Architecture a Nordic Dimension_Quaderni di Storia dell'Architettura by Mirco Santi

Università Politecnica delle Marche Facoltà di Ingegneria - Dipartimento DICEA Corso di laurea in Ingegneria Edile Architettura

2016

ARCHITECTURE A NORDIC DIMENSION

Quaderni di Storia dell’Architettura

graphic project: Monica Prencipe

ARCHITECTURE A NORDIC DIMENSION

We live in a confused architectural present which views its own past through a veil of myths and half-truths (a number of them manufactured by historians) with a mixture of romanticism, distortion and bewilderment. A freedom of choice for the future is best encouraged by a sensible, accurate and discriminating understanding of one’s place in tradition. William J.R. Curtis

Quaderni didattici - una collana

A Nordic Dimension: Forewords Aino Niskanen...................................................................................................................................5 Antonello Alici...................................................................................................................................6 Program and Bibliography..................................................................................................................8 Chiara Della Sciucca / Chiara Rinaldoni _City Life: Architecture As sociAl integrAtion........................................................................................................12 Luca Bonci / Mirco Santi_The way of being Industrial: A comparison between two different architectural experimentations.....................................................18 Vladimir Bojkovic, PhD candidate_Buildings for Culture: Parallels between Finlandiatalo (Helsinki) and the Home of Revolution (Niksic, Montenegro)..........26 Francesco Chiacchiera / Alberto Marchegiani_To the Waterfront: Between Alvar Aalto & Snøhetta...........................................................................................................40 Debora Benfatto / Ludovica Giaconi_Buildings for Culture: Finlandiatalo and the Auditorium - Parco della Musica.............................................................................46 Alessandro Lattanzi_Building for the Spirit: An evolution in Peter Celsing’s church projects..........................................................................................54 Anna Khromova, PhD candidate_ City Planning: A review of urban planning in Helsinki and Moscow during the 20th century...................................64 Phung Nguyen, PhD candidate_The Structure of Wood in Gol stave church in Norway and traditional house in Hue (Vietnam)..............................................72 Monica Prencipe, PhD candidate_1895-1950:

The dissemination of Nordic Architecture through Italian magazines.............................................................82 Architecture - A nordic dimension

In una fase di profonda revisione del nostro corso di laurea, negli obiettivi e nel metodo, per far fronte alla crisi evidente dei sistemi educativi e delle stesse professioni dell’architetto e dell’ingegnere, l’apertura alla cooperazione internazionale appare auspicabile per offrire agli studenti le migliori opportunità di crescita. Per queste ragioni, il corso di Storia dell’architettura moderna e contemporanea di Ancona ha cercato negli ultimi anni di ampliare l’offerta didattica. Gli esiti incoraggianti delle attività proposte – viaggi di studio, seminari e laboratori internazionali, corsi monografici, summer school e winter forum – hanno fornito le premesse per avviare una collana di ‘quaderni’ che siano una utile traccia per gli studenti più giovani. Sono soprattutto la vivacità e la ricchezza degli stimoli derivanti dalla relazione tra dottorandi, laureandi e i più giovani studenti del corso quinquennale a supportare questa scelta. A loro è affidata la redazione dei ‘quaderni’, nell’auspicio che sia occasione di crescita e di una maggior consapevolezza del valore della storia per saper costruire il proprio futuro. In a moment of profound revision -in the objectives and methods- of our degree program, openness to international cooperation seems desirable, in order to provide students with the best growing opportunities and to cope with the obvious crisis of both the educational system and of the architect and engineer professions. For these reasons, the course of History of modern and contemporary architecture in Ancona has sought in recent years to broaden the educational offer. The encouraging results of the proposed activities - study tours, seminars and workshops, specialized courses, summer school and winter forum - have provided the foundations to start a series of series of ‘quaderni’ for a trace to younger students. It is especially the vivacity and richness of stimulation arising from the relationship between PhD students, undergraduates and younger students of the five-year course to support this choice. They are entrusted with the editing, hoping that this will be an opportunity for a growth and for the arising of a greater awareness of the value of history in building their own future.

A NORDIC DIMENSION Foreword by Aino Niskanen From left to right: Anna Khromova, Alessandro Lattanzi, Ludovica Giaconi, Debora Benfatto, Alberto Marchegiani, Francesco Chiacchiera, Antonello Alici, Monica Prencipe, Aino Niskanen, Chiara Della Sciucca, Chiara Rinaldoni, Mirco Santi, Luca Bonci, Vladimir Bojkovic, (absent: Phung Nguyen).

prof. Aino Niskanen - Aalto University, Finland

In November 2015 a course on Nordic Modernism was arranged at the chair of History of Architecture at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona. The course introduced themes and masters of Nordic modernism with focus in Denmark, Sweden and Finland with Norwegian aspects. The timespan period in discussion was circa 1930-1970. The themes of the lectures were historical roots of architecture, functionalism with its social aims, Swedish empiricism, ideas about homes and design, cultural centers, sacred places such as cemeteries and churches and city planning. Important masters Gunnar Asplund, Arne Jacobsen, Alvar Aalto, Jörn Utzon, Peter Celsing, Reima Pietilä and Sverre Fehn who brought modernism into a maturity by mixing international ideas with the spirit of locality and vernacular were discussed. Writings of the masters were introduced by the students and discussed as readings tasks. An important goal of the course was discussion, not only knowledge transmitted by the teacher. Nine master students and three PhD students took part in the course. The students could suggest a theme for their special study with the theme comparison. Taking up a subject from their own country and comparing it with a topic that was presented in the course, Most topics were Italian but three presented comparisons from Montenegro, Russia and Vietnam. A separate seminar for presentations took place in January. I was happily surprised by the fresh viewpoints presented by the participants in their studies and in their final essays. I would like to thank for Professor Antonello Alici for arranging an opportunity to give this course and for taking an active part in the organization. Many thanks to architect Giovanni Bellucci for helping with practical arrangements and architect Monica Prencipe for help with organizing, activating the discussions and taking actively part into the course. I want to thank professor Giulio Petti for taking the students for a walk to look at Ancona modernism. My warm thanks to the participating students, it was great to meet you all!

Aino Niskanen Aino Niskanen graduated Master of Architecture at Helsinki University of Technology. She has worked at various architectural offices at her student time and after her graduation. Her licentiate work was about public interiors of late 19th century in Munich and her dissertation about Väinö Vähäkallio, an architect´s life work and networks. After her graduation she started to teach history of architecture and acts as professor of History of Architecture at Aalto University since 2007. She has written on co-operative building in Finland, concrete in 1950s architecture, on interiors and their preservation, on the architecture of 1960s and 70´s and on Reima Pietilä´s architecture. She has written on suburban architecture and taken part into suburb investigations and her interests include industrial heritage. She worked as chief editor of the network journal Taiteentutkija (Art researcher). She is member on boards of Finnish National Council of Architecture and Design, Nils Erik Wickberg Foundation, Museum of Finnish Architecture and Alvar Aalto Foundation.

Helsinki 17.4. 2016 Aino Niskanen prof. Aino Niskanen - Aalto University, Finland

Antonello Alici Antonello Alici holds a Master of Architecture at the Università degli studi di Firenze and a PhD. in History of Architecture at the Università di ChietiPescara. Since 2007 he is the Chair of History of Architecture at the Università Politecnica delle Marche in Ancona, where he coordinates the International curriculum at the Doctorade School in Engineering Architecture. He has hold courses and lectured at the Aalto University in Helsinki, at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, at the PhD in World Heritage Program of the Silpakorn University in Bangkok, at the Chiang-Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Since 2016 he is Visiting Scholar to the Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies, University of Cambridge. His main research interests are the architecture and city in Italy and the Nordic countries in 19th and 20th Century. He has promoted International seminars and conferences on the mutual influences between Italy and the Nordic Countries in Ancona, Roma and Stockholm. He is the author of books on Contemporary Finnish Architecture, on the city of Pescara, of essays on Alvar Aalto, the Finnish National Romanticism, the debate on the protection of the historical town in the second post-war in Italy, on Giancarlo De Carlo, Giuseppe Pagano and Ernesto N. Rogers, Vincenzo Pilotti, Guido Cirilli. He is the Program Director of the summer school “The Culture of City. Understanding the Urban Landscape”.

The course Architecture. A Nordic Dimension by professor Aino Niskanen is the result of a long lasting and successful cooperation between the chairs of history of architecture of Aalto University (former Helsinki University of Technology) and Università Politecnica delle Marche in Ancona. Its roots are to be found in the tradition of the travels of the architects, started with the Grand Tour and widely evolved In Europe and America in the 19th and 20th century. In the second postwar, a new season of study travels to Italy has been established by the Nordic schools of architecture, the main focus being on the one hand the Classical heritage and on the other hand what was called ‘Italia minore’. In 1965, with the support of New Carlsberg foundation ‘Rome scholarship’, Jan Gehl and his wife Ingrid – an architect and a candidate psychologist - travelled from Denmark to Italy to study the function and the use of ‘piazzas and places’ in the southern European city culture. Strøget - the first experimental pedestrian area in Europe - had just been opened in Copenhagen, to be seen as an attempt to clear central spaces from the invasion of cars and parkings. Jan Gehl underlined the importance of the stops - from Tådhuspladsen, from Nytorv to Amagertorv, then over Bremerholm to Kongens torv - in this long street making its structure acceptable. Following the theories of Camillo Sitte and Kevin Lynch, and the idea that in the history of the city “the empty space left by the built mass is recognized to serve important community functions”, Jan and Ingrid Gehl made a wide investigation of the public spaces in the Italian towns, with a careful choice of examples mainly in the province, from Lucca to Perugia and Ascoli Piceno or Montalto Marche in central Italy, to Piacenza and Sabbioneta in the north and Martina Franca in the south. The first results were published in three essays in the Danish magazine “Arkitekten” in 1966. Their methodology – searching the effects of the space on the menthal hygiene of the population had a large impact on the urban studies. Photos and graphics selected the variety of squares according to their use in different times of the day and of the year. Shocking images of Piazza Farnese and Piazza Colonna in Rome totally invaded by cars were opposed to the traditional crowded market squares or to the monumental religious squares in the smaller towns.

prof. Antonello Alici - UNIVPM, Italy

A NORDIC DIMENSION Foreword by Antonello Alici The link with Gehl (not to forget Eva and Hilding Ekelund’s ‘Italia La Bella’ in the late 1920s) is suggested by Vilhelm Helander as a source of Nils Erik Wickberg’s pioneering travels to Italy with his students at the Helsinki University of Technology since the late 1960s. ‘The Culture of City’, to be experienced in minor itineraries, was the aim of several successful trips to Italy in the 1990s promoted by Vilhelm Helander, professor of History of Architecture, together with Aino Niskanen. This was the starting point of a fruitful exchange of methodologies on the urban studies between Italian and Finnish students, from Corfinio and Pettorano sul Gizio in Abruzzo, to Ostuni and Matera, and a travel to Finland in Tammisaari. Later to Ascoli Piceno, Todi and Ancona. The comparative method of research suggested by professor Aino Niskanen in her course in Ancona raised interesting proposals by the Master and PhD students which are collected here, to serve as a model for future experiences. Today, while we are suffering the dramatic events of the earthquakes in all the central regions of Italy, this long teaching and researching experience appears very central in the education of the future generation of engineers architects. I want to thank professor Aino Niskanen for supporting our cooperation in many ways, from the exchange of courses to the summer school ‘The Culture of the City’.

Ancona, 30.10. 2016 Antonello Alici prof. Antonello Alici - UNIVPM, Italy

PROGRAM OF THE COURSE by Prof. Aino Niskanen - Aalto University

1_4.11 The roots What does it mean to live in a Nordic country. Vernacular Architecture between 1900 and late 1920´s. 2_6.11 Functionalism in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Readings: End of Acceptera, Henningsen. Discussion on possible topics

6_20.11 Cultural buildings. Masters : Jorn Utzon Readings: Utzon, Platforms and plateau+ Utzon, Mikkola 7_25.11 The city . Masters: Arne Jacobsen, Peter Celsing Readings : Jacobsen, Celsing

3_11.11 Churches and funerary chapels Alvar Aalto between 1940s and 1970s

8_27.11 Masters: Sverre Fehn, Reima Pietilä, Ralph Erskine

Readings: Aalto Philosophy of architecture, The trout and the stream

Readings: Pietilä, Fehn, Erskine

5_18.11 Housing, homes and design in Nordic countries. Readings: Norberg - Schulz, Rasmussen

January 2016: Final seminar

Nordic Architecture Literature _A selection

NORDIC MODERNISM LITERATURE - A selection NORDIC ARCHITECTURE by Prof. Aino Niskanen - Aalto University

Docomomo. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden. Modern Baltic Heritage. Small Houses. Ed. by Timo Tuomi & Kristiina Paatero. Museum of Finnish Architecture. Helsinki 2007.

Donnelly, Marian C. Architecture in the Scandinavian Countries. MIT Press. Cambridge 1992.

Lund, Nils-Ole. Nordic Architecture. Arkitektens Forlag. KĂ¸benhavn 2006.

Modern Movement Scandinavia. Vision and Reality. DOCOMOMO Scandinavia. Ă&#x2026;rhus 1998.

Nineteen Thirties Scandinavia. Rassegna 77, 1999.

Nineteen Thirties Nordic Architecture. Conference and Exhibition 8-26 October, Politecnico di Milano. Ed. by Gennaro Postiglione & Mareike Henschel. Politecnico di Milano. Milano 2001.

Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Nightlands. Nordic Building. MIT Press. Cambridge 1996.

Paulsson, Thomas. Scandinavian Architecture. Buildings and Society in Denmark, Finland, Norway and

Sweden from the Iron Age until Today. London 1958.

Plummer, Henry. Nordic Light. Modern Scandinavian Architecture. Thames & Hudson. New York 2012.

prof. Aino Niskanen - Aalto University, Finland

DENMARK

250 Years of Danish Architecture. Ed. by Kim Dirkinck-Holmfeld et. al. Arkitektens Forlag.

København 2004.

Contemporary Danish Architecture. Ed. by Finn Monies & Bent Røgind. Arkitektens Forlag.

København 1958.

Faber, Tobias. A History of Danish Architecture. Det Danske Selskab. Copenhagen 1978.

Faber, Tobias. New Danish Architecture. Hatje. Stuttgart 1968.

Hiort, Esbjørn. Contemporary Danish Architecture. Gjellerups. København 1949.

Keiding, Martin et al. Danish architecture since 1754. Danish Architectural Press. Copenhagen 2007.

Architect monographs: Bornebusch, Fisker, Holscher, Jacobsen, Juhl, Larsen, Lassen, Lauritzen, Suenson, Utzon, Vandkunsten, Wohlert etc. NORWAY

Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Modern Norwegian Architecture. Norwegian University Press. Oslo 1986.

Treprisen. Thirteen Norwegian Prize-Winning Architects. Ed. by Dag Rognlien. Arkitektnytt. Oslo 1988.

Architect monographs: Fehn, Korsmo, Knutsen, Lund & Slaatto etc. FINLAND

20th-Century Architecture. Finland. Ed. by Marja-Riitta Norri et al. Museum of Finnish Architecture.

Helsinki 2000.

Connah, Roger. Finland. Reaktion Books. London 2005.

Concrete in Finnish Architecture. Association of the Concrete Industry of Finland 1929-1989. Ed. by Jouni Kaipia. Suomen betoniteollisuuden keskusjärjestö. Helsinki 1989.

Exhibition of Finnish Architecture. Museum of Finnish Architecture. Helsinki 1979.

Helander, Vilhelm. Modern Architecture in Finland. Kirjayhtymä. Helsinki 1987.

Nikula, Riitta. Wood, Stone and Steel. Contours of Finnish Architecture. Otava. Helsinki 2005.

Heroism and the Everyday - Building Finland in the 1950s. Ed. by Riitta Nikula et al. Museum of Finnish Architecture. Helsinki 1994.

Poole, Scott. The New Finnish Architecture. Rizzoli. New York 1992.

Quantrill, Malcolm. Finnish Architecture and the Modernist Tradition. E & FN Spon. London 1995.

Salokorpi, Asko. Modern Architecture in Finland. Tammi. Helsinki 1970.

Tempel, Egon. New Finnish Architecture. The Architectural Press. London 1968.

Wickberg, Nils Erik. Finnish Architecture. Helsinki 1965.

Arkkitehti magazines Finland Builds exhibition catalogues Architect monographs: Aalto, Blomstedt, Bryggman, Ekelund, Ervi, Gullichsen-Kairamo-Vormala, Revell, Ruusuvuori, Pietilä, Sipinen, Sirén, Ypyä etc.

Nordic Architecture Literature _A selection

SWEDEN

20th-Century Architecture. Sweden. Ed. by Claes Caldenby et al. Prestel. Munich 1998.

Andersson, Henrik O. Swedish Architecture. Drawings 1640-1970. Byggförlaget. Stockholm 1986.

New Architecture in Sweden. A Decade of Swedish Building. Svenska arkitekters riksförbund. Stockholm 1961 New Swedish Architecture. Svenska arkitekters riksförbund. Stockholm, 1939.

Kidder Smith, G.E. Sweden Builds. Reinold. New York 1957.

The Swedish Art of Building. Ed. by Jöran Lidvall. Swedish Institute & Swedish Museum of Architecture. Stockholm 1992. Swedish Modernism. Architecture, Consumption and the Welfare State. Ed. by Helena Mattsson & Sven-Olov Wallenstein. Black Dog Publishing. London 2010. Architect monographs: A4/ELLT, Anshelm, Asmussen, Asplund, Celsing, Erskine, Gezelius, Helldén, Hidemark, Jaenecke & Samuelson, Lewerentz, Lindroos, Mathsson, Markelius, Nyrén, Åhren etc.

ANTHOLOGIES Abacus 3. Yearbook 1982. Ed. by Asko Salokorpi & Maija Kärkkäinen. Museum of Finnish Architecture. Helsinki 1983. Modern Swedish Design. Three Founding Texts. Ed. by Lucy Creagh et al. Museum of Modern Art. New York 2008 Nordic Architects Write. A Documentary Anthology. Ed. by Michael Asgaard Andersen. Routledge. New York 2008 ARCHITECTURE GUIDES

Dirkinck-Holmfeld, Kim. Guide 2 to Danish Architecture 1960-1995. Arkitektens Forlag.

Copenhagen 1995.

Hultin, Olof et al. The Complete Guide to Architecture in Stockholm. Arkitektur Förlag. Stockholm 2009.

Ilonen, Arvi. Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen, Vantaa. An Architectural Guide. Otava. Helsinki 2009.

Kaipia, Jouni & Putkonen, Lauri. A Guide to Finnish Architecture. Otava. Helsinki 1997.

Lind, Olaf & Lund, Annemarie. Copenhagen Architecture Guide. Arkitektens Forlag. Copenhagen 2005.

