In the opinion of such diverse designers as Robert Venturi, James Stirling, Frank O.Gehry and Hans Hollein, Alvar Aalto was the greatest architect of the century. This book, published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth architectural historians from Finland, Sweden, England , Germany and Switzerland focus on Aalto's work. Although Aalto was a modernist architect, he could also be considered " a secret opponent within the modern movement" for his resistance to aesthetic dogmas. In his architecture he always pursued a single goal; to create architecture that was human, that is, serving the people. This volume attempts to close the gap in the scholarship on Aalto by examining his oeuvre and his influence on contemporary architecture.
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"The Lord created paper for drawing architecture. Everything else is--for me, at least--misuse of paper," Alvar Aalto, the Finnish modernist architect, once remarked. The quote begs the question of what Aalto--who, according to his close friend and biographer Goran Schildt, was also quite modest--would have thought of this book: a collection of 11 essays, almost entirely laudatory in tone, focusing on various aspects of his work, which spanned from the 1920s to the 1970s. Of the fare offered here, volume editor Winfried Nerdinger's kickoff, "Alvar Aalto's Human Modernism," provides the best general overview of Aalto's life work, "greatest hits" and guiding principles, while Schildt's character study, "The Many Faces of Alvar Aalto," positions the man as an egoless "secret opponent within the Modern Movement" in contrast to the rigid, self-important formalism of Corbusier and Company. These are followed by meditations on Aalto's relationship with cities and city planning, on private houses, and on his philosophical and professional ties to the U.S. (where he was particularly influenced by the teachings of Lewis Mumford, and where he taught, at MIT, after World War II), Sweden, Vienna, Switzerland, North Germany, and Wolfsburg, Germany (site of three major Aalto projects from the early '60s, including the Holy Spirit Community Center with its super-mod hood-shaped roof and autonomous slim white bell tower).
The only Aalto project to get its own essay here is the dazzling Villa Mairea in Noormarkku, Finland (1938-39), in which Aalto fused modernist, Finnish vernacular, and Japanese and French influences to create one of those homes, like Fallingwater or the Villa Savoye, that transcends the stylistic strictures of the era and inhabits its own timeless realm of beauty and intrigue. Unfortunately, the accompanying photos of the house are-like those of Aalto's many other stylish and unique projects discussed herein--small and black-and-white. If you're really, deeply into Aalto--i.e., if you want to read theory about his work more than simply look at it--you'll like this rather academic volume. But if you first want to get to know his work better visually, then short of visiting the sites themselves, you're better off starting with a full-color monograph for a real photo, uh, Finnish. --Timothy Murphy
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German
Original Language: German
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