Linton University College Course: Arch XYZ Date: IC No.

ALVAR H. AALTOO

About

Alvar Henrik Aalto, born on the 3rd of February 1898 and died on the 11th of May 1976 was a Finnish architect and designer whose works includes architecture, furniture, wardrobe and glassware. His career spanned from 1920 to 1970 and reflects in the styles of his work, ranging from Nordic Classicism of the early work, to a rational International Style Modernism during the 1930s to a more organic modernist style from the 1940s onwards.

What is typical for his entire career, however, is a concern for design as a total work of art; whereby he together with his first wife Aino Aalto would design not just the building, but give special treatments to the interior surfaces and design furniture, lamps, and furnishings and glassware.

 After graduating from Jyvskyl Lyceum School, completing his basic education in 1916. In 1916 he then enrolled to study architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology Alvar toured Europe and in 1923 he returned to Jyvskyl, where he opened his first architectural office.

LIFEWORK

He is sometimes regarded as among the first and most noteworthy architects of Nordic modernism, a closer probe of the history shows that Aalto (while a pioneer in Finland) closely followed and had personal contacts with other pioneers in Sweden,particularly Gunnar Asplund and Sven Markelius.

LIFEWORK Contd
What they and many others of that generation in the Nordic countries had in common was that they started off from a classical education and were first designing in the so-called Nordic Classicism style a style that had been a reaction to the previous dominant style of National Romanticism before moving, in the late 1920s, towards Modernism.

RETURN
On returning to Jyvskyl in 1923 to establish his own architect's office, Aalto busied himself with a number of single-family homes, all designed in the classical style, such as the manor-like house for his mother's cousin Terho Manner in Tysa in 1923, a summer villa for the Jyvskyl chief constable in 1923 and the Alatalo farmhouse in Tarvaala in 1924.

HIS WRITINGS
Furthermore, this was the period when Aalto was most prolific in his writings, with articles for professional journals and newspapers. Among his most well-known essays from this period are "Urban culture" 1924), "Temple baths on Jyvskyl ridge" (1925), "Abb Coignard's sermon" (1925), and "From doorstep to living room" (1926).[7]

WORKS

Fig1.0 Villa Mairea in Noormarkku

Fig 1. 1 Detail of Baker House facade on the Charles River

Fig 1.3: Auditorium of the University of Technology, Helsinki, Finland (1949-66)

Fig 1.4: Finlandia Hall Helsinki by Alvar Aalto

Fig 1.5: kunsten aalborg museum of modern art

MID CAREER
Aalto's mid career was essentially experiments with wood and his deviation from a purist modernism would be tested in built form with the commission to design Villa Mairea (1939) in Noormakku (the luxury home of the young industrialist) couple Harry and Maire Gullichsen. Maire Gullichsen acted as the main client, and worked with Alvar but also Aino Aalto on the design, inspiring them to be more daring in their designs.

 The original design was to include a private art gallery, but this was never built. The building forms a U-shape around a central inner "garden" the central feature of which is a kidney-shaped swimming pool.

MONUMENTALISM
In the advanced stage of his works, Aalto proposed a line of separate marble-clad buildings fronting the bay which would house various cultural institutions, including a concert hall,an opera,a museum of architecture and headquarters for the Finnish Academy.

 Aalto first presented the plan in 1961, but it went through various modifications during the early 1960s leaving just two components of the overall scheme to be realised: 1- the Finlandia Hall concert hall (1976) in front of Toolo Bay 2- Main office building in the Kamppi district for the Helsinki Electricity Company (1975). Aalto died in 1976 but his office continued to operate under the direction of his widow, Elissa, completing works that had neared finishing.

**AWARDS **
Aalto's awards included the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture from the Royal Institute of British Architects (1957) and the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects (1963). He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1957. He also was a member of the Academy of Finland, and was its president from 1963 to 1968. From 1925 to 1956 he was a member of the Congrs International d'Architecture Moderne.

SUMMARY OF BIOGRAPHY
BIOGRAPHY 1898 Born in Kuortane, Finland to Johan Henrik Aalto and Selma Hackstedt. 1921 Completes an architecture diploma at Helsinki University of Technology. Work experience with Armas Lindgren in Helsinki and Arvid Berjke in Gothenberg, Sweden. 1923 Returns to Finland and opens the Alvar Aalto Office for Architecture and Monumental Art in Jyvskyl. 1924 Marries the architect Aino Marsio. They work together on small local projects such as housing and student clubs. 1927 Wins a competition to design an agricultural cooperative in Turku and moves there with his family. 1928 Starts work on the Viipuri Library, Turun Sanomat newspaper offices and the Paimio Sanaotorium. 1929 Attends his first Congrs Internationaux dArchitecture Moderne (CIAM) conference. He and Aino befriend Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and the critic Sigfried Giedion. 1933 Moves office to Helsinki. His Paimio moulded wood furniture is exhibited at Fortnum & Mason department store in London. 1934 Builds a new family home in a Helsinki suburb and founds the Artek furniture company with Aino and Maire Gullichsen. 1936 Aaltos Finnish Pavilion for the Paris International Exposition wins praise from Le Corbusier. 1937 The Savoy Restaurant opens in Helsinki with an interior and furniture designed by Aalto including the wavy glass Savoy Vase. 1938 Starts work on Villa Mairea for Maire Gullichsen and her industrialist husband, Harry. Exhibition of Aaltos work at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Designs Finnish Pavilion for New York Worlds Fair. 1939 Travels extensively in the US and accepts a professorship at MIT until World War II forces him to return to Finland. 1946 After the War, Aalto returns to MIT and designs Baker House. 1952 Marries the architect Elissa Mkiniemi and builds a house for them in Muursalto. Begins work on the Helsinki House of Culture. 1955 Designs the Church of Three Crosses at Vuokenninska, Finland. 1959 Starts working on the Helsinki City Plan and Essen Opera House, which will eventually be completed after his death in 1988. 1969 Designs the Iran Museum of Modern Art in Shiraz. 1976 Alvar Aalto dies in Helsinki

REFERENCES
1. Malcolm Quantrill, Alvar Aalto: A Critical Study, New Amsterdam Books, 1990 2. Alvar Aalto, Towards a Human Modernism, Prestel, 1999 3. Goran Schildt, Alvar Aalto: Masterworks, Thames & Hudson, 1998 4. Goran Schildt, Alvar Aalto: Mature Years, Rizzoli International, 1991 5. www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/241/Alvar-Aalto 6. www.architect.architecture.sk/alvar-aalto-architect/alvaraalto-architect.php 7. http://designmuseum.org/design/alvar-aalto