Lind, Olaf. Jutland. Architecture Guide. Danish Architectural Press. Copenhagen 2002.

Meyer, Ulf. Helsinki. Architectural Guide. DOM Publishers. Berlin 2012.

Sestoft, Jørgen & Hegner Christiansen, Jørgen. Guide 1 to Danish Architecture 1900-1960. Arkitektens Forlag. Copenhagen 1995. The SAR Guide to Contemporary Swedish Architecture 1968-78. The National Association of Swedish Architects. Stockholm 1978.

Waern, Rasmus et al. A Guide to Swedish Architecture. Swedish Institute. Stockholm 2001.

prof. Aino Niskanen - Aalto University, Finland

Chiara Rinaldoni - Chiara Della Sciucca

_City Life: Architecture As sociAl integrAtion Copenhagen, Superkilen park

Ancona, City center Piano San Lazzaro

_PLACE

district in every direction. Finally they divided the area in three thematic parts.

Ancona and Copenhagen are two cities with different customs and traditions, but with a similar approach to architecture and to city life. The comparison is between two areas of these cities: the Superkilen urban park in Copenhagen and the axis between the harbor and the Passetto monument in Ancona. The “European Green Capital” has an important history about city life; the change of the conformation of the city began in 1962, when Stroget Vej, one of the most central avenue of the city, was closed to traffic, becoming a pedestrian area. It was the beginning of the renewal of the city. In 40 years a lot of streets and squares became pedestrian or bicycle areas. Superkilen is one of them. It is a kilometer long urban park through the Nørrebro, an area just north of the Copenhagen city center, made by BIG, Topotek I and SUPERFLEX. The aim of the invited competition initiated by the City of Copenhagen and Realdania Foundation back in 2005 was to create a truly unique urban space, with a strong identity on a local and global scale. The 13,4 million euro development started in 2009 and opened to the public in June 2012. They wanted to create a different but unified space in one of the most ethnically different and socially challenging neighborhoods in Denmark. In fact, according to official statistics of 2013, the 44,5% of residents have foreign origins. In their concept, architects wanted to create a long pedestrian area, without any break from others streets but also opened to all the

_CITY LIFE: Architecture As sociAl integrAtion

Otherwise, Ancona has a long pedestrian area in the center of the city that runs from the harbor to the war memorial called Passetto. From north-west to north-east. From sea to sea. This axis was designed in the 1930s, with a plan that defined this area as an urban core with a noble character. Representative and administrative functions (but also wealthy residences) are located along a pedestrian boulevard called Viale della Vittoria.

_PEOPLE

CHIARA DELLA SCIUCCA Master Student CHIARA RINALDONI Master Student

A research about the Public Space concept and how the organization of the urban space affects the quality of life, showing the need of some cities to rediscover the urban dimension in public places management. The research is also a comparison between two places apparently far from each other: Copenhagen and Ancona.

Against this homogeneity, Superkilen was born to revitalize the area by giving it a global identity and unifying its inhabitants. The park comprises three areas: - the Red Square - the Black Market - the Green Park. Bike lanes crosses the park, with playgrounds as well as spaces for basketball, football, cultural activities, picnics, socializing and relaxing. This park aims to support the diversity of local inhabitants by using globally found objects, which symbolize the home countries of those who live in the area. “Normally when you design a park in Copenhagen, you only have two or maybe three kinds of benches to choose from. Now we have the entire world (to choose from)”, says Jakob Fenger from the art group Superflex.

Architects’ motto is “For the people, by the people”; in fact, inhabitants were actively involved in the choice of the different objects, placed along the three park areas. “We went traveling with five different groups of people from the Superkilen neighbourhood to a country of their choice, following a specific story or memory that would eventually lead to objects for inclusion in Superkilen”, says Fenger.

_SPACE ELEMENTS

1_ Copenhagen, view from above

2_Ancona, view from above

On the contrary, the Ancona axis wasn’t affected by the recent development of the city, it’s fixed in its first years. Walking from the harbor to Passetto, there is Corso Garibaldi, a pedestrian street for shopping and meeting points, that was renewed in the last decade and closed to the traffic. Viale della Vittoria is still like then and nowadays it is considered as the inhabitants promenade on Sundays. This long axis is interrupted by four important squares: - Piazza Roma, along Corso Garibaldi, where a small market is organized on weekends; - Piazza Cavour, the most important square in Ancona that links the two boulevards; - Piazza Diaz, in the middle of Viale della Vittoria, where a children park is located; - Passetto war memorial, where you can watch the sea from the top of the promontory. In Superkilen instead every square has a different function. Red Square has a red carpet of rubber that blankets the ground and covers the entire square, the lines and edges creating a big red pattern. It is defined by a street in each end and buildings along the sides. Designers have planted maple trees with matching red leaves. If entered from Nørrebrogade the square is an open space, serving as an extension to the activities in the nearby hall. The local market is held here, beside benches from Brazil, bollard from Ghana, cast iron litter bins from the UK and a Thai boxing ring. There is also a children’s playground, containing a set of swings from Iraq and a climbing frame from India. The Black Market is the second zone; it is where the locals meet, conceived as an “urban living room”. There are neon signs from Quatar and Russia that illuminate the zone, benches from Belgium and barbeque facilities, but also tables for playing backgammon and chess. There is also a Japanese octopus playground; an

imposing sculpture of a bull from Spain, a sound system from Jamaica. Everything is on a Palestinian soil. It is a ‘world exhibition’ within the space of just half a mile. Each object is described on a small stainless plate next to it. The pattern here is composed of white lines, which run from north to south across the ground and curve around the furniture to highlight it. Bike traffic is moved to the East side of the square by partly solving the problem of height differences towards Midgaardsgade and enable a bike ramp between Hotherplads and the intersecting bike path connection. Towards north there is a hill, facing south, with a view to the square and its activities. Bycicle and pedestrian crossings, in fact, are projected referring to the existing car traffic, in order to keep them well separated: this is the same strategy of Viale della Vittoria disposition, with a central promenade, surrounded by two urban streets. The ‘Green Park’ is characterized by soft green hills that appeal to children, young people and families. Many of the sport facilities have been moved here, a Texan pavillion provides a venue for line-dancing, while a sports arena accommodate football, basketball and hockey. Moreover, the area attracts people for picnics, sunbathing or just taking a nap on the grass. “Rather than perpetuating a perception of Denmark as a mono-ethic people, the park portraits a true sample of the cultural diversity of contemporary Copenhagen”, said Topotek1’s Martin-Rein Cano. After this comparison, it is due to study this project in comparison with the most multi-ethnical area of Ancona: Piano San Lazzaro. _PLACE This was an old swamp, reclaimed in 1861 (after the first development of the city centre towards east and north) right where the station was located. In this way, two different cities were defined: the old one, with the middle class houses and the city hall, and the other one, for industrial activities and popular classes. Thus, Superkilen district “Norrebro” and Piano San Lazzaro has in common the same faith of marginality from the city centre, that leads naturally to the popular and multi-ethnical feature. _PEOPLE The roots for their following development can be found,

Chiara Rinaldoni - Chiara Della Sciucca

3_Copenhagen The Superkilen: architectural concept in both cases, in conflicts. In fact, during the Second World War, Nørrebro was the resistance movements’ head quarter against Nazi Germany and was the set for many shootings and riots. Even in recent times, this district has been defined “the black square” to identify it as a theatre of lots of violent objections, caused to the possibility of a spatial replanning, then happened in the 70s. They wanted to fight the way the administration tried to requalifying the entire area, such as throwing them out of their houses, without a real urban plan. Moreover, in 1993 Danish people met together in Nørrebro to fight against Maastricht treaty, about Denmark entering in the European Union, and more recently this place was the centre of a conflict, due to the presence of 3 different ethnicities slums. Piano San Lazzaro too is the result of a migration of citizens, during First World War, from the center, when the harbor and the old city were bombed by enemy troops. So the safest place, that it is historically represented by the harbor, was replaced by this hinterland area, growing and growing. In fact, from 1921 to 1933 the population reached 86.000 people, but the first impression of this area was kept as well: an inorganic part of the city, that hosted craftsmen and worker classes. Finally, in the 70s, Piano San Lazzaro population reached the 109.000 people, creating a “second Ancona”, in which town planning scheme tried to find an order and an equilibrium, in order to confirm it was a commercial and infrastructural area.

_CITY LIFE: Architecture As sociAl integrAtion

_SPACE ELEMENTS Nowadays Piazza Ugo Bassi is still the centre of Ancona’s traffic, for public and private transportation. This is an inherent attitude of this place, due to the closeness to the station and because it is the only way to exit from the city centre and reach the suburban districts. This urban characteristic can be also a problem when chaos arises: differently from Superkilen area in Copenhagen, Piazza Ugo Bassi is not organized for its task. Functions continuous growth underlined its unsuitability to the people and traffic amount. In this multifunctionality it is possible to read a little difference with Superkilen project: it is hard to find another example of three different areas, that conceive diversity but is based on integrity. In fact, the entire Copenhagen project could be seen as an organic cut through the district, while the Piano San Lazzaro infrastructural plan is more unorganized. Piazza d’Armi, Piazza Ugo Bassi and Corso Carlo Alberto represent the corresponding ‘black market’, ‘red square’ and ‘green park’, are not as linked as in Copenhagen: their connection is a mere case of urban disposition. Referring to Superkilen, Piazza d’Armi can be considered as the “black market” area because its original feature since the beginning of the 20th century, when it used to host the urban market, a function still kept nowadays. It represents the chance for people living in the neighbors to meet each other and spend time together, in order to increase integrality among several cultures. In fact, in the whole area called Piano San Lazzaro lives about 69 different migrants communities, with a report

4_Ancona, Viale della Vittoria nowadays

5_ Ancona, Viale della Vittoria 1930

6_Copenhagen, The Superkilen: site plan

7_Copenhagen, The Red Square

between them and the inhabitants of 14%, the biggest percentage among all the Ancona counties, with a climax in Piazza Ugo Bassi (35%) and Corso Carlo Alberto(32%). Surely this concentration is helped by the location of popular houses around the square, where a small stadium were built in the 1930s, but nowadays left in evidently state of decay. Piazza Ugo Bassi is the strategic transport melting pot, but also a place where migrants can have free time in its rare pedestrian areas or simply work in their own shop. So, this can be defined as the “red square”, but lightly revisited, with an important infrastructural center against the Copenhagen pedestrian boulevard, even if it is still keeping its natural feature of exchange place. In fact, the migrants concentration in this area is due to their natural location by the station and near the harbor, where lots of migrants work, but also due to a great inhabitants exodus during last decades, caused to the rising pollution and noise coming from the traffic. Consequently, the houses they left were taken by these new inhabitants that established with all their families, shaping a real division in different areas with corresponding different ethnicities. Finally, Corso Carlo Alberto is the reflection of Superkilen ‘green park’ because it is conceived as a green promenade

between two roads, where people can relax and enjoy a real copy of Viale della Vittoria, with his green facades, planned to bring green spaces even in the suburban boulevards. Besides, along this half-kilometer pedestrian area it is possible to find lots of activities for migrants, as well as several associations promoting integration between inhabitants and foreigners: some of them are organizing an after-school for foreign children in order to teach them our language and involve their parents too. The school topic indeed is a central matter in this district because of the particular concentration of primary school, in which migrants percentage is more than 50%. These associations, however, can’t ensure to the migrants a reserved place where they can meet and respect their traditions and this is the point of the missed cohabitation with Ancona inhabitants: multiethnic spaces are not really defined at the urban level, and this reflects in the human one. There is not a coincidence that in Superkilen project, most attention was attended to the different needs of every single group that is going to benefit this space: during an interview, a representative of each ethnicity required what was important for them in order to feel home in that space.

Chiara Rinaldoni - Chiara Della Sciucca

Trying to draw our conclusions, we want to underline again that, even if very far from each other, both of these districts prove to represent the same task for their reference city: both difficult areas to control and maybe for this reason they represent a forerunner regarding the theme of integration, peaceful cohabitation and great hospitality for foreigners, that are trying to bring with them their customs and habits. Nørrebro is nowadays the perfect result of a politic strategy that look at an urban renovation, considering it as a process to bring their society to the next level and improve the human interelationship. Their willing to transform the majority of central spaces in pedestrian and cycling areas yet in the 1960s is the demonstration that this Nordic attitude can teach us how to move in these new reality of cohabitation of several cultures, apparently with nothing in common. So, Copenhagen can be considered as the modern prototype of the experience in an urban space, in order to let the city be participated again: they use urban politics to solve social problems. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lab2.0 05/15: Superkilen Park, the architecture as a tool for social integration Spazio pubblico e interculturalità: l’esempio della Danimarca – Martina Polimeni ed. Media&books 11/2015 Superkilen – Barbara Steiner ed.Arvinius+Orfeus 10/2013 SITOGRAPHY: http://www.big.dk/#projects-suk http://www.topotek1.de/#/en/projects/ chronological/110 http://www.superflex.net/tools/superkilen http://www.abitare.it/it/architettura/2011/10/07/lestorie-di-superkilen/ http://www.yumpu.com/it/document/view/14984462/ capitolo-3-lo-spazio-e-la-citta-di-ancona-ujamaa-per-lapace-onlus/5

8_ Copenhagen, The Black Market 9_ Copenhagen, The Black Market: tables for playing chess 10_ Copenhagen, The Green Park

_CITY LIFE: Architecture As sociAl integrAtion

Luca Bonci - Mirco Santi

The way of being Industrial

LUCA BONCI Master Student

a comparison between two different Architectural Experimentations

MIRCO SANTI Master Student

Cellulosa Factory in Sunila, Finland_Alvar Aalto (1935-39)

The Site: Camouflage and Highlighting The Cellulose Factory at Sunila was designed between 1935 and 1937 by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. It was built between 1936 and 1939 and it was later expensed in 1951. Nowadays it is still in function on an island of the Gulf of Finland surrounded by Industrial buildings, evergreen forest and water, not far from the port of Kotka. The Burgo Paper Mill, designed by Pier Luigi Nervi between 1960 and 1964, is still in function too. It is located into an industrial area in the suburbs of Mantova. Instead from the Gulf of Finland, here the water, needed from the factory, is taken from the Lago di Mezzo.

Burgo Paper Mill in Mantova, Italy_Pier Luigi Nervi (1960-64)

«The contours of this rock island have been left in their natural form so that the production process starting on the highest level can step down in its various individual stages to the level of the harbor. The center of the plant is built up into a terrace form which all phases of production can be observed. Here are located the administrative offices, laboratories, etc. This terrace also forms, at the same time, a garden, thereby creating a quiet atmosphere for the administrative center. Throughout the entire periphery of the various factory buildings, which are connected to each other means of “open-air corridors”, the pine forest has been left untouched. Every worker in the various departments therefore has the possibility to go out of his building directly into nature. Instead of a uniform monolith, an attempt has been made here to endow, in a natural way, each department with its own character. The result is a pyramidal building mass, rich in contrasts»1.

A comparison which analyzes differences and similarities of two experimental projects of Industrial Architecture. by two great masters of the XX century: Alvar Aalto and Pier Luigi Nervi. The relations between Architecture, Site and Structure are analyzed in order to discover how these two famous designers worked on the same topic.

The images of the two productive complexes are deeply different. In fact, the two architects used different approaches to the site. In almost all his projects, Aalto has shown a deep deal with the Finnish landscape features. Even in this industrial architecture the spirit is similar and it is clear looking how the new artificial elements are compared to the rocks, the forest and the basin. The engineer Pier Luigi Nervi, like in most of his projects, was more interested to show a geometric, regular and strong image of his building that was also visible from the near highway. In Sunila instead, the purpose is to camouflage the industrial building, even with the used materials. On the other hand in Mantova, Nervi highlighted his masterpiece of engineering and architecture. 1 Alvar Aalto- Band I 1922-1962, Les Editions d’Architecture Artemis, Zurich, 1963: p 86.

The way of being Industrial_A comparison between two different Architectural Experimentations

Sunila Mantova

Luca Bonci - Mirco Santi

The Machine: Role and Relevance The hall of the continuous machine of Nervi’s factory is emblematic of the technological progress. Starting from the Industrial Revolution the machine has became more and more influent in space organization. Here the main building is the support and the shell of the production machine. In the past the fabrics were full of people but from the first factory the mechanization process has started until today. In the Finnish building the machine wasn’t so important. With the outside conveyors from the raw-materials storage is the “machine” that was adapted to the architecture, exactly the opposite than in Mantova. The result is an architecture composed by the aggregation of volumes those follow the natural site and the functional requirements. In Sunila all the island is like a machine. «One of the main themes of the architectural conception resulted from the complicated materials handling circulation associated with the cellulose-fabrication process, continuous movement of raw materials and their intermediate products»2.

7_Overall view, The peninsula like a machine

8_The continuous machine of the Burgo Paper Mill

2 ivi, p 90.

1_The Site Cellulosa Factory at Sunila, Finland 2_The Site Burgo Paper Mill at Mantova, Italy 3_Aerial view - Cellulosa Factory at Sunila, Finland, Alvar Aalto 1934-35 4_Aerial view - Burgo Paper Mill ad Mantua, Italy, Pier Luigi Nervi 1960-64 5_Respect for the context, Sunila 6_The bridge structure, Mantova

The way of being Industrial_A comparison between two different Architectural Experimentations

The Structure: A Concrete’s story The Mantova’s central building was an important example of the Italian Engineering of the 1950s. This moment is important for the innovative solutions and the work of structural designers as Musmeci, Morandi and Nervi himself. Their impressive structures are famous worldwide. On this background, we should collocate this innovative building.

9_Partial View – Sunila Factor

«A base on two levels supports the continuous machine, including the vats for the preparation of the pulp, the refiners, the motors, the tanks, the pumps, the spooling mechanisms and the calenders for the finishings, as well as the bridge crane. At the height of 22 meters the roofing, an uninterrupted structure of reticular steel beams, weighing no more than 700 tons, is suspended by means of four double-trestle tie-beams in reinforced concrete, with the considerable height of 47 meters, placed at a distance of 164 meters»3. So in this case the reinforced concrete structure is more similar to a monolithic bridge structure than one for a single building. The four hundred executive drawings made by the Nervi&Bartoli company, show the high level of detail reached by the Nervi’s studio. Only in this way they achieved to build something innovative and non-common in the industrial architecture field. Aalto used a reinforced concrete structure, of course the cheapest and suited material in that period for a building like this one. But here the structure is conceived in a traditional way, like a series of beams and pillars frames. Coherently with the intention of insert the buildings in the site, the concrete is faced with traditional finishing: red bricks or white plaster. As already said, this building doesn’t try to be in evidence and so the structure is silent and masked by materials more advisable for the view, at least in that period and in that landscape. Probably it was too early for the reinforced concrete to ask more visibility and power. Also timber was used by Aalto for the structure of a large storage near the harbor. The structures there take the form of asymmetrical, laminated timber arches.

