Alvar Aalto

 

Aalvar Aalto is a Danish Architect and he did not grow up in an urban setting. Instead he was exposed to the nature and trees of Finland, “You should not be able to go from home to work without passing through a forest,” he said. Aalto’s father was a surveyor, and Aalto credits his young exposure to the process of measuring and recording the ground, his father’s occupation, as being a catalyst for his interest in designing space. This background contributes to the sense of his buildings being a part of the ground, and coming up from it or working with it.

There are several of his projects where his architecture works with the existing or constructed ground to ascend up to his building.  One of his projects is Säynätsalo Town Hall. This building was assigned to me during our architectural analysis class. Our techer at the time told us, “Either love or hate your building, but have an opinion about it,” and I love it. Aalto used a preexisting slope of earth to nestle part of the building into, and constructed the oppsite side of the building as a retaining wall. The building wraps this elevated courtyard, creating an intimate space for occupation and for sunlight to reach the interior space. The sloping  ground of the terraced earth and steps reminds me of a hillside, or as Aalto said, he was inspred by Greek and Roman amphitheaters. I also see that the tower is almost like a mountain, where the important function of the council chamber is. Another way that this project exhibits a connection to nature is that his use of vertical mullions references trees and light filtering into the circulation corridor. This outdoor room, this void, has a presence despite its absence.

Aalto uses the typology of a courtyard in many of his projects. The form appears in several of his projects as a square more or less. This square in plan is a cube in volume, and it is adjacent to an entrance and exiting. The idea of transforming a threshold into a destination, a design that causes people to pause within it is an interesting spatial idea to me. His project Experimental House would cause me to pause if I were able to visit it. Through a use of a variety of tiles and bricks, Aalto creates interesting textures and patterns. Though this project is considered a test piece for other projects such as Säynätsalo Town Hall, I think the texture and patterning is quite beautiful.

Another project where Aalto creates a space for people is somewhat different than these two previous examples. Baker House is a dormitory at MIT, and the commons room shares the cubic form of these previous spaces, but it is an interior space. Still, it is appearant that Aalto has a strong interest in creating a place for people to meet in and to be with one another. The quality of light in the space is one way I think he worked to make the space desirable. Though an interior room, the sun is allowed to fall down into the space for light, and I find it quite beautiful that he uses these same holes to bring in light at night through artififcial lights above the same windows.

I appreciate Aalto’s sensitivity to materials and light, and his ability to create a space for people to be together in.