Internationally renowned as one of the major achievements of modern architecture, the work of Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) was deeply rooted in the culture and the landscape of his native Finland. A Grand Duchy of Russia until the revolution of 1917, the newly independent state promoted architecture as a means of establishing its identity as a social democracy, and in Aalto found an architect with the ambition and talents to meet the challenge. Throughout a long and fertile career his work embraced almost all the key public institutions - town halls, libraries, theatres, churches, universities and government departments - as well as social housing and private dwellings, and he brought to buildings of every type and scale a profound concern for the physical and psychological needs of their individual users, as well as remarkable sensitivity to natural sites and materials and to the experimental qualities of architecture. The complete range of his work is examined through a study of recurring themes - the dialogue between nature and culture, the reciprocity of the individual and the collective, building and place.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Overview of Aalto's work.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Alvar Aalto (Paperback)
Clearly, as Weston testifies, there has been a need for a monograph on Aalto's architecture to compliment the supurb Aalto biographies by Schildt. However, despite the fine photographic reproductions and line drawings in this volume, the book clearly disappoints. Weston simply sees Aalto as a historical continuation of earlier Finnish architecture, but then fails to show why Aalto is so special, so different. Much space is given to saying something about nearly every Aalto building, and many of those never completed - some 300 completed buildings - but there is no critical edge to his comments, and no deep analysis. A good reference book, but nothing more.
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Coffee-table book +,
By A Customer
This review is from: Alvar Aalto (Paperback)
Undoubtedly this is a book of fine photographs and drawings. And for many architects and students that is more than enough. They want to be inspired, and to get a feeling for the material qualities of architecture. They indeed need few words. But Weston's book makes a claim to be more than that. It claims to be a historical monograph. But we get little sense of the strangeness, the Otherness, of Finnish culture. Aalto could more or less be designing anywhere. Reference to Finland is merely stereo-typical "nature". Aalto remains as elusive as ever.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful photographs,
By A Customer
This review is from: Alvar Aalto (Paperback)
Beautiful photographs of Aalto's architecture. I don't think a monograph needs too many words. Weston provides the necessary dates and basic information, but luckilly keeps away from intellectualisations.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