10_Construction of the trestles and the reticular structure – Burgo Paper Mill

3 Sergio Poretti, “Cartiera di Burgo, Mantova 1960-1964”, Casabella, 651/652, (1997/1998): p 106.

Luca Bonci - Mirco Santi

The Materials: Vernacular and Innovative In Sunila it seems an Aaltoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intention to use typical materials for finishings. In other project he used the same materials to create a relation between architecture and natural environment. For example, red bricks and white plaster were later used in an experimental way in the summer house in Muuratsalo. The factory windows were functionally assembled with standard elements. In this project Aalto has also used the different finishing material as a function identification. The building used for production are in exposed brickwork, the transport service and warehouse buildings are in white plaster. For the continuous facade Nervi adopted an innovative system that consists in a succession of steel and glass vertical elements. ÂŤUsually the curtain-wall is hung from above to avoid detachment of framework. In this case, however, the solution is reversed: the wall resists the wind like a large vertical shelf set into the foundation and left free at the top. The framework is composed of a pattern of tapered box-beam uprights, set into the foundation, placed at intervals of 1,5 metersÂť4.

11_Warehouse - Sunila Factory

4 ivi, p 107.

13-14_The metal caissons and the intrados of the ribbed roofing - Burgo Paper Mill

The way of being Industrial_A comparison between two different Architectural Experimentations

12_The north facade - Burgo Paper Mill

Worker Village: Why Not? «A narrow strait separates the island from the mainland, where the residential areas, planned as a growing city, are located. [...] Because of this location it was possible to create, near the factory facilities, quiet dwelling areas set into the forest»5. Certainly the specific location far from the city is the reason that explain why the customers wanted to build a worker village here. Kotka is a known industrial area still today and so it was clear the convenience to settle a worker village near the factory. This choice is quite common in the Nordic countries, more common than in Italy because of social, geographical and economic reasons. In this case, Aalto’s purpose was to create an intimate and quiet atmosphere with the gardens of the row houses. Looking at the Burgo Paper Mill’s aerial map is interesting and evocative the juxtaposition of the industrial complex and the historic city of Mantova, just on the other side of the lake. Here is understandable that a new city for workers would have been here like a separated and isolated neighborhood.

Experimentation: Two Different Ways 15_Factory windows functionally assembled with the same standard elements - Sunila Factory 16_Detail of a wall in exposed concrete Sunila Factory 17_The office block - Burgo Paper Mill

Both of these two industrial complexes are a form of experimentation. In Sunila the experimentation took place in the residential area on the mainland. This is built upon the south slopes of a hill interspersed with countless rock outcrops and evergreen trees. 5 Alvar Aalto- Band I 1922-1962, Les Editions d’Architecture Artemis, Zurich, 1963: p .

The development is divided into independent groups. Each group has its own architecture, formally independent of the others. There was an underground system of district heating, sewerage lines, cold and hot water and also a rational distribution of central facilities. The development has been built in five stages. Each of them was a sort of experimentation to found a well-designed house organization for workers in this specific natural environment. In Finland this intention to achieve a good residential development in the forest has been a research field for a long time. In 1947 in this direction Otto Meurman wrote “Urban Planning Theories” where he described the city as a tree. The Forest City was reached also in the Tapiola projecst for a site into nature near Helsinki since the first masterplan in 1951. Moreover, a lot of project for timber prefabricated systems have started to be developed all over the country to give a cheap and quick technical solution for a house in the forest. «An example of this is the following: the first group of houses is two storeys high and without balconies, because every family had no difficulty in gaining direct access to the landscape. The second group was an experimentwith three-storey buildings which, because of the longer distance between the uppermost apartment and the ground, were provided with small balconies. These small balconies offered such limited possibilities for use that they were practically worthless. From this experience an entirely new building type resulted, according to the planning principle that all buildings should be placed on the south slope. In an effort to capitalize on the sloping terrain, the terrace type of building was evolved, with receding fronts and without stairs for two floors. Only the third storey was provided with stairway 10 ft. high. Because of this terrace method of building every family has direct access to nature»6. In the Nervi’s complex the most innovative element is not in the main building but in the paper warehouse. For it Nervi went back to the solution of orthogonal ribbing for the ceiling, as developed in 1949 for the Manifattura Tabacchi. «At first glance it looks like any other coffered structure: but if we look more closely we notice that the elegant profile of the ribbing is the result of the rigorous application of the criterion of uniform resistance. Therefore the apparently simple form follows a sophisticated line of variable curvature»7. 6 ivi, p 96. 7 Sergio Poretti, “Cartiera di Burgo, Mantova 1960-1964”, Casabella, 651/652, (1997/1998): p 107.

Luca Bonci - Mirco Santi

Bibliography: Alvar Aalto- Band I 1922-1962, Les Editions d’Architecture Artemis, Zurich, 1963. Akinori Kato, PIER LUIGI NERVI, edition 23 di Process Architecture Company, 1981 Sergio Poretti, “Cartiera di Burgo, Mantova 1960-1964”, in «Casabella», n°651/652, (1997/1998). Peter Reed, Alvar Aalto 1898-1976, Electa, Milano, 1998.

18_Site Plan with the workers’ village on top Sunila Factory 19_Housing with balconies - Sunila Factory 20_The intimate athmosphere of the garden of the row houses - Sunila Factory 21_Row houses with three apartments for each unit - Sunila Factory 22_ Plan of the row houses for supervisory personnel - Sunila Factory

The way of being Industrial_A comparison between two different Architectural Experimentations

Vladimir Bojkovic

Buildings for Culture

Vladimir Bojkovic PhD student - 2nd year

Parallels between Finlandiatalo (Helsinki) and the Home of Revolution (Niksic, Montenegro)

abstract The aim of this paper is to show some parallels in the architecture of XX century of the cultural facilities on the territory of Finland and Montenegro. Two completely different countries, both in its geographical position and its cultural characteristics represent a challenge in the method of comparison of architecture and urbanism. However, the scope and specifics of architectural objects on the territory of these two countries provide the possibility of comparisons that result in interesting conclusions that confirm some universal components of architectural work in space. The work is primarily concerned on the architecture of the building “Finlandia Hall” designed by one of the greatest architects of the twentieth century Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) and architecture of the unfinished building “Home of revolution,” by one of the greatest architects of the twentieth century in former Yugoslavia Marko Mušič (1941).”Finlandia Hall” represents one of the most significant buildings in the context of a master plan “Cultural Center of Hesinki” while building “Home of revolution” represents, according to the original project, the most important cultural center in Niksic and central part of Montenegro. The first building was designed and built between 1962-1975 while another one was designed in 1975 and has not yet been built. During the time it will be proven that in a relatively stable political system and economy „Finlandia Hall“ building justified its existence, which will become one of the city’s leading rappers and elements of spatial identity of Helsinki. On the other hand historical events, above all the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the large unstable political and economic situation caused the cessation of the construction of “Home of revolution.” This unfinished building became a decade-long problem of the town of Niksic, particularly in the processes of transition and globalization. Although in terms of architecture, these two buildings may have similarities, since they have the same purpose and relatively are similar to the treatment of area, in terms of significance and importance for the city, those buildings have some big differences. On the one hand “Finlandia Hall” represents a successful architectural story that manifests as positive spatial element of the identity of Helsinki. On the other hand, “Home of revolution” is completely different as an element of negative spatial identity, in this case the town of Niksic.

Keywords: Alvar Aalto, Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Marko Mušič, Home of revolution, Niksic, transformation, identity

Buidings for Culture_Parallels between Finlandiatalo (Helsinki) and the Home of Revolution (Montenegro)

Section 1_FINLANDIA HALL Introduction

To better understand the architecture of “Finlandia Hall” it is necessary to look at this building in the wider context in which it was made. At the beginning of the 19th century Helsinki became the capital of the newly formed Grand Duchy of Finland. In that name, architect Carl Ludvig Engel designed the monumental central square, known today as the Senate Square, where there are Catheral, Senate Palace and the University. After Finland had gained full independence in 1917, Alvar Aalto was of the opinion that this event symbolically should be presented with the construction of an entirely new square, that would be located near the parliament building. Fortunate circumstance was that close to Parliament there was a spacious area for the railway, which was supposed to be relocated. Aalto thought that this area wouid provide a unique opportunity for the realization of an idea, originally suggested by Eliel Saarinen in 1917, for the construction of a new traffic route called Freedom Avenue (Vapaudenkatu) from the northern suburbs right to the heart of the city. The original plan designed by Alvar Aalto in 1961 predicted the construction of a large square divided into three terraced levels. One the one side this square would be opened into Töölönlahti port, while the other was surrounded by public buildings such as opera, museums, city libraries and other public buildings that eventually could be built along Hesperia Park. Freedom Avenue would be built on the pillars and ran to the railroad tracks and roads so that people who emitted from the center would be enable to see the magnificent view of the urban landscape and public buildings that would be reflected in a water mirror of port Töölönlahti in a similar way as the Venetian palaces. This plan will be modify by Alto twice, in 1964 and 1971, on the basis of various criticisms and suggestions. 1_ General plan of the new Centre in Helsinki 2_Model view. Right, the Concert Hall and Convention Hall now und er construction; Left, the Parliament Building. Elevation view and section of the terraced area; right, the already existing general post office 3_ Design sketch of the hall and entrance level

1.2 CULTURAL CENTER HELSINKI 1958 The project of the Cultural City Center proposes a set of functions arranged in a series of new buildings along the west coast of the Bay along the opposite shore, stretched highway system above the ground with three small squares of the newly renovated business district to the narrow southern end of the bay. The main cultural content of this plan, and perhaps the real reason for making the study, were a concert hall

Vladimir Bojkovic

and conference center located in a park in the northwest corner of the bay. Finlandia Hall, as the building was finally called, was originally designed in 1962 and was carried out in two phases: a complex of concert halls and related facilities between 1967 and 1971, a conference, convention center between 1973 and 1975. The desire for a cultural center took a large momentum in Finland around 1960. The new center of the capital (the start of of design in 1958, builds up to 1964) is not in the city center. It stretches from the city over the terrain, which slopes gently toward the water. It was avoided the closed form of the square. In close vicinity are located a concert hall, a theater, a museum buildings in the current area of the park. These models are sufficient with underground parking spaces; existing highway passes behind the center and on the opposite shores of the Bay will spend the new highway. (1)

This project has an unusual width, especially if we take into account that the technical high school with all its institutes was relocated outside the city. 1.3 THE PROJECT “FINLANDIA HALL” Since the beginning of design career, Aalto had the opinion that a single building can not be an isolated creation. It showed already in his early object, complex sanitarium Paimio in 1928, where he denies the closed cube. The relationship between inner and outer space is created simultaneously. The interior space is seen as a single entity, as a shell, which is modeled as a plastic volume. Aalto belongs to those architects who run the wall in the direction of strong expressiveness, to produce the effects of waves and dynamism.

4_Rusakov Workers’ Club in Moscow by Konstantin Melnikov

5_ Site plan ; the car parks will later on be sited beneath a terrace. East elevation view from Töölo Bay Elevation view of the west facade with the main entrances. 6_Elevation views from the water and facade detail, large concert hall with projecting foyer ascent.

Buidings for Culture_Parallels between Finlandiatalo (Helsinki) and the Home of Revolution (Montenegro)

6_Entrance floor; the entrances are accessible on the west side via Hesperia Park; from left to right, the entrance to the congress wing, to the restaurant, to the chamber-music room and to the concert hall. Entrance floor; from the east side it is possible to drive under the building to the different groups. Model view. in the background, the Kamppi district 7_ Gallery and congress hall Ievei. The congress hall can be acoustiically subdivided. Auditorium and conference floor.Here are the various large foyers, a number of conference rooms, the restaurant, the chamber-music room and the Iarge concert hall. 10_West facade of the congress wing

Vladimir Bojkovic

9_ Drawings of the dark-blue painted wood work on the walls in the large concert hall. Cross-section of the concert hall. 10_The Iarge concert hall with seating capacity of 1750

According to Giedion, composing the horizontal plane is one of the main features of Aalto architecture and production of the separate spaces that make harmonious compositional elements. (1) Aalto represents the kind of architect who knows how to transform regional conditions in a universal language, and not to lose their characteristics. Symbiosis with the spirit of regional and general worldwide orientation are today not in opposition, but only for that creator who has the nerve and feeling for the time of living. In this context, we can observe the building „Finlandia Hall”. According to Roger Connah, Aalto was moving from the binary (sculptural and rational) red-tiled House of culture in Helsinki (1955-58) to the freer, white expressionism of Vuoksenniska Church (1986-58) and the Wolfsburg Cultural Centre (1958-63), it was the last in many ways that became a dry run for the more monumental Finlandia Hall (1961-75). (2)

However cubist forms are not randomlly created from a function, they are logically positioned elements that make up harmonious composition. The main idea of Finlandia Hall with its towershaped part and inclined roof rising over the whole structure was, as Aalto thought, to improve the acoustics of the concert hall by providing a resonance area overhead. The audience would not see it because of the suspended ceiling but it would be capable of creating the kind of acoustic effect that high churches possess. lt is unfortunate that this attempt proved in practice to be partially unsuccessful. Yet, the result still provides us with the visual satisfaction of its monumental exterior. Coated mainly with white marble, a material that Aalto reserved for buildings of particular cultural institutions in the later years of his career, a conference center presents a series of expressive volumes suggest the bulk of the main character of the interior, which rises above the base at several levels in which they are situated entrance halls, restaurants, lounges and administrative offices.

Finlandia Hall presents many ideas that Aalto crystallized during his long practice in the design of public buildings. Wedge volume of the concert hall, whose back wall layered In this building Aalto remained faithful to functionalism on three levels that reflect the rows of seats in the interior in the sense that forms follow function. is reminiscent of the constructivist forms Rusakov Club

Buidings for Culture_Parallels between Finlandiatalo (Helsinki) and the Home of Revolution (Montenegro)

11_Detail of the entrance foyer with the cloakrooms. Stairway from the entrance to the concert hall foyer with view toward the gallery. The walls are in part faced with white marble or rendered. The ceilings are of framed concrete painted white, and the floor is covered with bluish-grey wall-to-wall carpeting. The different wooden grilles on the walls are either paintedwhite or left untreated. The ceiling over the main stairway is covered with ‘sailcloth’ canvas.

in Moscow from 1927 designed by Konstantin Melnikov, according to Pol David Pirson (M.Perovic) it was possible source of inspiration for other Aalto projects, especially those in which the using of movable partitions achieves flexible capacity space. (3) In the first sketches for the project of Finlandia Hall it is possible to see the idea that will not be much changed to the construction of the building. Minor deviations from the original plan are related to the materialization and façades, as well as chamber music hall which was intended to be the main auditorium that soars above the rest of the facility. Finlandia Hall is designed to be adapted to the main idea of Aalto’s master plan. The main, eastern facade facing the Terrace Square. Visitors come by car to the lowest level from which they can enter the building. Next, in the form of this tunnel, visitors can take to other public buildings that are located in close vicinity. On the next level entrance is facing the Hesperia Park. The area is dominated by entrance hall with all the necessary amenities. Among them is the large staircase that connects the different levels and leads to the entrance of the restaurant and the small and large audiences. Smaller staircases lead visitors through the foyer gallery and balcony of the main auditorium. The stairs are visible in the exterior on the east facade.(4) In the Finlandia Hall project Aalto applied variations of some of the ideas that would later applied to the Essen Opera House, such as asymmetry, acoustic sculptural walls, contrast between cobalt blue panels or walls and white Carrara marble. 1.4 INTERIOR SPACE

12_The chamber-music room with seating capacity of 350 13_ The main staircase

The space of Finlandia Hall is divided into three parts: a restaurant with supporting facilities, a concert hall with a foyer and music hall with a foyer. Between those, in overtime, there are conference rooms designed for a various kinds of congress. Generally speaking, the spaces are flexible and functional as it can be connected to each other but can be independent units. The central position of the interior space occupies a large, monumental staircase that connects the different levels and floors. Dimensions of the staircase give the impression that the interior space is without barriers, a transparent and airy. The big concert foyer is called “piazza” which demonstrates that the architect was inspired by the typical Italian square in the creation of this space. A space of the foyer is designed as an inner courtyard, enclosed piazza

whose materialisation and details reveal the influence of Mediterranean architecture. Foyers have a particular shape, they are spaces that are surrounded by powerful design elements typical of Alvar Aalto. This foyer layout extends to, or is continued into the congress wing where the most conspicuous architectural feature is the wall which curves inwards in small sections. Even here the motivation was twofold: on the one hand Aalto wanted to save a number of trees growing on the original lot, and on the other, he wished to break the rigid uniformity characteristic of straight walls. The concert hall has a dual purpose, concerts and conferences, making it a challenge to create good acoustics. An additional challenge for the acoustics was the asymmetrical organization of hall for 1750 seats. Special attention was paid to the reliefs on the walls and the ceiling for which details were still worked on during the design models. The smaller chamber hall is designed for 350 people. The acoustic is solved by using reflective, acoustic panels that can be adjusted and which are made of pine wood. Hierarchy of space is represented symbolically by the materialization of various types of floor coverings fabrics to the most valuable white marble, which is a symbolic link with the Mediterranean countries, primarily Italy. The entire furniture and buildings are designed in Aalto’s studio so we can say that the Finlandia hall fully circled total work of art. Alvar Aalto remains a noble variant of the modern architecture of the twentieth century, probably the best, most humane for us particularly the most instructive. (5) In the project “Finlandia” Aalto generosity towards the creation of space to the fore as a specific system of symbolic comunication that this object realized with the environment and users. Summing Aalto’s later period of creativity, we can say that the most complete possibilities of architectural communication came to the fore both through the systematic presentation of symptoms suggesting alternatives, and through natural expressive form. (6) 1.5 SOME CONCLUSIONS ABOUT “FINLANDIA HALL” BUILDING When we talk about Finlandia Hall building, we should always have in mind that it is one of the symbols of the new Finland, which was supposed to represent a new spirit and new habits of the citizens of Helsinki. Positive aspects of this object are given in several levels. In terms of architecture, the building presents an unusual object, untypical for the area in which it was built.

