Organicism in Modern Architecture Professor Jonathan Massey Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms Dinçer Savaşkan
Alvar Aalto
"Architecture cannot disengage itself from natural and human factors, on the contrary, it must never do so… Its function rather is to bring natural ever closer to us."1
--Alvar Aalto
Alvar Aalto’s designs concerned relationships between human and nature— He always tried to find mediation between nature and human life. You can see these relationships throughout his work, from his buildings to his furniture and object designs. One of the key accompanying ideas to achieve his architecture was to create a national identity through modern architecture. His architecture was heavily influenced from Nordic references that are sensitive on handling of the natural local materials and the curves as representation of Finnish culture. However, Aalto’s work is so complex that some of his work can appear to
1 William J. R. Curtis, Modern Architecture Since 1900 (London: Phaidon, 1996), 232.
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 2 oppose to his idea of vernacular. It is possible to understand on some of his work that vernacular agenda or functions can be a supplementary to his initial formal experiments.
Being a Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto was educated in an environment where Finns sought a national identity separate from Russian influences. Alto, however, was nonetheless influenced by the American architect H.H. Richardson, as well as by architectural abstractions in modernism. He successfully synthesized modernism with vernacular architecture. The forms were incorporated into the nature of the conditions of the Finnish climate, to the landscape characteristics of Finland and even in use of local materials. Curves, plants, natural materials were all fused into a statement that is more tactile than the white walls of International Style. This unique approach during that time was sensitive to local Finnish tradition, climate and the landscape. 2
Since the beginning of his career, Finnish culture was a very important theme in Alto’s architecture. His early, published writings discussed the architecture of Finland and highlighted the theoretical problem of modernism and geography. He saw International style as a 2 William J. R. Curtis, Modern Architecture Since 1900 (London: Phaidon, 1996), 232.
Savaşkan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 3 way to assimilate Finland as a part of Europe in terms of culture. However, Aalto didn’t really define a certain framework for his style. He defined the national style as an analysis with the creativity of the architect that is meaningful to the spectator of Finland. In this sense, architecture wasn’t an inherited skill set, neither form nor element, but rather an artistic creation. Aalto considered “style” as a non-material concept of architecture, rather than exclusive to constant national essence. Aalto’s style was more dynamic in creating form, to which he referred as “living form." His aesthetics deal with how the forms can be experienced and are linked to the culture by which it is produced. His architecture emerged through formal explorations of form and the local characteristics of Finland. Even though it could be said that his architecture followed the same typology wherever he built, his artistic approach in form generation was always in relationship with the changing political position of Finland and its building national identity. 3
Aalto believed that culture was grown organically from the people and the soil. Culture depended on shared customs, learning through
3 Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Alvar Aalto: Architecture, Modernity and Geopolitics (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2009), 11-51.
Savaşkan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 4 experience by maintaining their organic traditions of a place. Aalto’s work emphasized lines and textures over the subject, with psychological equivalents of emotions transformed into lines and forms. According to this reading, even an object like a vase could affect our emotional life. Instead of the landscape or culture giving birth to a style, “style,” revealed its meaning through the perception by the people in that culture. So this style wasn’t about fixed meanings, ornamentations or forms, but more of a cerebral response of the viewer in Finland. So, the lines, forms and/or textures embody the national essence and affect the senses.
There are particular forms, technologies, and materials that define the national architectural styles. In modern architecture it can be said that these elements unify and more globalized however cultural references still survive in consciences. Carelia is considered to be the heart of Finnish culture. Aalto used the example of an embryo to explain traditional Carelian house which new units are keep adding to the core. These organically growing houses also have roofs in differing angles which adapted themselves to the nature. Flexibility, site and vernacular topology was the center of Carelian architectural ideas. Aalto’s architecture bringing together references to vernacular buildings and modern language with natural forms and textures that evokes metaphorical relationship between the Finnish lake landscapes, Nordic forest and the wood. The
Savaşkan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 5 idea of curvilinear forms of Aalto ( a sinuous line closing on itself) considered the expression of Finland as flowing rivers, hills, lakes which was also the image of Finland. 4
This derivation of national identity influencing from nature wasn’t actually specific to Finland. For instance, in Brazil Oscar Niemeyer also stated that his architecture derive from the rivers, hills and oceans of his country. However when we compare these different organic approaches, what distinguishes Aalto’s formal approach was also its tactile exposed material quality ( vs. white sculptural forms of Niemeyer) and its curves that directly derive from the analyzing and exploring the material of wood. We can easily see that while Niemeyer’s approach derives from the object or form itself, Aalto’s form exploration derives from the material, which is a complete reverse approach to the form.
