced by High modernism with Gropius and
Corbusier
• Later – own distinctive mode of counter modernism
• Symbolism and functionalism
• Buildings – simple to look at, difficult to understand – world wide
respect
• Buildings – interesting compositions but lack gripping visual
impact of other modernist works
• Buildings – loose informal sprawls – no sign of compelling form of
modernist ideal, no photogenic , graphic images
• Architecture that not merely quench thirst of high art and pure
structure but also in response to the more direct needs of man as
an active sensate being – functionalist in the real sense
• His clients – socialist oriented thinly populated arctic land
• Hostile environment – arctic cold, large dark winters - Aalto
avoided assertive formalism - obsession with warming comfort
• Aalto’s ideas – man made environment should provide nourishing
surroundings denied by nature
• After Viipuri library – undulating curves crop up constantly,
combining utility and strong sense of visual effects
• Major works – libraries, civic centers, churches, housing
• Functionalism – yet non reductionist, avoided romantic excess
and neoclassical monotony
• Borrowed from international style – used texture, color and
structure in new creative ways
• Refined generic modern architecture that existed in most of
Europe and recreated them into a NEW FINNISH ARCHITECTURE
• Design - response to site, material and form
• Detailing
• Works – represented a unique interpretation of modernist orthodoxy
• Reluctant to engage in theoretical debates, he was an architect who
didn’t answer in writing but buildings
• Major themes of his works are inseparable from Finish culture
• His father – surveyor
• Inspired by Finnish landscapes, contour plans he drew with his
father Education – Beaux Arts influence
• Wife – Aino Marsio – highly practical designer - gifted draftsman
and good at interior design – some outstanding glassware designed
by her
• Inspired by Bauhaus ideas - analysis of problems should
replace outmoded style based design; architecture should be
linked to general economy and embrace machine production;
and that biological and psychological constants offer a universal
basis for the rational design of modern buildings, furniture and
equipment
• Consideration of bio dynamic functions of eating, sleep, work and
play provided the basis for minimum dwelling which could be
psychologically enlarged to arrive at a ‘universal dwelling’
designed after careful research based on human similarities
• Functional design – embraces subtle psychological and social
factors
• International style – not a stylistic formula but way of thinking and
working to be adapted to specific cultures and landscapes
• Exterior corresponds with interior – transparent expression of
inner organization
• Eg: Window arrangement differs based on interior space unlike
Le Corbusier’s indiscriminate ribbon windows
• Functional zoning provided rationale for design but the building
was also a composition of visual and spatial sophistication
DESIGN
• Father of modernism in Norway, Sweden and Denmark
• Blending modern architecture with national and regional
Scandinavian tradition
• Works – architecture , furniture, glassware, textiles
• Architecture without style - Buildings determined only by
• Needs of people using them
• Conditions of site, materials available
• Financial condition
• Organic connection between buildings and nature including man.
Paimio Sanatorium
 Pamio Sanatorium, Pamio
• Shape of plan
– Similar rooms and spaces are grouped together to form a wing
– Wings linked by central part – common functions like stairs,
elevators etc
– Each wing given special position in landscape according to
demands of rooms
• Plan meant to be functionally zoned and bio
dynamically aligned to the compass so that the
direction of each wing was defined according to its
requirements of sunshine and view.
• Collective sun terraces – which allowed the patients to
take the air in groups of their own choice
• Flat roof top terrace designed for healthier patients
protected with a RCC canopy to reduce solar gains
• Patients wing – looked out over uninhabited forest
oriented – South, South east to capture morning sun and
reduce solar gain in the afternoon
• Patients room – for a horizontal human beings unlike
a ordinary room for a vertical person (ceiling painted
darker)
• Attention to Details :
– Wash basin design
– door handle design,
– light fixtures
• Attention to details
– the dedication to serving their needs manifested in every detail,
– uplifting quality of light filled spaces
– contributed to the prospects of recovery
– new architecture in the service of people
The Paimio Sanatorium’s exterior facade
An interior space in the Paimio Sanatorium
incorporates Alvar Aalto designed furniture pieces,
including the Stool 60 and Paimio Lounge Chair.

A stairwell in the Paimio Sanatorium with a

calming yellow colour
Viipuri library
• Site – park
• Classical modernist
• Public library and lecture room
• 2 distinct volumes

Library
Functions

Offices & lecture

Stairs

rooms

• One end – main entrance in projecting vestibule

• Smaller projection for entrance to children's library Staircase near
main entry
• Multiple levels
• Inside library – shadow less light filtered down from a grid of conical
lens roof lights which are 1.8 m in diameter , the RCC beams span
17.6 and the depth of the roof structure ensures that no direct sun is
allowed to disturb the readers concentration
• Walls have no windows to avoid harsh lighting
• Lecture theater lit by continuous full height glazing overlooking park
• Undulating timber ceiling designed to overcome acoustical problems
caused by beams
• Problem with length of room – furthest audience far away

Roof Details
 Villa Mairea
• Counter Modernist Aspects
appear
• High modernist influence of flat
roof, crisp simple volumes, plain
surfaces
• Textures that appeal to the
senses: base of grey granite,
teak and other wood
• Windows disposed strictly for
views and illumination
• Wrights influence in horizontal
stretched lines
• Building moulded in pragmatic
and functional ways
• L shaped portico with turf,
containing the sauna and pool
area
• Free form entrance in front
• Loggia next to entrance
• Studio is dominant external
feature – wood panelled and on
slender supports
• Naturalistic imagery, sensory
richness, and fluidity
• Wood panelled flooring and
ceiling in interiors
• Stairs – screened by slender
wooden poles
Finnish Pavilion, New York
• World fair New York – 1939
• 1937 – competition project
• 52’0” – 4 levels
– 3 floors had photographs of country, people, work,
– Ground floor – exhibition of products
– Wood and steel
– Roof ventilation
– Shell of pavilion – Finish vernacular buildings
– Undulating wall suspended diagonally across length
of wall
Aalto Studio · Munkkiniemi, Helsinki, Finland
Aalto Summer House
Villa Mariea
Academic Bookshop ·
Helsinki, Finland
 Academic Bookshop - Helsinki, Finland

• Externally - relatively straightforward copper-clad curtain

wall
• brighter character - lining the window frames with strips of
white marble
• two entrances off either street converge under an array of
light fittings
• three-storey space of the bookshop tucked in behind other
buildings
• Three crystalline roof lights bring light into volume,
• vertically striped balustrades of white marble - attenuate the
height of the space and dominate colourful display of books
 Artek Stool 60
Paimio Lounge Chair (Armchair 41)
 Armchair 403

Armchair 400