Vladimir Bojkovic

14_ The first plan of Niksic, Josip Slade, 1883. Therefore, the building had brought something new in the architectural structure of the city. Over time, the building will become a new urban rapper and symbol of Helsinki. In terms of function, this building brings contents that were necessary to the cultural development of the city. The multiplicity of interaction between users and area is one of the main characteristics of this building. Interaction happens between space and users but also between the users themselves. As a consequence it is created a specific sense of ambience - genius loci which is manifested both in the immediate environment of the building and inside it. Internal organization presented through the halls and corridors is symbolic presentation of Italian squares and streets, which is presented with specific material selection. The only negative aspects of “Finlandia Hall“ are related to the materialization of the facade, where Aalto used the marble, which is not typical for the climatic conditions of Finland.

but also brought a pronounced need to create cultural facilities and space for them. The idea to build a memorial complex emerged in the mid-sixties and its realization came in the mid seventies when the overoll Yugoslav competition won Slovenian architect Marko Music. It is interesting that this architect’s just one of many Slovenian architect who designed objects of architectural and urban planning in Niksic. The first regulatory plan of the city was made by Josip Slade in 1883, an architect who graduated in architecture in Padua, made the urban matrix of an ideal Renaissance city through which Niksic develops. Urban conditions, on which will be built building “Home of revolution”, are based on the second post-war urban plan of city of Niksic, which was made by Planning Institute of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy from Zagreb, in 1954. The designers were professors Joseph Sajsel and Dragan Boltar. It is important to note that this urban plan for the first time clearly defined and determined wider and narrower Section 2_HOME OF REVOLUTION area of city.(7) This plan provides that the central part of the city remains as it was built by Slade plan. Introduction After World War II Niksic rapidly develops and becomes The quality of this urban plan was reflected in the fact the leading industrial center in Montenegro and one that it has fully accepted the basic principles of Slade’s of the largest in Yugoslavia. Such dynamic growth has regulatory plan as a base from which the modern city enabled the development of infrastructure of the city developed.

Buidings for Culture_Parallels between Finlandiatalo (Helsinki) and the Home of Revolution (Montenegro)

The result was a continuity in the development of the city. Also, the quality of this plan is reflected in the proper positioning of the important social structures and buildings in a continuous strip along the historic core. Although this plan was envisaged that the buildings are single-storey and double-storey, city planners submited series of buildings with three or four storeys even five or six storeys which was in stark contrast to the plan from 1958. 2.2 THE PROJECT “HOME OF REVOLUTION” Project “Home of revolution” symbolically is designed to celebrate the courageous role played by the citizens of Niksic in liberation struggles with the partisans against Nazism and Fascism. In addition to the commemorative role, the building was supposed to be a place for all cultural events in the city that would be reminiscent of the glorious past and also to bring new and modern trends. Simply put, the building has a combined role, it is a monument filled with activities of the cultural center. This was all in the service of promoting the ideals and values on which Yugoslavia was built. The architectural style of the building is such that it represents a mixture of Western international style and socialist realism. Elements of traditional architecture were evident in in the formation of traditional Montenegrin gathering places called “guvno” that will serve as a leitmotif for the formation of the promenade that runs through the building. The building “Home of revolution” started with construction in 1976 and lasted fifteen years. The original plan provided that the building should have 7,000 square meters, but because of the request of political structures it grows on the 22 000 square meters. The project is anticipated that the building can accommodate 7,000 visitors, which at that time represented a quarter of the population of the city. The building is designed to have the following facilities: a large amphitheater with 1200 seats, a summer amphitheater, cinema, conference halls, radio and television centers, libraries, educational centers, art studios, galleries, a youth center, a national restaurant etc. Finally, a memorial of the building occupied only 250 square meters. When Yugoslavia broke up in 1990, there was a suspension of construction of all federal projects including the “Home of revolution”. Today the building is completely abandoned and left to time.

Vladimir Bojkovic

15_ Urban plan by Sajsel/Boltar, 1954-58. 16_ Location of the building in the city matrix 17_ Entrance, ground floor of the building with cross-sections

Buidings for Culture_Parallels between Finlandiatalo (Helsinki) and the Home of Revolution (Montenegro)

2.3 SPATIAL FORMS:

18_ Scale model of the building

By entering of urban reality and transferring of urban matrix in the spatial essence of the Home of revolution, it was noted that the main problem and the key to a successful life and work of all the programmed content is in live action, inclusion and participation of the widest circle of citizens. The ambiance of public passage through the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Home of revolutionâ&#x20AC;? is ambience where passer-by the way is facing with activities and events in which can participate. The ground level is rising slightly to a terrace of the Park which is open to the sun and greenery, creating a quiet oasis and a humanized shell that protects the Home from the noise and the dynamics surrounding roads. Open squares are the spaces for multiple purposes, which over the glass shell extends to the building, creating a public promenade, the contact zone outside-inside. It is an area that is a part of the House of revolution which is climate-controlled environment that is at once always open and passable in all directions of the public movement. Thus, the basic structure of the building directly connected to the city network footpaths. 2.4 WALKING THROUGH THE HOME:

19_ Spatial organization of the building

Passage of public promenade through the building in phase A represents a major move by the spine of experiencing the activities in the building. Like a city street in sequent series of different environments, promenade goes from the east entrance and free fair with books and artistic products and design activities with the youth club to an open forum, which, like the town square is a functional extension, intended for spontaneous and organized activities on the hub west entrance and the transition to a group of memorial space. Instead risking that workrooms would be unused, placed somewhere on the side, or that work in them give institutional character of the school, everyday crossing through the Home cant be without touching the educational center at least passively. Going from the essence of creativity that has every man, and that can be slowly lost in the tempo of life and schematized routine, all the efforts of disposition and organization of this part of the Home, are in the creation of a creative environment and open contact with passers actions and activities. The sequence and character of the rooms in the level of movement through the building provides contact with the contents of the most interesting groups: - Universal lecture hall, complemented by an open public forum along the promenade (lectures, meetings, public forums, spontaneous discussions, etc.)

Vladimir Bojkovic

- Library with a niche for reading of periodicals, open to the promenade and the open reading rooms to the green atrium. All funds are available for the visitor. - A group of artistic activities by location and the opening is the most intensely associated with youth club. Passers, of public promenade in the work of these activities, is informed by improvised exhibition in spatial niches that is supplemented with permanent exhibition gallery, creating a challenging direct involvement in the operation. Those contents are complemented with store items for participating in the studies like drawing supplies, paints, books, instruments etc. Loft Gallery, presented in the airspace of the promenade, includes the study room for historical and socio-political, literary and theoretical circles with club extensions, contact zones and a number of separate niches for individual and group work with the discussion.

20_ Sketch for the glass promenade

2.4.1 GLASS PROMENADE: The characteristic circular form, as a sign in the landscape architecture of the Home, represents an informal gathering spaces, spaces of human contact, rest areas and knots of spontaneous events in the linear dynamics of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s man. With such a connotative celebration, circle and its segments become symbolically and substantively linked with the traditional Montenegrin social life presented in the formation of â&#x20AC;&#x17E;guvnoâ&#x20AC;?. Artistic study spaces of drama, music, ballet, sculpture, painting and design as well as libraries and universal classrooms are located in a three storey space beneath the glass roof with northern diffuse lighting. Working in the studio is constantly present in the visual area of the promenade. Direct access to the stands allow, encourage monitoring of public exercises and improvised performances while they necessary support area is located below promenade at the level of the main phase of study.

21_ Scale model of the interior

2.4.2 THE CEREMONIAL SPACES WITH A LARGE HALL: Memorial Propylaea, of the main entrance and in the formal spaces with purpose hall and youth club, are stretching as spatial plastic markings deep through the green belt coinciding directions of the entrance, while in the longitudinal movement are transient portals among the sequences of the southern parks. Freely waving contour of the depth plans could tie the wealth skyline of square to the distinctive interweaving blue silhouettes of the surrounding mountains, the unique poetic scene that nature gave to Niksic.

Buidings for Culture_Parallels between Finlandiatalo (Helsinki) and the Home of Revolution (Montenegro)

The complex group of large hall with memorial aura and exhibition space is multi-system rooms, which is possible, with minimal changes, to adapt to real-life situations and events. Schedule of major side room in the general is such that It is possible to combine them in mergers and divisions. 2.5 SOME CONLUSIONS ABOUT “HOME OF REVOLUTION” BUILDING

22_Scale model for Youth club

23_ Home of revolution, today

After the suspension of construction, “Home of revolution” began to languish, from the influence of time and from the people. Over time, disappeared blue glass which has coated the building and then lower steel elements that could be used in small economy. There were water and groundwater that have flooded most of the basement rooms. Building has become a place for the homeless and drug addicts. From the moment of the construction of this building in an accident claimed the lives 15 people. In the former Yugoslavia there used to be a great number of different nations and ethnic groups and yet this country was a unity of all the people. The Home of revolution symbolically represented the spirit and unity of Yugoslavia.During construction, the building has become one of the main elements of urban identity and pride of all citizens. However, when it came to ethnic conflict and civil war in Yugoslavia, it disappeared the political base and ideology of unity. At the same time disappeared the ideas on which it was conceived the Home of revolution. CONCLUSIONS In the example of buildings “Finlandia Hall” and “Home of revolution” we are able to notice similarities and differences. The similarities are related to creation and conception of space. Both buildings are objects of cultural events primarily concerts, lectures and congress meetings. The monumentality of both buildings is expressed. Both represent a harmonious composition made of horizontal blocks and individual vertical elements, the most represented in the coulisse tower. The materialization is specific for both of these objects. While “Finlandia Hall” was designed in white marble, atypical for Finland, “Home of revolution” was made in concrete with large blue, glass surfaces. In this way the two buildings, in the existing urban environment have brought something new. In terms of interior space, also are noticed similarities. The function of the hall in the “Finlandia Hall” is the

Vladimir Bojkovic

same as a function of the promenade in the “Home of revolution”. Meeting places and social interactions are treated in the same way. Architects have recognized the potential of this area, forming a specific and authentic ambience. Overall, we can say that the ideas that led the architects Aalto and Mušič are very similar, so the universal language of good architecture is confirmed regardless of the different region. The differences are found in the life and use of these buildings, resulting from the different social and political circumstances that have taken place in the period during and after the construction of these buildings. “Finlandia Hall” represents a successful story. The building has become a positive element of urban identity of Helsinki, because the citizens attributed largely positive thoughts and experiences to this building. This is supported by the completion of the building and its use to date. On the other hand, “Home of revolution” has become a negative element of urban identity in the town of Niksic. The building is not finished and never used. Over time, the building became the antithesis of everything that is supposed to represent. In this way become a negative element of urban identity. A large number of citizens think that this building should be demolished although in the construction of this building participated these same people who for decades have been giving the 3% of their salary as a contribution to construction. However, many citizens are aware of the historical value that this project had and they agree that the building should be completed. The idea of the unity of diversity, on which the Home of revolution is based should be still guiding idea, especially for future generations.

24_ Home of revolution, today

25_ Home of revolution today, interior

BIBLIOGRAPHY (1) Giedion S., Space, time, architecture. Formation of new traditions, Gradjevinska knjiga, Belgrade, 2002. (2) Connah R., Finland, modern architectures in history, Reaktion Books Ltd, London, 2005. (3) Perovic M., “The history of modern architecture, an anthology of texts”, Book 3: The tradition of modernism and the second modernity, Faculty of Architecture, Belgrade, 2005. (4) Fleig K., Alvar Aalto – Das Gesamtwerk / L’œuvre complète / The Complete Work, BIRKHÄUSER, Basel 2014. (5) Radovic R., New Garden and the old cage, Stylos, Novi Sad, 2005. (6) Jencks C., Modern movements in architecture, Gradjevinska knjiga, Belgrade, 2003. (7) Ivanovic Z., Niksic, urbano-geografska studija. Beogra: SANU, Geografski institut “Jovan Cvijic“, 1977.

Buidings for Culture_Parallels between Finlandiatalo (Helsinki) and the Home of Revolution (Montenegro)

Francesco Chiacchiera - Alberto Marchegiani

To the Waterfront between Aalto & Snøhetta Introduction The figure and personality of Alvar Aalto in Finland, in the context of Nordic architecture, had such importance and impact that can be considered like a “father of the Nation”, one of the founding fathers of the modern architectural language. Any Scandinavian architect after him couldn’t refrain from dealing with his work and his attitudes. The solutions developed by Aalto in his lifetime are taken or unconsciously re-emerge in the works of architects of the contemporaneity. We can observe and analyze how this “Aalto’s influence”, intended or unconscious, can be highlighted by the work of which analyzes studio, one of the main figures of recent years in the contemporary scandinavian architecture. We also want to reflect on the evolution of Scandinavian architecture, on its themes and on the different planning

dynamics of modern and contemporary design. Both the two figures - in their own way - are placed in a “social dimension” of architecture, the expression of a long tradition that has its roots in the social-democratic Scandinavian societies. From the autarkic Aalto’s research, we can see a very long list of public works, especially done in Finland, with the aim of creating through its architecture a “new humanism” and a new future for citizens. An utopical way of thinking really common among intellectuas of his time. In another hand, the “collaborative” Snøhetta alike in their projects, they are promoting a social sustainability of their “Nordic model”, in which inclusion and attention to “human behaviour” guide all the phases of the design, with the aim to improve the present social situation. “If you take into consideration that your physical environment has an influence on how you behave,

FRANCESCO CHIACCHIERA Master Student ALBERTO MARCHEGIANI Master Student

A comparison between two Nordic Masters: Alvar Aalto and the Snøhetta studio. A reflection upon “Aalto’s influence” in the Nordic countries as well as in modern architecture

1_Finnish forest 2_Snohetta mountain

To the Waterfront_Between Alvar Aalto & Snøhetta

3_Viipuri Library, Vyborg (Russia), 1935

5_Jagged section

4_Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt, 1995

6_Skylight roof section then you know there’s a political message because that particular behaviour is part of that particular society at that time”.1 From the social and the cultural landscape, we move to the conceptual approach of their design. From 1935, Aalto looks for harmony with the geographical and cultural context of Finland, trying to reflect in his works the morphology of its landscape of forests and lakes. The forest is connected to mythology and symbolism. In particular, in many works we can talk about a “pictorial” (and not pictoresque) attitude, trying to transform and recreate virtuously the forest’s space in architectural concept. Instead, for Snøhetta in many cases architecture itself becomes landscape; if for Aalto the myth is the Finnish forest, for the Norwegians, shaped and tilted surfaces represent the myth of the mountain, the natural environment that has to be climbed as in the case of Operahuset.

Francesco Chiacchiera - Alberto Marchegiani

Viipuri and Alexandrina. Two libraries As examples, in order to explain this relationship between modernism and contemporaneity through the projects, we examine the two works that represent the first “masterpieces”, the works that have definitely projected Aalto and Snohetta in an international dimension, as coincidence these works were the design of a library. The project of Viipuri’s library (Vyborg, 1935) represents Aalto’s growth from Nordic Classicism to a position closer to the so-called International Style, until he gets to the work that Pallasmaa calls “synthetic functionalism”2. But, more important thing, the building has an unconventional approach, which places it beyond the pure functionalist or constructivist work. In this design he introduces some characteristics of his late works: the organization of the fluent circulation and various functions, the room illuminated by skylights and with a lowered part of the floor. After some competition experience at home, the design of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt, 2000) was for the Norwegian studio a “baptism of fire” that brought the duo Thorsen - Dykers to the international highlight. We can see how Snøhetta’s project may be associated with dynamics of contemporary architecture that “overcome” the indifference for the contexts of modern architecture to “adapt” itself to the character of the place where the construction integrate. Snøhetta, thanks to the victory in the competition for the Library of Alexandria, is connected with the first great work in a fully globalized architectural world. Aalto’s design, on the contrary, has its roots in a Finland that is forming as a nation, and only after the WWII he starts to have assignments abroad, especially in America and Germany. Then we can start to draw the first differences: Snohetta, being a duo, in the name does not contain references to the founders. In its way of being, the studio is set up as an “open structure” and as a collaborative project (for various years the studio has been “divided” between Oslo and New York, but always in close contact with each other). Another distinctive feature of the Norwegian studio is the close collaboration with various artists during the design and construction of their works; this to emphasize the plural conception and multidisciplinarity of contemporary architecture. We can start, with these initial observations, the analysis of two works in which we find the two artists compared with the projects in the capitals of their respective countries and facing with the theme of representing the culture of a nation, so in a way also the theme of monumentality, that has a never ending development in the history of architecture since the introduction of the issue after the

To the Waterfront_Between Alvar Aalto & Snøhetta

7_Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, 1971 8_Oslo Opera House, Oslo, 2000

war by Sigfried Giedion, Jose Luis Sert and Léger). The projects in question is Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall and Snøhetta’s Oslo Opera House. Finlandia Hall & Oslo Opera House (Finlandiatalo & Operahuset)

9_Toolo bay model 10_Study for Finlandia Hall’s interiors 11_Finnish Pavillion - New York, Expo 1939

Both the projects insert itself in respective city’s key points and in their goals they propose themselves as development’s environment of strategic and central parts of city. Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall was a part of a great plan for Toolo Bay, commissioned by Helsinki city Council, designed by the architect himself starting from 1959. For the finnish master it was the opportunity to insert a great piece of a modern city in the very center of Helsinki. His aim was to give Finland’s capital a plan that symbolize the values of the Western World: it was composed as a modern agora where the man realizes in the more complete and satisfying way the fruition of city’s places3. Toolo Bay area’s plan shows typical characters of modernist urban projects, starting from the dominant role of the car – all floor plans of the cultural buildings should have direct entrance in order to reach the stairs of every section by car – to the design of the area by an organization of buildings connected through a huge, indistinct public space. Furthermore in this project Aalto has the role of “demiurge-architect” that has in his hands all the destiny of design process. On the other side for Oslo Opera House the entrustment has passed through an international competition started after a very long national parliamentary work. [n] Project’s strategies in this case are examples of contemporary planning’s attitudes, in which site’s development is not more entrusted to a unique design but quality’s insertion of the single project contributes of the enrichment of surroundings. Furthermore in this project relationships of public spaces and user’s behaviours towards the building has a central role in the design’s process. In this two projects the role of the landscape is of primary relevance, even if developed with different attitudes and with different characteristics. Firstly we have different atmospheres in which the projects place themselves: in Alvar Aalto’s one we find us in an environment of transition between mineral and natural landscape, while in Snøhetta’s case the building we have an island, an isolated block surrounded by the sea, very closed to the core of Norway’s capital. So we have two different variations of the theme: Aalto has a “framing” attitude while Snøhetta “model”. “Aalto was trying to fuse the metaphysical and the nature by creating a frame in which the human being and architecture could develop; or, even grow as a plant.