Aalto’s formal and material explorations distance him from the strategies of early modernism. Aalto’s idea of modernism was about analyzing the way nature creates the form— but it was also about understanding the organizational and functional principles of nature, 4 Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Alvar Aalto: Architecture, Modernity and Geopolitics (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2009), 130-139.
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 6 which is in a way very similar to contemporary notions of new materialism today. He used technology to maximize and discover new potential of the materials, like bending in wood. So the technology and nature can form a relationship with humanity, and evolve and grow organically.
Figure 1. Aalto Material Study, Laminated chair leg, 1929-35
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 7
Figure 2. Aalto Material Study with wood, 1930
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 8
Figure 3. Aalto Material Study with laminated wood, 1929-35
Curvilinear forms in Aalto’s design can be seen from his furniture designs to object designs to complete buildings. Even though they are made from different materials and in different scales, the form always followed both material and function. For example, laminated wood could bend in one direction and also create a very stable form, where this form that is dictated directly by the material finds functionality in his furniture design like chairs. Notwithstanding, his abstract curvilinear forms create a different logic of functional relationships. His formal explorations generally gain function later on as furniture, vases, objects or building.
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 9 While a vase doesn’t directly derive from the material qualities (like the legs of laminated wood chair) or function, the form suggested a new dynamic way of displaying the flowers. So in this way new functions and material combinations were revealed. 5
Figure 4 Aalto Material glass Vase, 1937
5 Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Alvar Aalto: Architecture, Modernity and Geopolitics (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2009), 143-158.
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 10
Figure 5. Aalto, Paimio Chair, 1938
One of the great examples of Aalto’s "functional" style is the Viipuri Library (1925- 1935). Library's internal spaces flow into each other with a ceiling in form of gradually stepping planes. The building is planned according to human needs rather than the functional mechanic calculations of the spaces. 6In the meeting room a wood curvilinear and a wooden textured ceiling also creates a very natural environment. The wooden ceiling was a combination of formal experimentation and
6 William J. R. Curtis, Modern Architecture Since 1900 (London: Phaidon, 1996), 230-231.
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 11 functional requirement. The form can be seen just as material play, however a distribution of sound waves shows that the undulating wood ceiling was an outcome of the functional requirement of a meeting hall. Formal experimentation translated into function and worked in a way, which transformed into a feeling. Relationship between the form and life create a dynamic relationship. The ceiling wasn’t simply conceptualized as a sound distributor but also its visual and spatial effects created a feeling that embody the function in form, a synthesis in mutuality within the space. 7
7 Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Alvar Aalto: Architecture, Modernity and Geopolitics (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2009), 154-157.
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 12
Figure 6-7. Aalto, Viipuri Library, 1927 -35
Figure 8. Aalto, Viipuri Library, section of the auditorium 1927 -35
Savaşkan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 13 Aalto also gained recognition among the world critics. The Stockholm Exhibition especially brought attention to the modern movement in Scandinavian countries. Later, Aalto received an invitation from Philip Johnson to the MoMA Modern Architecture International Exhibition in 1932 for his Turun Sanomat Building, a work included in the exhibition. Aalto’s functionalism considered being anti-internationalist because of being heavily nationalistic. However, MoMA Exhibition ignored all the political subtext underlying his architecture, as the exhibition catalog was organized according to individuals, not according to countries.
The goal of the curators of the exhibition, Philip Johnson and Henry-Russell Hitchcock were to portray a consistent style and Turun Sonamat Building was coherent with the International Style. Despite this, Aalto wasn’t really an easy fit for the style. Turun Sonamat and Viipuru Library could fit into the style with their flat roofs, however his use of wood in Aalto House (1936-37) and the Finnish Pavillion at the Paris Exposition Internationale (1936-37) made a more clear statement in his idea of nationalistic modernist architecture. The furniture section in the pavillion bridged the gap between the International Style and local architecture and materials.