Francesco Chiacchiera - Alberto Marchegiani

One could say, he leaves the initiative for development to the user while Snøhetta always takes the first step.”4. Also in relationship with water Aalto “is framing” in the sense that he has a “pictorial”relationship with the Toolo bay (in the sense that it creates a new landscape to frame the other side of the bay) while for Snøhetta here is the architecture itself that interacts, which descends directly to merge, to immerse themselves in the water element. Another focusing point is the use of materials, in particular the strong presence that is given to marble. Is the choice of this typical Mediterranean stone that makes this buildings so unique and relevant in the contexts they are inserted and that contributes to give them, together with their sharp-cornered shapes, an atmosphere that reminds to mountain landscapes. But even if the use of marble represent the great assonance of Finlandia Hall and Opera House, the approach to this material for the two designers highlight their attitude’s differences. In fact Alvar Aalto has a comprehensive inclination towards the white stone, that is used either outside and inside, in order to create a monumental and institutional environment, on the other hand in Snøhetta’s project the use of marble in a pure white and sloped shape aim at creating the atmosphere of a mountain that is gentle to be climbed. The influence of Aalto’s architecture in Oslo Opera House is related to the internal great timber entrance to the main hall, called “the wave”. Intended or unconscious it is, a link between it and the suspended timber wall of Finnish Pavilion at New York’s International Exposition in 1939 is inevitable, a design that still work like a unique and indiscuss conquest of architectonical space freely shaped, almost amorphous. A virtuosistic transformation of forest’s space – episodic, amorphous, polirithmic – in architectonic concept5. Aalto is a “man in command,” one of the main characters of the heroic season of modern architecture in which the architect is a demiurge, which draws a “gesamtkunstwerk”, a total work of art. Art is Architecture and vice versa, in a tautological dialogue the two things merge and are never in conflict. The norwegian Studio in another way, to understand other cultural horizons, has to be taken out of balance before regaining ground and seeing everything from a new perspective. A perception of a more complex world and society, and maybe a more extreme specialization of activities, brings the Studio to work with 17 different artists. Eight arts projects which are more or less integrated into the building, a complex unity like the stage curtain Metafoil by Pae White and the four predominantly white-lit installations in the wardrobe area of the foyer by Olafur Eliasson called The Other Wall. Other artworks

To the Waterfront_Between Alvar Aalto & Snøhetta

not integrated into the architecture include Monica Bonvicini’s sculpture She Lies, anchored in the waters of the harbour outside the Opera House. Conclusions Institutional location of Finlandia Hall, is a sign of his particular intention to be monumental, representative to a society that have to be improved and changed. As a monumental building it is untouchable and impassable. Existing in a preparatory didactic way for future generations and citizens, built in a new part of an exhistent city as Helsinki. He was one of the first scandinavian architects verbalizing the idea of a social democratic architecture, that still lives in this nordic design language. Through the use of efficient information systems with the media, generating consensus among critics and population, Snohetta Studio created a public place already existent in the city collective imaginary. Today the inclusion in the Oslo Fjord of this individual architecture is triggering the processes of revitalization of the area, this free-standing opera house is built as symbols of the city and the nation. These two building, reflect the times when they were made, public building, “social democratic monuments”, that captures something of the spirit of Scandinavian’s snow-smothered mountains, icebergs and forests close to steamy lakes, with their white marble and their façades looking at the flowing waters of social democracy.

12_Oslo Opera House Timber foyer

Bibliography: 1) Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, “Lights on Snohetta” Lecture, Porto Recanati 2013 2) Juhani Pallasmaa, Verso un funzionalismo sintetico, in Peter Reed (cured by), Alvar Aalto. 1898-1976, Electa, Milano 1999 3) Riccardo Bray, Alvar Aalto. Spazi e processo architettonico, Dedalo, Bari 1984, p. 56 4) https://urbantekstur.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/ snohetta-and-alvar-aalto-the-social-democratic-heritagein-architecture/

13. Permanent art installation by Olafur Eliasson, Oslo Opera House

«Arkitektur», September 2008, Oslo «The Plan» n. 29, 2008 «Architectural Review», June 2008 «Architectural Record», August 2008

Debora Benfatto - Ludovica Giaconi

Buildings for Culture Finlandiatalo and the Auditorium - Parco della Musica

AUDITORIUM Simply, the place where you listen to music. The Latin word auditorium (from the verb audit “listen”) had the general meaning of “courtroom”; the building devoted to racing music (Odeon). From the nineteenth century, it was used in the United States to indicate a building dedicated primarily to musical performances, thus assuming a specific meaning and universally recognized. Architecture for music In ancient Greek musical performances were represented in the “odèon”, building that resembled the theaters but, unlike them, it was covered. Only in the modern era, from the seventeenth century, they began to build architectural ensembles specially dedicated to listening to music, so different from the theaters. In the second half of the eighteenth century were built in Britain, Germany and Austria buildings of this kind, for listening to classical music; but it is only at the end of the nineteenth century that emerged the need for buildings with interiors that would comply with the rules of architectural acoustics, the science that studies the propagation of sound in enclosed spaces. The goal was to allow a good listen, eliminating extraneous sounds and noises to music or unpleasant effects employees from poor diffusion of sound waves. First it had to study the shape of the room, which passed by a simple elongated rectangle in a semicircular shape and, in the early decades of the twentieth century, with a polygonal shape. It was understood that another

important factor for the propagation of sound waves, and then for good listening music, was represented by the type of material that covered the inside of the room. The progress of studies on the shape of the room and on the coating material, along with experiences of existing buildings, in the middle of the twentieth century, led to the creation of the office of the Berlin Philharmonic (195663), designed by the German architect Hans Scharoun, who It presents a hexagonal stage with the musicians and the conductor near the center of the room. The study of architectural acoustics was the focus of research by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, in a number of projects, among which stands out the Palace for concerts and conferences in Helsinki (1971), perfected the system of shell environments with curved surfaces in wood or with suspended panels.

Debora Benfatto Master Student Ludovica Giaconi Master Student

An essay about differences and similarities between Alvar Aalto and an italian contemporary master: Renzo Piano. The comparison focus on the Finlandiatalo (Helsinki) and the Parco della musica (Rome),

A place for all kinds of music The auditorium can be either a stand-alone building or a complex with several rooms of various sizes and shapes, designed for listening to music of different genres, such as jazz, rock, chamber music, classical music. Some complexes include salt that can change shape and size depending on the types of musical performance: for example at the “Institute for Research and Coordination Acoustic-music”) in Paris, designed by Renzo Piano, opened in 1977 and completed in 1989, the rooms dedicated to music research are located in the ground, to get a better sound insulation. These rooms can become larger or smaller, thanks to the ceiling, floor and mobile walls, panels coated with revolving and adjustable, to

Buidings for Culture: The Finlandiatalo and the Auditorium - Parco della Musica

vary the acoustic response based on the different type of music to be performed. The same architect Piano, who also built the auditorium of the Lingotto in Turin (1991-94), is the author of the project for the Music Park in Rome. FINLANDIA TALO / AUDITORIUM PARCO DELLA MUSICA: A HISTORY Finlandia Talo in Helsinki and Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome have several differences and similarities. We have to talk about the history of both auditoriums and the period were they built to better understand their architecture. To be able to understand the architecture of Finlandia Hall, one must be familiar with the larger vision of Helsinki of which Finlandia Hall is only a part, a vision that may never fully materialize. At the beginning of the 19th century, Helsinki was granted the position of capital of the newly established Grand Duchy of Finland, and the architect Carl Ludvig Engel designed the monumental central square, known today as the Senate Square, which is flanked by the Cathedral, Senate Palace and the University. Alvar Aalto was of the opinion that independent Finland should construct a central square of its own in the new centre of the city, which is in the vicinity of the Parliament House, the building that symbolizes the status won in 1917. Aalto envisaged a large, fan-shaped square terraced on three levels the topmost point of which would be where the equestrian statue of Mannerheim now stands. The square would open towards Töölönlahti Bay, and on one side it would be flanked by a concert and congress hall and further on by an opera house, an art museum, the city library and, possibly, other public buildings, which would be erected in the midst of the greenery of Hesperia Park. Freedom Avenue was to be built on columns over the northbound railway track, and people approaching the centre by car would see the city opening up before them, a magnificent urban landscape with its facades mirrored in the waters of Töölönlahti Bay, a similar effect to the palaces of Venice. The fan-shaped square would welcome people in a wide embrace while the Parliament House and the Railway Station would provide a supporting flank to the sides. This first plan for the centre was drawn by Aalto in 1961. He modified it in 1964 and 1971 on the basis of criticism from various sources. Finlandia Hall was designed in 1962 and built between 1967–72. The plan for the congress wing was drawn in 1970 and it was constructed between 1973-75. With the completion of the first stage of this large project, Aalto thought he had triumphed.

Debora Benfatto - Ludovica Giaconi

1_Auditorium Parco della Musica aerial view 2_ Auditorium Parco della Musica scale model 3_ Auditorium Parco della Musica small archeological museum about the ruins of Villa Livia 4_ Auditorium Parco della Musica map 5_ Auditorium Parco della Musica functions

Buidings for Culture: The Finlandiatalo and the Auditorium - Parco della Musica

the Mausoleum of Augustus, built by the emperor for himself, begun in 31 BCE and built in 5 years, but then used for very different purposes over the centuries. One possibility was Pietralata, a district in the periphery, or the East Rome area, or the Borghetto Flaminio, where we now also have the Explora museum. The choice fell on Borghetto Flaminio, an area that borders on the Villaggio Olimpico, North; the quartiere Parioli, South; Villa Glori, East; and the Corso Francia aqueduct, West. We said that the auditorium was inaugurated on April 21, 2002, but differs from the original plan, because excavations in the years 1996/98 revealed the ruins of Villa Livia, from the 6th century BCE. We find that the ancient ruins fit well into the modern complex of the Auditorium, because Piano decided to showcase them in a small archeological museum carved out of the ground floor area. INSIDE THE BUILDINGS

6_ Finlandia Talo ground floor, first floor, second floor, third floor 2002 is the year of the inauguration of the Auditorium, designed by Renzo Piano. If we try to imagine this area before construction began in 1995, we have to think of an artificial void created in the texture of the city. The area where Finland hall was built was also an artificial void: lt was a lucky coincidence that right in front of the Parliament, there lay a large railway freight yard which was to be re-sited elsewhere; Aalto thought that this area would provide a unique opportunity for the realization of an idea for the construction of a new traffic route called Freedom Avenue from the northern suburbs right to the heart of the city. Renzo Piano aimed to fill that void without intruding, with something that looked beautiful and welcoming and he created something that is at the same time a work of art but also functional and practical. Location was an important issue, because the only place for music performances in the past had been

Now we can introduce the main parts of both buildings, paying attention with style, materials, services and functions. The main building designed by Aalto houses the Main Auditorium (seats 1700), Helsinki Hall (seats 340), Terrace Hall (seats 250), Elissa Hall (seats 130), Aurora Hall (seats 894), Veranda (seats 1700) and Finlandia Restaurant, as well as Cafe Veranda (open to the public) and Galleria Veranda. The Main Auditorium has been a popular venue for meetings, congresses, festivities, concerts and events from the very beginning. The Auditorium seats 1700 people, 1200 in the stalls and 500 in the balcony. The floor is oak parquet and the blue sections of the wall are Finnish birch. The stage is 14 metres wide. It consists of several modular platforms. In the middle, there is an elevator to the storage rooms located on two floors underneath the stage. The curtain is designed by Dora Jung, a Finnish textile designer. The Main Auditorium has served as a venue for several international summit meetings, for instance for the meeting of the Second Stage of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 1975, which was participated by President Brezhnev from the Soviet Union and President Ford from the United States. Several other heads of states have also given speeches in the Main Auditorium, e.g. President Ronald Reagan, President George H.W. Bush, President Mikhail Gorbachov, Pope John Paul II and the 14th Dalai Lama. There has been a lot of discussion about the acoustics of the Main Auditorium. In the beginning, there were

Debora Benfatto - Ludovica Giaconi

problems, mainly because Aalto wanted the space to be like a medieval church in which the acoustics are known to be good. The tower section shown here was fully open. In the reparations that took place later, the ceiling was lowered to this height, and the height of the stage was increased by half a metre. The level of the acoustics in the Main Auditorium is described as “upper average”. The doors of the Main Auditorium are covered with material made of horsehair. The organ in the Auditorium, made by the Kangasala Organ Factory, was the first concert hall organ in Finland. The front section of the organ was also designed by Alvar Aalto. The Congress Wing was completed in 1975. The special feature of the Congress Wing is the “waves” of the facade that give the building unique beauty and vivacity. The outer walls of the Wing are not direct. They curve, following the form of the terrain. On the one hand, Aalto wanted to save most of the trees on the site, but on the other hand, he wanted to avoid the monotony of direct walls. The Congress Wing contains convertible halls A, B and C, as well as several (total 13) smaller meeting rooms. As for the Piano’s design itself, about the structure of the auditorium and Renzo Piano’s style, let’s imagine the Auditorium from above: the 55.000 square metre semicircular plan has three raseid structures, the three music halls. The first from the left is the largest, Sala Santa Cecilia; then at the top of the triangle is the Sala Sinopoli; and the smallest to the right is the Sala Petrassi. Between the first two are the ruins of Villa Livia, while between the second and the third there is a hanging garden that actually runs all long the Auditorium and offers a great view of the city. Below the halls are long corridors, the ticket office hall, the museum of musical instruments, and the Sinopoli collection of ceramic vases. Now the dynamism of the complex is clear, we can talk about the style of Renzo Piano.

7_ Finlandia Talo Main auditorium

8_Auditorium Parco della Musica Sala Sinopoli

Clearly he wanted to create an arts centre, not only a space for music, but where people could gather, exactly like Aalto did in Finlandia Talo; Renzo Piano also wanted continuity with the green of Villa Glori and Monte Mario. Another important aspect was the choice of materials, crucial for Piano: first of all to ensure good acustic, making the place sound-proof and maximizing the quality of sound; but also for the aestethics. He uses travertine, the marble you see here and that is used as covering in other buildings like the Trevi fountain and the Colosseum; the brick, reminding us of thenearby Villaggio Olimpico; and lead to cover the hall domes. Lead was already

Buidings for Culture: The Finlandiatalo and the Auditorium - Parco della Musica

know in Byzantine times for its acustic properties, and for its quality of changing colour with the weather, is the shell material of Rome, for example that of St. Peter. Next to these materials from the ancient tradition we also find modern ones like steel and glass, creating a sharp contrast. A final feature of his style is the blend of Ancient and Modern, of wich the Cavea is an example. Perhaps not everyone notices this semi circles that possibly recalls the theatre in Taormina and the ancient Greek theatres, you appreciate it better when you look from above the flight of stairs, and see how Renzo Piano re-adapted an ancient form to a contemporary structure. The prevail material of Aalto’s building was white Carrara’s marble and grey granite that we can see in the façade. The marble is a very important element because it compares with the solemnity and the monumentality of the near Senate Square and remind us the close relationship that Aalto had with Italy. There are copper roofs, then they are green; the windows are made of teak wood. The interiors are often marble, a pleasant contrast with hardwoods and ceramics. 9_ Auditorium Parco della Musica Sala Santa Cecilia 10_ Auditorium Parco della Musica: architectural drawing

THE STRUCTURE In talking about Finlandia hall’s structure, from their foundations up, the two concert halls are independent structures designed to prevent any disturbing noise from outside. The acoustics are guaranteed by wood paneling

on the internal walls and by double ceilings at different inclinations, with the brilliant solutions Aalto has been evolving since his 1934 design for the Library at Viipuri. The essential structure is a single three-storey element in horizontal slab construction on a trapezium shaped ground plan. From this central body emerge the volumes of the Chamber Music Hall and the vaster Concert Auditorium. The distinctive mark of the composition is the counterpoint between the horizontal central body and its emergent volumes. Specifically, it is the auditorium’s predominant vertical mass against the wide lateral expanse that creates the dynamic symmetry. Notable, too, is the auditorium’s perpendicular rise deliberately accentuated by deep slots between the three walls of the different sectors of the interior seating arrangements. The entirety is a sum of the elements, stylistic features and options that define this master’s architecture: the composition itself, by no means free of traditional restrictions but carefully worked out according to the static and functional limitations and the balances between weight and color in the volumes, planes and architectonic spaces; his insistent preference for acute angles; the fan-shaped ground plan (repeated in both concert halls); and finally his faith in the stimulating and dynamic effect of the diagonal, here expressed in the parapets of the balconies and typical wood paneling of the large auditorium, that we find again in Piano’s

Debora Benfatto - Ludovica Giaconi

auditorium. In summing up the overall effect, it is the highly elaborate auditorium that becomes the focal center of the composition, precisely because it depends on the diagonal which visibly inclines with the sudden interruptions of the balconies and the continuous texture of the paneling throughout the interior space, concluding with the whorl of the orchestra and its dominant organ. In talking about Auditorium ‘Parco della Musica’, the entire urban space and architecture to the implementation of large complex musical Auditorium revolves around the idea of the centrality of the music . All spaces , both external and internal , are designed in a functional way . For the musical activities do not exist then only three halls , but also the Studio Theatre , Studies 1 , 2 , 3 and the foyer. Now we are going to tell you about the heart of the Auditorium, the three halls that look into the Cavea and dominate the complex. In fact, on the plate of services ( exhibition spaces , restaurants , library, bar) rise the three cases of violin , that is the three halls. Renzo Piano designed them as sound resonators, enveloping and protecting the audience. The Sala Petrassi is the smallest and was initially called Settecento, after its sitting capacity of 700: it has distinctive conception of a theatre, with an orchestra pit and revolving panels: these features make it suited to both drama and chamber music performances. The Sala Sinopoli is larger, and perhaps the most versatile of all – suited to events that range from film projections to dance performances. Now, we are going to talk about the largest of the tree shells, the Sala Santa Cecilia, which can seat up to 2,756 people. This hall is designed mainly for symphonic music . Its characteristic sound , the reverberation time is 2.2 seconds , allows , in an optimal condition to listen, to perform also works in concert form . When inside, you really feel like you are inside an enormous shell, with the stage at its centre and the seats fanning out in terraced tiers, forming separate galleries. The supporting structures of coverage , exceptionally large ( more than 50 meters of light ) are constructed from warping of laminated wood beams , associated with steel elements. The ceiling is covered by 26 panels of American cherry timber that measure 180 square metres on average, and were expressly designed for the Auditorium to enhance the propagation of sound. Another crucial element is the bright red velvet upholstery, because it counterpoints the soft tones of the timber, and is a technical devide borrowed from theatre as it absorbs sound waves and prevents unwanted echo.

CONCLUSIONS Taken together , both Auditorium are important social centers with the music at the center and a variety of other events and activities. When visitors enter the complex , they are surrounded by the impressive scene provided by the three shells resonators , in the auditorium of Rome and from a solemn and monumental environment in the building of Aalto, and this can be read as a tribute to the music , culture and art, progress and social gathering . Bibliography: Raffaele Lemme (edited by), Gli edifici della cultura e dell’arte. La civiltà e il progresso dell’Italia unita, Gangemi, Roma 2011 Auditorium Parco della musica. La guida dell’auditorium, Musica per Roma fondazione, Roma 2004 Auditorium Parco della musica: il cantiere e la sua storia, Musica per Roma, Roma 2002 «Casabella» n.366, giugno 1972

Buidings for Culture: The Finlandiatalo and the Auditorium - Parco della Musica

Alessandro Lattanzi

Building for the Spirit

ALESSANDRO LATTANZI Master Student

An evolution in Peter Celsing’s church projects

INTRODUCTION During the 1950s and the 1960s the population in Sweden dramatically increased and the biggest urban centers needed new spaces where housing could develop: in this period new suburb districts borned, gained their identity and grew up as important satellite cities. With these conditions there was the necessity to design new religious buildings that every suburban parish could use for its activities and a sort of boom in the realization of churches took place. The most important and interesting protagonists of this small scale construction were Sigurd Lewerentz (1885-1975) and Peter Celsing (1920-1974). These two architects don’t belong to the same generation and although their careers took different directions we can crearly affirm that there are many points of contact in their works and that the one influenced the other: for example they worked together in a proposal for

the restoration of the Uppsala Cathedral (1951-1955). Peter Celsing has been a master in the realization of religious buildings, becoming a reference point for other generations. An important aspect in his architecture is that he also designed forniture for interiors and involved a lot of artists to create sculptures, paintings and objects. It is possible to find this feature in his churches, where he was very meticulous in materials selections and in the diffusion and reflection of light.

A reflection upon two masters of the Nordic Architecture: Sigurd Lewerentz (1885-1975) and Peter Celsing (1920-1974). An analysis of the evolution in Celsing’s church project

In these buildings, as in the other works of his life, Celsing showed an extraordinary attention to details and to every aspect of the projects, where nothing was left to chance. The aim of this essay is to analyze the evolution in his churches designs, by taking as example the three most important projects, and to make a comparison with a Lewerentz one.

building for the spirit_An evolution in Peter Celsing’s church projects

Alessandro Lattanzi

P. Celsing - Härlanda Church, Göteborg (1952-1959)

is made of the same wood of the other elements. Finally the altar stands against the east wall,raised on a stone base with three steps and light openings on both sides. The history of Härlanda, now a suburb of Göteborg, Lightfittings are cast-iron sections with brass fittings is very old: it dates back to the eleventh century holding glass panels: profiles are thin and light and there when a chapel was built on a hill next to the church is the same choice as in the Vällingby church too. competition site (a slope in a small park) and, after a fire in the sixteenth century, a ruin remained. Celsing won the competition in 1951 and he spent the following five years developing a lot of alternative or comprehensive schemes in a constant research P. Celsing – St. Thomas Church, of the best solution. All the proposals included a Vällingby - Stockholm (1953-1959) dominant naive, with the entrance from the yard, the sacristy on the north and a chapel or aisle on the St. Thomas Church is located in a commercial area in south; on the south-west there was an hall connected Vällingby, west of Stockholm. It is one of the most to cthe church to le lower. The site topography allowed important suburbs built during the 50’s under the Celsing to use separate buildings with different levels. supervision of Sven Markelius, the architect who The version of 1952 is very similar to the one which was played an important role in the planning of the city realized in 1957,where Celing introduced a separate belfry. during the post-war period. The church is adjacent to the central square, near the underground station. In this project, as in the Härlanda Church, the National THE EXTERIOR Bank of Sweden or the Almtuna Church, Celsing explore The complex consists in three buildings organized around the courtyard theme, each with a different attachment a churchyard that incorporate the ruin on the north side: to the context and with a resulting different degree of a cubic bell tower with large openings and a steep openess. Here the will of the architect is to create a sort of staircase, a long and narrow administration building urban oasis where massive, dark and blind walls protect with a single-slope roof and the church volume. All the observants from chaos and bustle of the near market, a blocks are cladded with dark red Helsingborg bricks, a choice even more important now than in his period.As in the common material in religious buildings of that period. majority of his projects, Celsing elaborated many different The west elevation of the church has a small door as solutions and changings before finding definitive forms. access to the lateral aisle and three square openings: the central one is the main entrance and the other two are THE EXTERIOR characterized by a copper clad square grid. It is possible to find the same motif in the openings on the north façade too. The site is slightly sloping, in fact there’s an escalade in the entrance side that leads the visitor on the parking in the upper level. The plan is a square (as THE INTERIOR National Bank too) where the church and the three Entering the church the visitor has to pass through a linked buildings for parish activities enclose an inner glazed vestibule with a wooden grid which is similar to courtyard from which light spreads out into internal the outside one. The room is divided into a big central rooms by wide openings; on the west elevation there naive and into a lateral narrower aisle with a concrete is a bell tower with; an addition to the original part was beam supported by a wide brick pillar. During his studies carried out at the end of the 70’s keeping similar bricks. on internal illumination Celsing considered the light All the elevations are cladded with dark and coming from the big window on the south too intense resistant bricks and openings are low (only for a contemplation, so he decided to place it just in front a narrow strip of windows in the main side). of the opening to create a more diffuse enlightenment. The little entrance square is characterized by a stone paving The interior space is simple, with a dark and quiet with a large circulars pattern in three different colours: atmosphere and a studied attention to spread of this “wavy” movement is marked by a curved granite the sunlight. The wooden furniture is geometric and bench that separates the adjacent large bus stop from essential: the pulpit is a small free-standing cube this area. In the middle of this space, just in front of the adjacent to the north wall, deprived of the sacredness door, there is a free-standing slender steel cross for which and the importance of Christian churches; the Celsing studied several proposals: it is the only indication organ is placed at the end of the lateral aisle and it of the purpose of this simple and introvert volume.

building for the spirit_An evolution in Peter Celsing’s church projects

1_Härlanda Church : lower floor plan (da W. Wang, The Architecture of Peter Celsing, p. 82) 2_Härlanda Church : ground floor plan (da W. Wang, The Architecture of Peter Celsing, p. 82) 3_Härlanda Church : view from the southwest side with the main entrance (da http://web.comhem.se/~u20814244/ byggnadssidan/kalltorp/harlandakyrka. html) 4_Härlanda Church : view of the interior (da http://web.comhem.se/~u20814244/ byggnadssidan/kalltorp/harlandakyrka. html)

Alessandro Lattanzi

P. Celsing – Nacksta Church, Entering it there is a small distribution hall that Sundsvall (1965-1969) THE INTERIOR

addresses the visitor toward parish rooms (turning on the left and running along the courtyard) or the church that is accessible by a small door. It’s easy to note a big difference from the outside with its basic and symmetrical forms and massive walls and the inside: here there is a singular religious space which is placed on a side and the inner courtyard is the main source of light. «The floor is laid with large, square clinker tiles. The roof of light coloured concrete, designed in the form of widely spaced bars, is carried by a system of high concrete beams»1. Just at the right of the entrance, in a corner, there’s a small chapel illuminated only by a very narrow window that creates a spiritual and intimate atmosphere. Light comes inside only from the courtyard, the external walls form a shell creating a space where people are isolated and protected from the outside traffic and can pray in a private atmosphere. In 1960 Celsing’s office completed designs for almost all the interior details, for example light fittings, furniture, the organ case and the baptismal font. Chandeliers, very similar to the Härlanda ones, are made up of black iron rods and bronze nodes; they support vertical glazed plates and electric bulbs: in the light that they generate and in the use of materials they are transformations of those which one may see at the Uppsala Cathedral that Celsing designed with Lewerentz. «The pulpit and a long altar stand together on a podium by the chancel wall to the west. The high wall behind the altar is divided horizontally by a light “shelf” marking with sparsely placed lighting behind it and is decorated with a wooden crucifix in strong colours by the artist Bror Hjort».2 The organ is in the front part of the church, instead the baptismal font with an elliptical basin stands up from a cubic block of granite in the back part. Its disposition near the big openings to the courtyard allows the morning sun rays to strike the pool creating beautiful effects, with water running down from the edge of the stone to the base.

Nacksta Church is a small church for the local community and it is located next to a housing area in the western part of Sundsvall, in the center of Sweden. With this commission Celsing continued his relationship with this town because he had already designed the addition to the Town Hall restaurant (1960-1964), the community facilities for Norra Berget (1961) and a villa for a manager (1961-1962). At the beginning the architect’s first idea was to refer to the standard type of small church he developed earlier, for example in projects for Härlanda and Vällingby. He thought about three contiguous volumes sited on the edge of a hill overlooking parts of the surrounding suburban settlement: the central one, the smallest, served as a connector and the church had to be differentiated from the others parts. «There are two influences on the church form: the metaphor of the naive as a boat or a ship […] and the sculptural determination of a configuration as instituted by the Notre Dame du Haut Chapel in Ronchamp. While early versions (up to 1 Feb 1965) embodied the sinuous outlines and types of openings seen at Ronchamp, Celsing’s subsequent and final designs (from 14 Mar 1965) became independent of the formal supports»3; his attitude of the main space lighting shared the quality seen in Le Corbusier’s example and the light reflection creates a special sense of unity. THE EXTERIOR The church is a boat shaped building situated on a slope with two floors, where the lower one contains accommodations for parish administration and social activities; there’s also a sculptural bell tower separated from the main volume. This building is the peak of Celsing’s research in churches and it is completely different from previous examples. He abandons square forms and courtyards, uses different materials for the façades moving from bricks to concrete and chooses an abstract form for the plan distanced himself from more classical archetypes. It’s possible to observe a centrality in the volume: externally this is expressed by two lateral rainwater channels; on the contrary the interior is centred by two orthogonal structural elements, the central ride and the cross beam, maybe an allusion to the crucifix.

5_St. Thomas Church : ground floor plan (da W. Wang, The Architecture of Peter Celsing, p. 92) 6_St. Thomas Church : upper floor plan (da W. Wang, The Architecture of Peter Celsing, p. 92) 7_St. Thomas Church : the façade with the main entrance (da https://www.flickr.com/ photos/barracuda666/7214720368) 8_St. Thomas Church : view of the interior

building for the spirit_An evolution in Peter Celsing’s church projects

THE INTERIOR «The large well-lit interior of the church can be divided in two by a folding wall; a possibility which is expressed by a heavy cross-beam. A low wall beside the entrance on the south separates the porch from the sacristy and supports the organ gallery»4: it has a square wood pattern with plaster joints. Partitions are smooth plastered and lime washed. A long line of windows on the north elevation is screened by angled horizontal shutters. Floor is laid with white and black terrazzo divided in parts by thin boards. The altar, painted with strong colours, the baptismal font and the pulpit are light units in birchwood, while chairs are in plywood. Internal space is very different from the Härlanda and the Vällingby: it has soft colours (white and light wood) and it is more illuminated with untraditional windows frame that diffuse a lot of light inside.

S. Lewerentz – St. Markus Church, Björkhagen – Stockholm (1956-1963) After almost ten years of inactivity, Sigurd Lewerentz received the commision for St. Markus Church through a competition: he was invited with other four architects, he proposed multiple ideas and was finally chosen in 1956 (the building was completed in 1960). The church is located in Björkhagen, a suburb in the south of Stockholm, amongst a grove of birch trees with little connections to the surroundings. THE EXTERIOR

9_Nacksta Church : lower floor plan (da W. Wang, The Architecture of Peter Celsing, p. 116) 10_Nacksta Church : ground floor plan (da W. Wang, The Architecture of Peter Celsing, p. 116) 11_Nacksta Church : view of the south façade with the belfry (da http://sundsvall. rkkweb.nu/nacksta/index.htm) 12_Nacksta Church : view of the interior (da W. Wang, The Architecture of Peter Celsing, p. 122)

The complex consists in two buildings with “mathematical” forms: the western part, a rectangular volume closer to the main road, houses offices for the parish, while the other part, a L shaped volume, houses foyer, rooms, a great hall and a church; between them there is a courtyard with a little pool in the center. Both buildings are made with the same colour of brick with a lighter mortar. The entrance to the church is marked by a wooden portico detached from the brick structure (as in the Resurrection Chapel), emphasizing the difference between the two; the brickwork in the buildings stands separately showing Lewerentz’s mastery of the material. The church is oriented in the traditional way but it is difficult to identify the naive within the massing of the building. THE INTERIOR Inside there is a lit foyer followed by a public hall that leads to the church. The visitor is surrounded

Alessandro Lattanzi

by brick, used to realized floors, walls and ceilings. It was a tradition to employ it in many Swedish public buildings in the early 20th century and the architect, as his teachers in the National Romantic movement, was attracted by the status of brickwork in Sweden, Denmark, Northern Germany and England. Lewerentz used this simple and old material, without manipulating it by cutting or shaping, to create poetic spaces: he only works with the mortar joints to transform a banal unit into something more evocative. There is a sort of succesion in access that may be«inspired by the processional sequence in early-Christian churches; the route from the courtyard to the inner space is a progression from daylight to darkness»4 where eyes search for the light. As a visitor enters it is difficult to focus on the naive features because it is necessary to take time to adjust view and accept the new condition; only a single window illuminates the south side of the nave allowing light rays to hit the floor.

A comparison: St. Markus Church and St. Thomas Church It is interesting to compare these religious buildings realized by two of the most important architects in swedish tradition, masters in churches designs. CONTEXT Björkhagen is a little suburban area in the south of Stockholm not so far from the city center, but it looks like a little village in the countryside. The church is at the far end of a residential area, just at the beginning of a birch wood where trees hide partially the volume. Probably the aim of Lewerentz was to create a place where people could meet and celebrate rites, but also to escape from everyday life and find peace being surrounded by trees and water, as in a primitive condition more and less similar to the Wooden Cemetery in Stockholm. Vällingby is a district of the western suburb of Stockholm, born under the design of Sven Markelius at the beginning of the 50’s, in a period where he was the responsible of urban planning. It is the perfect example of the satellite city, well connected to the center, reachable in few minutes with the underground line, with lots of facilities and green areas and where car and pedestrian traffic were separated. It was part of a unique group (where there were other districts) called ABC Community: A = arbetspalset (work place), B = bastäder (houses),

building for the spirit_An evolution in Peter Celsing’s church projects

C = centrum (commercial and cultural center). The church is located just next to the commercial central square with lots of shops and stands. Context is different from the Björkhagen one because is more “urbanized”, but the will of Celsing is the same: create an urban oasis, a refuge from noise and confusion of outside traffic. He reaches this not opening the building to the nature as Lewerentz, but using a massive block with light and green inside with the courtyard. PLAN AND FUNCTIONS Both buildings house a church and parish facilites, but with a different plan. St. Markus’ one is an open plan with two separate volumes while St. Thomas one is a regular square closed to the outside and open to the inner garden, a sort of little modern monastery. Lewerentz puts the religious part in the short side of the L volume, just behind a foyer and a hall, Celsing on the right part, not in the center. In both cases it looks like the church and the others parts have almost the same importance: for example there are no big entrances or staircases and architects don’t want to create a solemn and majestic building. MATERIALS Celsing and Lewerentz were masters in the use of brick that we can find in these two example and in most of the churches they designed. They used different types of material and the second one changed only mortar joints creating variations. The common use of brick maybe is because of a will to create primitive and more protective spaces.

INTERIORS AND LIGHT In nordic architecture light is one of the most fundamental aspects of a design: building orientation and disposition of openings can guarantee an adequate illumination, especially during winter when sunlight hours are few. In a church light assumes also a bigger importance and architects like Celsing and Lewerentz studied its diffusion and reflection in interior space: it’s required, for example, to have more illumination in meeting halls, instead more private and darker rooms in case of prayer or meditation places. In some cases passage from outside to inside represents a sort of Christian itinerary and different graduations of enlightenment can symbolize life or death, sacred or profane. St. Markus church is completely cladded with

Alessandro Lattanzi

brick, in ceilings too, creating a darker space Bibliography: similar to a medieval construction. It’s more open Wilfried Wang, The Architecture of Peter Celsing, to the outside with a major number of windows. In St. Thomas one light comes inside the church only Arkitektur Förlag, Stockholm, 1996 from openings facing the courtyard. Wilfried Wang, An appreciation of Peter Celsing’s work, in “Arkitektur”, 9, 1989, pp. 63-66 Wilfried Wang, Johan Celsing, Peter Celsing e la classicità nel moderno, in «Casabella», 572, 1990, pp. 4253 Lorenzo Capobianco, Sven Markelius: Architettura e Città, Electa, Napoli 2006

REFERENCES:

1-2 Wilfried Wang, The Architecture of Peter Celsing, p. 92 3 Wilfried Wang, The Architecture of Peter Celsing, p. 57 4 Dominic ROBERTS, St Mark, Bjorkhagen in http://www. msa.mmu.ac.uk/continuity/index.php/2006/10/02/stmark- bjorkhagen/

Sofia Balters, AD Classics: St. Mark’s Church in Bjorkhagen / Sigurd Lewerentz in http://www.archdaily. com/157478/ad-classics-st-marks-church-in-bjorkhagensigurd-lewerentz [07-09-2011] Dominic Roberts, St Mark, Bjorkhagen in http://www.msa.mmu.ac.uk/continuity/index. php/2006/10/02/st-mark-bjorkhagen/ [02-10-2006] Adam CARUSO, Sigurd Lewerentz and a Material Basis for Form, in «OASE», n°45/46, 1997, pp. 88-95

14_St. Markus Church : a façade with the characteristic use of bricks and different types of openings (da http://www.eknews. net/xe/column_extra26/143290) 15_St. Markus Church : view of the interior (da https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Markuskyrkan_nave.jpg) 15_St. Markus Church: ground floor plan (da http://plansofarchitecture. tumblr.com/post/90292853983/sigurdlewerentz-st-marks-church-bjorkhagen)

building for the spirit_An evolution in Peter Celsing’s church projects

Anna Khromova

City Planning

ANNA KHROMOVA PhD Student - 2nd year

A review of urban planning in Helsinki and Moscow during the 20th century abstract The main aim of this article is to make a parallel between Moscow and Helsinki urban planning during years 19181932. This period of time was very meaningful since many changes happened in Russia and Europe. World War I and the Russian Revolution marked the beginning of a new age. What happened to architecture that time? In 1919 German Architect Walter Gropius founded “Bauhaus”, a school of arts based in Germany, with the aspiration of merging all arts. In 1920 “Vkhutemas”, a Russian state art and technical school was founded in Moscow. Both schools had the purpose of creating new theories and exchanging opinions about art and architecture. Russian intellectuals founded many movements (Constructivism, Rationalism, and Suprematism above all) and many cultural associations (OSA, ASNOVA, among others) trying to make their motherland better and stronger through art and architecture. At the same time, in Moscow monumental buildings appeared, with a powerful symbolic meaning. European intellectuals were fascinated by those innovative ideas and they interacted with Russian architects, especially during international exhibitions. Swiss architect Le Corbusier participated in a closed competition for the new headquarters of the Central Union of Consumer Cooperatives in Moscow and kept relationship with Moscow architects from 1928 to 1932. In 1932, when Russia rejected Le Corbusier’s ideas about modern architecture, he stopped interacting with Soviet Union. Another point of contact between Russia and Europe is Finland. Finland was part of the Russian Empire until 1917 when it became an independent state. Finland is also a laboratory of inno-vative ideas. The evolution of its capital city Helsinki, shows the environmentally conscious attitude of the Finnish people. Moscow’s urban planning projects were developed in 1917 by Professor Sakulin. They continued to grow until 1932 when Stalin and his regime started a n hostile campaign against the cultural associations of Russia. Helsinki’s urban projects were also growing, becoming the object of many studies and proposals by Finnish planners. In 1919, Eliel Sarineen made a project for regulating the expansion of Helsinki. It is interesting to study the parallel between Moscow and Helsinki. Two capital Cities of two different nations that used to be so similar. While Moscow followed Soviet ideas for its expansion, Helsinki wanted to address many of Europe’s problems and looked into “Organic Architecture” created by “Frank Lloyd Wright” in the U.S. The strong relationship between Finnish people and nature, combined with modern architectural ideas lead the way to a unique style of European architecture. The comparison between Moscow and Helsinki underlines the differences between European and Russian concept of architecture and explains why modern architecture didn’t work out in Russia and why Soviet ideas have been studied by European architects.