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 14
Figure 9-10. Aalto, Turun Sanomat Building, 1931
After the International Style Exhibition, MoMA also endorsed the idea of nationalism and localization of modern architecture with a series
Savaşkan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 15 of other exhibitions. So when Aalto designed his Finnish Pavillion for New York’s World’s Fair (1939-40) after MoMA’s exhibition series, Aalto anticipated the architectural culture of America was changing from geometric regulations of International Style to organic qualities of localized modern architecture. Aalto’s Finnish Pavilion was a curvilinear multimedia wall that displayed the pictures and industrial products of Finnish culture. The exhibition space in the pavilion was a tall wooden undulating form made from vertical strips of woods. The wall, with its multimedia installation over it and long vertical lines resembled northern sky with Finnish landscape expressed on the undulating forms, possessed layered symbolic meanings in its form. In this design, Alto focused on creating an atmosphere, an impression of Finland that can be felt through the senses rather than observed through individual exhibited items.8
8 Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Alvar Aalto: Architecture, Modernity and Geopolitics (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2009), 158-179.
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 16
Savaşkan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 17 Figure 11-12. Aalto, Finnish Pavilion in the New York World’s Fair, 1939
Aalto’s architecture was considered to have become more complex and ambiguous during 1960s. Aalto wasn’t actually always politically correct or consistent in his architecture. There were times he moved away from Finnish culture and include even Japanese details in his buildings that are even far from European traditions. Notwithstanding, Finland was still his inner energy to derive his architecture, however more ambiguous this relationship between his architecture and Finland became later on. The architect discovered his architecture found new meanings in new contexts. The free form of the curvilinear gained a symbolic meaning in America, associated with individualism and a free American society. 9
Aalto’s architecture promoted interaction through dynamism in form, but also created a relationship between history and future by creating a dialog with nature. He saw modern architecture had emphasized form, while style ignored its effects on the human being, galvanizing Aalto in his architecture. Formalism that is generated through an artist’s approach creates a more humanistic derivative in architecture,
9 Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Alvar Aalto: Architecture, Modernity and Geopolitics (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2009), 181-201.
SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 18 as Aalto pointed to in the relationship of organisms and their environment. The Human being and their environment coexist in a web of relationships, which drove Alvar Aalto to focus on the process, unlike early modernist architecture that focused on the product. Just like nature and biology creates endless possible organizations with similar tissues, architecture should also be in constant search in suggesting new forms and solutions.
Aalto declared himself as a practicing artist. Instead of focusing on the rational solution for a project, sometimes he simply began a project as work of an abstract art. However, Aalto’s design method never ignored the geographical content. His formal and material explorations were related to a political context of Finland, which was also in a state of change throughout his life. Nature was a symbol of freedom for Alvar Aalto, and following the logic of nature and its self-generative process; his architecture likewise generated freedom and promoted freedom in human society. His architecture was always in a state of development and change, and such he proactively adapted his architecture with the changing political weather of Finland and also its extension to world.
Savaşkan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 19 Bibliography
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SavaĹ&#x;kan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 22 Figure Credits
1. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Chair leg, http://static.flickr.com/223/501236157_335c1c4d6e.jpg 2. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Wood study, http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lp3flm5Zta1qztueno1_500.jp g 3. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Laminated wood, http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lp3fj2Hgfa1qztueno1_500.jp g 4. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Vase (1936-37), Saint Louis Art Museum, Funds given by Mrs. Charles W. Lorenz in honor of Clara Van Zanten, http://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=8CNfeTk iJCxdLS04eDp2SngmUQ%3D%3D 5. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Paimio Chairs (1931-32) , Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), http://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=%2FDNC eCtIKTY6JS46fw%3D%3D 6. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Viipuri Library, http://www.ficultureny.org/node/72
Savaşkan | Alvar Aalto and exploration of human-nature relationships through anthropomorphic forms 23 7. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Viipuri Library, http://anavedobomgosto.blogspot.com/2012/03/viipuri-vyborglibrary.html 8. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Viipuri Library, Section, http://majesticplumage.blogspot.com/2013/10/alvar-aalto-viipurilibrary-lecture-hall.html 9. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Turun Sanomat Newspaper (1928-9), Finland http://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=8CJGczI9 NzldLS1WEDhzTnkrX3gtel1%2FfiM%3D 10. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Turun Sanomat, http://www.archigraphie.eu/?tag=turun-sanomat-building 11. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), New York: Finnish Pavilion, 1939 World’s Fair: Int. http://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=8CJGczI9 NzldLS1WEDhzTnkrX3ovfFh%2BfyM%3D 12. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), New York: Finnish Pavilion, 1939 World’s Fair: Int. Analytical model by shigeru ban laboratory. http://www.designboom.com/history/aalto/pavilion.html