Key Words: Moscow, Helsinki, Urban planning, Constructivism, Organic Architecture, Finland, Russia.

City Planning_A review of urban planning in Helsinki and Moscow during the 20th century

1_1918 Professor B. Sakulin “city of the future” 2_The project “the Big Moscow” Sergei Shestakov (1921 – 1925)

Anna Khromova

MOSCOW BEFORE THE REVOLUTION Moscow was founded in 1147 but only 300 years later, when Tartar were defeated in 1480, became the main city of Russia. It lost its capital status during the reign of Peter the Great, which ended in 1725. During 19th century Moscow faced a Napoleon’s invasion and huge changed happened. Napoleon burnt about 7000 buildings destroying more than half of the city. After a long period of reconstruction, Moscow’s population increased to 1 million of people by the end of the century. The 19th Century was very meaningful for Russia and for Europe. In fact, due to the Industrial Revolution, much more industries were built. Cities lost green spaces, got more pollution and less space. Moscow faced those changes by trying to keep its medieval structure. Keeping its narrow streets and small districts, but many old factories were destroyed to use wood and stone for building new ones. Moscow followed the trend of industrial revolution by looking at his its history and trying to respect it but, those changes caused higher density in Moscow. The number of inhabitants grew from the 800,000 in 1885 to 1,800,000 in 1917. The year 1917 marked a watershed for Russian history. The October revolution changed rules in Russia, tsars lost their power and Vladimir Lenin founded USSR. SOVIET URBAN PLANNING The Russian Revolution influenced the development of Moscow too. In fact, Petrograd lost the status of capital city and Moscow became the capital again. In the USSR private ownership of land was abolished and it was also forbidden to own industrial estates. This scenario helped the renovation of old cities and lead to the construction of new ones. Architects and urban planners saw great opportunities to accomplish their ideas. The reconstruction of Moscow was one of the most important aims for the higher politi-cal levels. Moscow needed to improve their condition of living. Medieval streets and the industrial zone that was built around it could not accommodate an acceptable lifestyle. However, USSR leaders did not care about quality of living too much. Rather, they wanted to show their political power by building new huge and monumental structures. Therefore, every project had to be approved by the administration. One of the first plans ever made for Moscow during these years was “The City of The Future” by profes-sor Pavel Nikitič Sakuli. His proposal was one of the first cases of regional planning. He divided Moscow and the surrounding cities placed in a green belt, in

economical zones, identifying 13 towns. He thought to connect them to the center of Moscow through radial highways, supporting the project of the garden city. This cultural background would encourage the birth of new avant-gardes. In 1920, the institution of VkhuTEMAS (Russian state art and technical school) promoted the exchanging of ideas. VkhuTEMAS was similar to European school Bauhaus. Important architects, artists and intellectuals taught the new princi-ples art and urban planning. They created their own studios where improving and sharing their vision about architecture. VkhuTEMAS aim was to develop specialists who could help in the making of a stronger and better country, according to communist ideas. Another meaningful project for Moscow was made by Alexey Shchusev and Ivan Zholtovsky who designed a plan based on the ringradial structure and the con-servation of the old city. They improved N.Sakulin’s concepts about the garden city and the construction of new buildings around the center of Moscow that was considered as main ring. In 1925 some Russian intellectuals, architects and urban planners founded new cultural movements like OSA (constructivists) and ASNOVA (rationalists). OSA stands for Organization of Contemporary Architects and it is considered the first cultural movements established by constructivists architects in USSR. OSA worked according to Soviet doctrine and contemplated the first ideas of “commune house” and “social condenser”. They de-signed ideal buildings trying to help the State in starting a mass production of standard apartments. For what concerned urban planning OSA had his own position seeing urban planning and architecture as two different subjects. OSA opinion differed from ASNOVA’s one (Association of New Architects) and there were many discussions between the two associations during these years. ASNOVA members examined architecture and urban planning as a unique field. They studied solutions for spatial issues and developing the concept of dynamic and flexible planning focusing on space, shape and construction. They also suggested the creation of flexible cities thinking of “horizontal skyscrapers”, a theory which also European Architects worked on. ASNOVA projects were considered as new schemes for the development of cities. They started improving the public center along the main axis, keeping clear the axis from industrial, residential and green zones. In 1925 was designed another plan for Moscow, made by S.Shestakov who called it “The Big Moscow”. He also supported the garden city theory thinking how to increase the territory of Moscow from 70 to 200 thousands hectares.

City Planning_A review of urban planning in Helsinki and Moscow during the 20th century

3_The project of reconstruction of Moscow. Le Corbusier. 1932 4_Scheme for the reconstruction of Moscow. N. Ladovsky. 1932

Anna Khromova

According to his project, the surrounding towns of Moscow were in-tegrated with Moscow itself giving birth to a new big Moscow region. He divided Moscow in specific areas: business, development, industrial, residential and big green zones. However in 1928, the government inaugurated a competition called “Green City” with the scope of creating new housing solutions for Mos-cow. OSA proposals followed the ideas of “house commune” and “social condensers” and they designed buildings with common kitchen, laundry, and other spaces. ASNOVA proposed to build along the main transporting axis. In the meantime Soviet Union intellectuals established a relationship with European ones. OSA members Moisey Ginzburg and Nikolai Kolli became members of CIAM (International Con-gresses of Modern Architecture) and interacted with famous western architects. European and Russian avant-gardes influenced each other giving life to new collaborations. LE CORBUSIER’S PLAN FOR MOSCOW The relationship established between Soviet and European architects was very strong. Constructivism and Modern architecture influenced each other much between the years 1920s and 1930s. The partner-ship between OSA and CIAM and the likeness between Bauhaus and Vkhutemas, left an important lega-cy. A very meaningful collaboration of this decade was definitely the one between the Swiss architect Le Corbusier and USSR. In 1922 Mosey Ginzburg (OSA) wrote about some concepts taken from Le Corbu-sier’s work “Towards an Architecture” and in 1924 published his book “Style and Epoch”, similar to Le Cor-busier’s one. However, Le Corbusier was also very attracted by Soviet Union that considered a laboratory of innovative ideas. So he experienced a journey in USSR in 1928 taking part to some open competition for the creation of new headquarters in Moscow. Le Corbusier got inspired by Soviet ideas that helped him to develop new theories about housing and urban planning. He gave a positive feedback about “Green City” competition and his interaction with USSR. Le Corbusier’ s good comments on “Green City” competition encouraged Soviet government to officially ask him solutions about the reconstruction of Moscow in 1931. Le Corbusier answer was a 59 pages report called “Response to Moscow” in which he designed some plans for the City. His project was similar to the principles of Constructivists. In fact, he al-so proposed services commune and communal facilities. What was different from the other projects was his idea to demolish the old city but the Kremlin and the

Kitay-gorod creating distinct cities with distinct roles. Le Corbusier didn’t mean to expand Moscow but he wanted to renovate it, using existing spaces and modern buildings like skyscrapers. He didn’t’ want to respect the radial development of the city. So he proposed to divide the City in four main districts (political center, residential area, historical center, industrial zone) following a new development based on a rectilinear system. The experience of Le Corbusier in USSR ended in 1932 when the administration rejected his ideas considered too much innovative and revolutionary. Moreover, Soviets did not like the proposal of demolishing old buildings for substitut-ing them with skyscrapers. They considered it outrageous and too radical. Le Corbusier felt upset and interrupted to collaborate with USSR using his project for personal researches. USSR wasn’t ready to welcome modern ideas and his conservative spirit won on any futuristic project. Few years later, in 1932, Stalin started a hostile campaign against cultural movements and many of them were forced to end. Same fate happened to European Bauhaus that had to stop any activity in 1933. THE FINAL PLAN OF 1935 USSR politicians wanted to develop a functional and efficient Moscow. They stopped listening to any avantgarde movement’s idea. They wanted to respect the historical shape of the city, to preserve Mos-cow origins but they asked for improving urban streets and squares following the existent radial system. That’s why they decided to assign the making of the plan to Semenov and Chernishev, two architects that were associated with no cultural movements. Soviet administrators wanted to build new standard hous-es, to renovate old factories, to control the density of people, to plan the industrial areas and to make underground services for having faster transportations. So, Semenov and Chernishev started to construct new radial roads and highways to reinforce the radial system and also three major highways were built. USSR government wanted to see Moscow as a powerful entity, a strong block designed as an urban com-pound of standard houses. Moscow reinforced his historic shape and was improved with new services as the underground and the making of the Moskva-Volga canal that connected the city with black sea and east seas. The garden city project was also very important to define relationship between parks and green corridors

City Planning_A review of urban planning in Helsinki and Moscow during the 20th century

in the city. This plan created many systems that didn’t interact between each other. Each system had his own function but the architects focused on each system as an independent one. On the other hand, this plan created and interesting synthesis between architecture sculpture and painting. In fact, Stalin wanted to celebrate his power through the tradition of Russian classicism and using expansive luxury materials. Stalin totalitarian regime had a huge and important influence on this final plan. Moscow changed according to Soviet needs and became ready to be the symbol of the USSR. HELSINKI AND MOSCOW Finland used to be part of Russian Empire until 1917, when got independence. It has also faced the changes caused by industrial revolution. In 19th century, in Finland, as well as in Europe, due to industrial revolution, people left the countryside and moved to the City, which offered better opportunities of working. Finland had many rural villages, where farmers lived according simple rules with no urban identi-ty. In this context Finland needed to identify a guide city, a main point of reference for the development of Finnish society. So all attentions were focused on Helsinki, the capital city, that grew trying to achieve a leadership role in Finnish society. At that time the absence of laws in urban planning encouraged an uncontrolled urbanisation in the suburban area of Helsinki. Surrounding areas weren’t under the control of Helsinki City Council and grew according to undisciplined free manners. In 1915, Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen made an urban plan for Helsinki based on Ebenezer Howard’s theories on garden-cities. Therefore, Saarinen suggested to turn these new buildings into independent housing cells, using green areas to mark the differences between the city centre and the surrounding area. According to the plan, it was necessary to create new roadways and highways for having fast connection to Helsinki. He also studied solutions for the port, the industrial area and the main railway station. Helsinki, as well as Moscow need-ed strong infrastructures for consolidating his leadership and his status of capital city. In both cases, urban planners followed the trend of garden cities that was seen as the best solution to integrate the core of the city with the surrounding areas. Helsinki and Moscow grew having the same needs: efficient and fast roadways, good connection to the sea and to other cities, well planned industrial areas.

Helsinki either than Moscow, was the main economic resource for the country so needed a good urban organisa-tion. During these years Finland was try to consolidate the country and needed to build a strong economy to defend his borders and growing in autonomy. After the independence from USSR Finland faced a short Civil War in 1918, when pro Bolshevik did not want to separate from the new born USSR. The relationships between Finland and USSR were always critic. Only in 1923, six years after Finnish proclaimed the independence, USSR and Finland found a mediation signing the Border Peace Agreement that normalised the borders. In the meantime Helsinki kept on growing and in 1925 reached 200.000 inhabitants. So In 1925 Helsinki City Council considered the surrounding area of Helsinki as part of the city. This step was very im-portant for the expansion of Helsinki that improved his leadership and power. The development of Helsinki was totally innovative for Finland. In fact, the trend of urban planning was totally in antithesis with the rest of the country, which was formed by rural villages. Farmers organised villages according to a free lifestyle, living in harmony with nature. The growth of Helsinki distinguished “gentlefolk” from “common people” and underlined the difference between social classes creating a sort of competition between urban style of living and rural one. Some people chose to live far from chaotic urban life but who lived in the city enjoyed the benefits of new technologies and a modern lifestyle. 1930s Helsinki followed modern trends and developed new technologies like in Europe and in the rest of the world. Finnish architects pos-itively looked ad Organic Architecture, born in U.S. with Frank Lloyd Wright since the relationship between cities and nature was very strong. Finnish architects got also influenced by Le Corbusier’s theories as well as Soviets. They were fascinated by cars, planes, ships, and Helsinki run up for hosting Summer Olimpic games in 1940. So new infrastructures were build in Helsinki during 1930s like the Olimpic stadium, the Stockmann, a business building located in the centre of the City. Helsinki wanted to be the main point of reference for the culture of Finland also. Due to World War II Finland was attacked by Russia in 1939 and by Germany during 1940s and a new urban plan for Helsinki was made after the war in 1949. Finnish Architects Yrjö Lindegren and Erik Kråkström thought to make a zoning plan. They followed Saarinen ideas about “decentralisation” and as well as happened in Moscow, suggested the construction of new road-ways to distinguish the centre from the suburbs.

Anna Khromova

They wanted to classify areas according to their function but they gave importance to green areas. While USSR followed a functionalism trend, Finland tried to face similar problems keeping an harmonic combination between urban planning and nature. The ideas spread in Europe and US during 1930s influenced following plans for Helsinki, and the european trends brought Finnish Architect Alvar Aalto to design a plan for Helsinki in 1960. He wanted to mix nature and urban space, increasing city gardens and decreasing the number of cars. Aalto saw nature as a resource and also water played an important role in his plan. He thought to use water as a mirror where reflecting the main buildings of Helsinki to underline the importance of the capital city. He also made a zoning plan, but con-sidering nature as part of the urban system, not an independent system as in USSR was. The way Aalto treated green spaces gave smart solution to control the urbanisation. The functionalist aim of USSR poli-tics didn’t care too much to green spaces and this aspect was a weak point of Moscow. Helsinki showed the importance of integrating nature in the city, and considered it not an obstacle but a strength point to care about.

Bibliography Jean-Louis Cohen, The Future of Architecture. Since 1889, Phaidon, London 2012. Jean-Louis Cohen, Le Corbusier and the Mystique of the USSR, Theories and Projects for Moscow, 19281936, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1992. The history of Russian architecture. Under the General editorship of Yu. s. Ushakov. St. Peters-burg, 1994. V. N., Ryabushkin V., Sergeeva G. V., The history of Soviet architecture, Bylinkin N. P., Kalmykov 1985. Douglas Gordon, Rikhard Manninen & Olavi Veltheim (Edited by) City Planning Department 2009 City of Helsinki, Edita Prima Oy, Helsinki, 2009. Riitta Nikula, Wood, Stone and Steel. Contours of Finnish Architecture, Helsinki 2005.

City Planning_A review of urban planning in Helsinki and Moscow during the 20th century

5_The Project “New Moscow”. A. Shusev (1918-1924)

Nguyen Huu Long Phung

The Structure of Wood

Nguyen Huu Long Phung PhD Student - 3rd year

in Gol stave church in Norway and traditional house in Hue (Vietnam) they have in common is corner-posts (“staves”) and a framework of timber with wall planks standing on sills. Wood is a material that people have used for millennia These walls are known as stave walls, hence called stave for many purposes, primarily as a fuel or as a construction church. Some wooden churches, such as the Church of material for tools, weapons, furniture, packaging, the Transfiguration at Kizhi, the Urnes Stave Church or the artworks and paper. In architecture, wooden architecture Gol Stave Church in Norway, are included in the UNESCO occupies a very special place, is one of the main materials list of World Heritage Sites. are used in the past and today, in traditional and modern Rock, brick, bamboo and wood are important materials architecture. to create characteristic of Asian architecture. With the During the Middle Ages, immense stone cathedrals were advantages of geography location and natural conditions, constructed in many parts of Europe. In Norway, a similar wood has become the traditional material that have technique was used for building in wood. Thanks to the been used not only in architecture but also in daily life Vikings’ interest in ship construction and home building, of Vietnamese, from the past to nowadays, from simple the technique and tradition of wood carving was further things, such as normal house, stables, pavilions, labor developed. The work culminated in stave churches. tools, etc, to important things, such as imperial palaces, There are many types of stave churches, but one thing Section 1_The wood in architecture

The Structure of Wood in Gol stave church (in Norway) and traditional house (in Hue, Vietnam)

An analysis of the different uses of a traditional material for both Asia and Nordic countries: wood. A comparison between the Gol stave church in Norway and the traditional house of Hue (Vietnam)

1_Urnes Stave Church in Norway 2_Ngo Mon (the Gate of Noon) in Vietnam

the State buildings, the defense works, weapons, etc. Hue is an ancient citadel of Vietnam with the complex of Hue monuments that was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993. The complex of Hue monuments includes hundreds of monuments and ruins, such as the Forbidden city, the Imperial city, royal tombs, flag tower, pagodas, temples, libraries, museums, traditional houses and wood is as a main material to build all of them. Gol Stave Church in Norway Gol Stave Church was built around 1200, and it is one of 28 remaining stave churches in Norway. From the 1600s to early 1800s, the structure went through several renovations and alterations. In the 1870s, however, the congregation had become too large, so the old church was replaced by a new and bigger church.

3_4_5_Gol stave church 6_decorations inside a Gol stave church

In 1881, the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments bought the stave church, and King Oscar II offered to finance its re-erection in the public park at Bygdø Kongsgård. Because the snow conditions for sled transportation was too poor, the disassembled church could not be moved to Christiania (Oslo) before in January 1884! In the summer that same year, the church was re-erected at Bygdøy. When the stave church was disassembled in 1884, it had been and altered and remodeled both in 1664 and 1802. Hans Gude’s drawing from 1846 clearly shows this. When re-erected at Bygdøy, only the basic interior structure was reused. The exterior was modeled after Borgund Stavkirke in Sogn on the Norwegian west coast. Traditional house in Hue, Vietnam ( Ruong house) Hue was the capital of Vietnam from 1802 to 1945. Therefore, the Hue architecture is very diverse and abundant, including genres such as temples, royal tombs, imperial palaces, etc. This city is also known for another architectural structure named “ruong” house, the combination of luxurious and ordinary architectural features. This unique structure is part of the poetic picture of Hue. “Ruong” is the short form of “ruong cot” (beam and pillar). Besides, there are different names depending on the material, the structure of frame, the structure of spatial, the shape of the house. Houses of this kind can also be found in other provinces like Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Quang Ngai. In this case, I introduce the house that is considered a typical structure of Hue and it has become an inseparable part of Hue culture. This 161 year-old house was built to worship a princess of Emperor Thieu Tri, named Dien Phuoc. This is a “nha ruong”, a hand-made traditional

Nguyen Huu Long Phung

wooden house with 48 columns, a symbol of the ancient capital city of Hue. Section 2_The structure of Gol stave church and Ruong house 1_Understanding of Gol Stave Church in Norway The structure was made entirely of wood with the system of columns, truss, beams, purlins, principals, stave-walls, a complete ambulatory and a semicircular apse. The Gol Stave Church represents one of the final stages of stave development. Especially, the designers were able to terminate the middle columns before they reached the floor, thereby freeing-up extra space for the nave by developing a very elaborate bracing system that transferred loads to the corner columns. According to researcher Nicholas Todd Haris, “In English the word “stave” is used to refer to the narrow strips of wood that form part of the sides of a barrel or tub. This sense of the word “stave” is very similar to the Norwegian usage. The Norwegian word “stave” can refer to three different parts of a stave church. It can mean the vertical planks that make up the walls, or the heavier corner posts of walls. Alternatively standing column in the interior of the church”. The name is very importance to recognize the style of churches. The name will be different with different technique. For example, Palisade church is a church that every post was buried into the ground, Post church that only the post was buried, or Stave church with the post placed within the framework. The process of construction include several steps, according to the following order: preparing the wood for construction, the stone foundation and primary sill, the secondary sill and the corner posts, the floor planks, the column wall, bracing the column, wooden braces, the raising of the column wall, the main chassis, the stave truss, the stave wall and the aisle roof, decoration for interior and exterior. There are some main steps. To complete a church, there are many smaller steps. For example, to preparing the wood, the carpenters had to go into the forests and chosen the tallest and sturdiest pine. They began to harvest them by climbing up the trunks and cutting off the tops and branches. And the tree trunks were left standing on the ground about ten years, it depend on the size of the tree and weather conditions. “This method of farming the trees allowed the sap to drain slowly down into the roots. The carpenters must have developed this technique based on the experience of rapid and uneven drying which inevitably cracks and splits the timber. The slow cure method they developed was so effective that they were able to obtain large

The Structure of Wood in Gol stave church (in Norway) and traditional house (in Hue, Vietnam)

7_ Interior of a Ruong house 8_ Exterior of a Ruong house

9_Palisade church, Post church and Stave church 10_The name of elements and drawings

Nguyen Huu Long Phung

wooden members that were nearly free of surface defects. It was only shortly before construction that the trees were felled. An added advantage of this drying technique was that the dry tree trunks were much lighter to transport to the building site”, Nicholas Todd Haris said. 2_Understanding of Ruong house in Hue, Vietnam The material of Ruong house is the same as Gol Stave Church. All the components were made of wood and jointed by tenon without the presence of metal or other material. Why? According to researcher Le Thanh Vinh, “The components of the wooden frame are jointed by tenon. This is a specific characteristic of wooden structure originating from popular innovation. This technique ensures that the wooden frame can be made by only wood material and be unification. Building with different standard, different function does not use nail or other material for linkage wooden frame components. Consequently, the wooden frame structure could avoid the damage caused of deformation according to different diminishing of different material or even oxidization of metal”. The most important of structure is a main frame that is in the center of house, called “Khung cui”. After creating “Khung ci”, the house was continued to expand in directions until the frame of house was completed. It is different between the wall of Gol Stave church and Ruong house. The wall of Ruong house was divide into two types are exterior walls and partitions. The exterior walls were made of brick to adapt to tropical climate of Vietnam and while the partitions were made of wood to decorate and divide interior. The construction method of partitions is similar to Gol Stave Church include the planks were placed within the framework and connected to the columns by tenon. To build the house, the first step was to prepare materials. Jackfruit wood was planted available in garden and used to make the frame. Besides, bamboo, rattan and some other woods were also used to connect other components. After the workers had finished carving and foundation, the system of pedestals was formed and then “Khung cui” was built on those pedestals. Likewise, the other columns were also completed on the base of pedestals. The connection between the columns and the truss, purlins, sills, bracing made firmer for the structure. Interior and exterior was the final step after roof had been made.

3_ A comparison between Gol stave church and Ruong house In the research, I have divided the structure of building into four main sections include foundations, wood structure, cover layers and decorations. Gol stave church and ruong’s house were placed in different locations however they have many similarities. The first, the foundations are very important to connect the ground and the wood. It not only must be hard enough to bear the load of the building, but also must be dry to avoid humidity, damp and ventilation. In Gol stave church, they used rock to create the base of foundations and a gap between the foundations and the floor for ventilation and avoid humidity. But in ruong house, the foundations that were made of rock, brick or cement are usually higher than the surrounding area to avoid damp and avoid contact between the wood frames with water. The second, the structure of the buildings were made entirely of wood that is different from others. It is like a game, “lego”. It can be disassembled, moved and reerected on different places. That is the flexibility of wood structures. The construction method of wood structure is very particular. We can realize that the construction process of Gol stave church and ruong house is the same. It was built from the main frame in the center then widened outwards and finally by the roof and wallcovering. The third, the cover layer includes roof, wallcovering, walls. The roof of Gol stave church is divided into several parts to harmonize with the surrounding landscape and reducing the load for the roof when it snows while the roof of ruong house is simpler and lower. The wall of Gol stave church has two layers that were made entirely of wood in the Stave-church’s style that I showed above. The wall of ruong house also has two layers but the wall-covering (the first layer) that was made of brick and cement is thicker than the interior-wall (the second layer) that was made of wood. Although both buildings are made of wood, but the details are different to adapt to the characteristics and climate zones. The fourth, the residence of a human to be converted during the development of human, from the caves to the huts and from small houses to high-rise buildings or from simple to high-tech buildings. In that situation, wood has still played an important role and sticking to the life and development. They used wood to making tools, furniture, decorations, etc that we encounter in interior of Gol stave church and ruong house that was built in 1200 and 1854. Although it was built more 800 years ago but the technique of wood carving was developed and created many impressive works.

The Structure of Wood in Gol stave church (in Norway) and traditional house (in Hue, Vietnam)

11_illustration if the building process

12_ Drawings of Ruong house 13_ The foundation sections

Nguyen Huu Long Phung

Conclusions Although the geographical location, climatic conditions, life and culture are different but wood has important role in the entire process of development of both Vietnam and Norway. With features of wood such as light, soft, available in natural so wood was be used from early in the architecture and some buildings still exist to nowadays, representatives are Ruong house and Gol Stave Church. Especially they were made entirely of wood without metal and the system of tenons is very flexible, easy to disassemble and move. Perhaps, the tenons are the most important that showed the intelligence and creativity of human. In addition, the footing of the column was just supported by the pedestals, the wall was made on the

ground, high foundation, sloping roof are the solutions to adapt to climate conditions of regions. However, there are also many differences as the shape of works, external wall systems, doors and windows, ventilation and lighting that created the own countenance and characteristics for each work. Architecture is developing and changing, wooden constructions are also significantly reduced or built by new techniques and so comparison of wooden structures between the traditional house in Vietnam (Ruong house) and Gol Stave Church clarified the typical architecture of the regions, architecture to adapt to the environment, methods and skills of construction, life and culture which we are very hard to find in modern architecture.

The Structure of Wood in Gol stave church (in Norway) and traditional house (in Hue, Vietnam)

14_ The process assemble Ruong house, from â&#x20AC;&#x153;khung cuiâ&#x20AC;? until completion

15_16_ The flexibilities of wood structure of Ruong house and Gol Stave Church (Source: 2. Harris, N. T., 1982. Norwegian Wood: A Case Study of Stave Churches, s.l.: s.n.)

Nguyen Huu Long Phung

Bibliography Bugge, G., n.d. Norwegian Stave Church Commentary, Available at: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/ Norwegian_Stave_Church.html Hai, P. T., 2009. Nhà Rường Huế. Di sản văn hóa vật thể. Harris, N. T., 1982. Norwegian Wood: A Case Study of Stave Churches Hóa, T., 2012. http://www.tintuc.net/. Available at: http:// www.tintuc.net/xa-hoi/trung-tu-nha-tho-chi-ruot-vua-tuduc-c11a12931.html [Accessed 2016]. Jensenius, J. H., 2003. The “Inverse Design Problem” of Medieval Wooden Churches in Norway. Tsukuba KhodaKovsKy, E., 2015. The Stave Churches Of Mediaeval Norway, Aurora Art Publishers. Loc, T., 2012. http://tuoitre.vn. Available at: http://tuoitre. vn/tin/van-hoa-giai-tri/20121113/trung-tu-nha-tho-congchua-dien-phuoc/520252.html MANSFIELD, K., 2012. The Daylighting of the Stave Church of Borgund. Oslo, s.n. Siri Skjold Lexau, Evgeny Khodakovsky, Siri Skjold Lexau, 2015. Historic Wooden Architecture in Europe and Russia: Evidence, Study and Restoration, Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH.

17_18_ The sculptures on the top of columns in Gol stave church and Ruong house

Titelius, J., 2013. Available at: http://www.eurotravelogue. com/2013/08/Norways-Stave-Churches.html Văn, Đ., 2012. http://huecity.com.vn/, Available at: http:// huecity.com.vn/vi/news/Van-hoa/Giac-mo-da-thanh1791/#.Vue9cPnhDDc [Accessed 2016]. Vinh, L. T., 2006. Frame Structure of Vietnam Traditional Wooden Architecture. New Delhi

The Structure of Wood in Gol stave church (in Norway) and traditional house (in Hue, Vietnam)

Monica Prencipe

1895-1950_The Nordic

MONICA PRENCIPE PhD student - 2nd year

Architecture dissemination through Italian magazines From Italian magazines to Bruno Zevi’s History of Modern Architecture

abstract This essay is an attempt to focus on the role of magazines in the dissemination of the Modern ideas coming from all around Europe, in the first half of the XX century. In particular, this essay focuses on the role of Nordic Architecture, of country like Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark, between 1895 and 1950. In 1895, Italy saw the birth of the first modern magazine – «Emporium» – in Bergamo, founded by a cartographer Paolo Gaffuri and the geographer Arcangelo Ghisleri. Therefore, the interest for Nordic countries -as well as for other nations- came relatively early in 1896, with the publication of the first “Travel diary” to Norway. This first interest on the trip to the north was then replaced with a more mature attention towards the new artistic movements, from the romantic national movements to the modern ideas of Erik Gunnar Asplund and Alvar Aalto. In the late 1930s, the protagonist of a new re-discovery was the magazine «Casabella», where Edoardo Persico, in issues n°90 and n°92, publishes two important articles about the Paimio Sanatorium and the Foerbundet Cooperative in Stockholm. After Persico’s death, Giuseppe Pagano will follows his footprints in spreading the Nordic ideas in Italy, until his death in Mathausen in 1943. With the war, the complex system of publication in Italy, will slowly fall apart, with the only exception of «Domus», directed by Ernesto Nathan Rogers between the 1947 and 1948. Curiously, both Pagano and Rogers will choose an Alvar Aalto article to close their experiences in «Casabella» (for Pagano), and «Domus» (for Rogers). Finally, in 1945 a new magazine was founded in Rome, in order to affect the Italian reconstruction and to fill the void left by «Casabella»: «Metron». The magazine had the strong cooperation if Bruno Zevi, a young critic that -at that time- was working on an ambitious project: the fist Italian History of Modern Architecture (published in 1950), where Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar aalto were presented as the two masters for the future generations. Keywords: History of Italian magazine, History of Architecture, Modern movement, Casabella, Metron, Organic Architecture, Vittorio Pica, Bruno Zevi, Edoardo Persico, Giuseppe Pagano.

1895-1950. The Nordic Architecture dissemination through Italian magazines

Introduction The end of the nineteen century -besides many transformations- saw the birth of what we call today mass media, with its modern way of communicating ideas and all the sudden changes of society. Magazines, and especially those ones interested in arts and architecture, played a central role in this revolution. Since the beginning, the Italian journals wanted to publish foreign artists, in order to favour the constitution of a truly “modern” conscience, and finally go beyond an Italian tradition, still bounded to classicism and eclectism. One of the main reason for its cultural lag was related to the absence –central in other European countries- of a tradition such as the Grand Tour, that, from the late Renaissance, permitted to each generation to travel and compare ideas, lifestyle, artistic believes.

1_Arcangelo Ghisleri (left) and Paolo Gaffuri (right), founders of Emporium 2_1893. Chicago, Columbian World Exposition

If we speak of these last two centuries, the main influences in Italian culture came from countries like Germany, Austria and France, first for their physical connections with Italy. However, as soon as the modern transportation and communications permit it, Italian magazines tried to keep up with the many artistic revolutions that where starting all over Europe, like in the Nordic countries. This essay focuses on a period between 1895 and 1950. The 1895 is the birth of the first modern art magazine: «Emporium», in Bergamo (Milan). On the other end, in 1950 Bruno Zevi publishes the first Italian History of Architecture1, which presented Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar Aalto as two great masters for the new generations. Between these two moments, there are the Fascist decades, with his economical but also cultural autarchia2, which apparently wanted to contain this growing interest for foreign architecture. Actually, as we can see from a selected bibliography, most of the publications connected to Nordic architecture, comes from that period, especially after the 1928 and the birth of a famous architectural Italian journal: «Casabella». For these reasons, in order to understand the path of dissemination of Nordic architecture in Italy is crucial to follow the flow of publications on this topic in our architectural magazines. 1 In 1996, for the tenth edition of this book, Bruno Zevi divides his History in two volume and he adds an eloquent subtitle to the first: From William Morris to Alvar Aalto, the space-time research, as a recall of Giedion’s Space, Time and Architecture (1941) and in open opposition with the 1936 Pevsner history From William Morris to Walter Gropius. 2 This extreme way of economic protection started in 1931, to control the crisis coming from 1929.

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Section I. 1895-1920: The seminal role of «Emporium. Rivista mensile Illustrata d’arte, letteratura, scienze e varietà » The illustrated magazine «Emporium» is founded in January 1895, published by the Istituto italiano di Arti Grafiche in Bergamo, by a cartographer Paolo Gaffuri and the geographer Arcangelo Ghisleri. The journal is deeply inspired by the most advanced editorial experience in Europe: The Studio (London, 1893), that was focusing its efforts in finding a new balance between writings, drawings and images3. Other important influences came from the new American magazines like «The Inland Printer», «The printing art» and from the Universal Exposition of Chicago in 1893, visited by Arcangelo Ghisleri himself4. One of the main target of «Emporium» was to spread the “high culture” not only Italian, but from the entire world5, which of course matched the private interests of the two founders for modern geography. Therefore, the interest for Nordic countries as well as for other nations, came relatively early in 1896, with the publication of the first “Travel diary” to Norway, written by the United States diplomat Rasmus B. Anderson6. However, the article still reflects the echo of the latest anthropological researches as well as the geographical

4_from left to right: covers of The Inland Printer (Chicago and New York 1883); The Studio (London 1893, graphic by Aubrey Beardsley); Emporium (Bergamo 1895) 5_ Lapp fisherman, from 1896 - Rasmus B. Anderson, Gita invernale sulle coste della Norvegia, in «Emporium» n° 13

3 Silvia Lorandi, Emporium e le riviste straniere contemporanee, in Giorgio Mirandola (a cura di), «Emporium» e l’Istituto Italiano d’Arti Grafiche 1895-1915, Nuovo istituto italiano d’Arti grafiche, Bergamo 1985, p. 21. 4 In 1891 Paolo Gaffuri and Arcangelo Ghisleri founded the periodical «Geografia per tutti», but after the journey in America, the two founders will sell the old journal and start publishing «Emporium». See Giorgio Mangini, Alle origini di Emporium. Il viaggio di A. Ghisleri all’Esposizione Universale di Chicago del 1893, in «Emporium» Parole e figura tra il 1895 e il 1964, Edizione della Normale, Pisa 2009, pp.39-94. 5 In december 1894 Gaffuri and Ghisleri write that the idea of this new magazine was to “polarizzare l’alta coltura, i risultati della scienza, il fior fiore delle arti, non solamente dall’Italia, ma di tutto il mondo civile, con notizie e monografie precise, brevi, succose, dovute a specialisti, e accompagnate sempre da illustrazioni, che siano documenti, presi dal vero e sui luoghi, riprodotti con sistemi ultimi dell’arte grafica più progredita; tale l’intento della nuova Rivista” , in Mirandola, Giorgio (a cura di), «Emporium» e l’Istituto Italiano d’Arti Grafiche 1895-1915, Nuovo istituto italiano d’arti grafiche, Bergamo 1985, p. 63. 6 Rasmus Anderson, Gita invernale sulle coste della Norvegia, in «Emporium» vol.III n° 13, genn. 1896, pp.23-31.

1895-1950. The Nordic Architecture dissemination through Italian magazines

explorations, with a romantic passion for nature. Focusing on architecture, the first important appearance of Nordic examples in Italy is in 1897, with a review of the Exposition of Stockholm, written by Erik Sjœstedt7, a Swedish diplomat stationed in France. This article will be the first of a series of reviews on the topic of international exhibitions, which often offered crucial occasion for mutual exchanges. Exchanges like the ones between Vittorio Pica, art critic and director of «Emporium» between the 1900 and the 1910, and Ferdinand Boberg, Swedish architect trained at the Academy of Fine Arts and at the Polytechnic of Stockholm. In Turin 1902 and Venice 19058, Pica will meet Boberg, in charge of the Swedish pavilion. As a result, Pica will publish a series of articles on Nordic contemporary artists and architects like Halfdan Ström (Norway), and Boberg himself. Pica highlights Boberg’s expertimental research, especially because “architecture, for being the art where the collective soul of a given population in a given time manifests itself, requires a slow and complex elaboration to eliminate the individual conceptions from the collective feeling, taste and needs”9. In his idea, personal interpretations of modern architecture were a necessary step towards its overcoming, towards a truly collective movement.

6_ Erik Sjœstedt, L’esposizione storicoartistica-industriale di Stoccolma, in «Emporium» n° 32, 1897 7_Vittorio Pica, Ferdinand Boberg, in «Emporium» n° 136, 1906

Coming back from the Exhibition in Stockholm in 1909, Pica will also write a long article titled “The modern decorative art in Sweden”10. The focus is on the central role of the Technical School in Stockholm (Tekniska Skolan i Stockholm), directed by Viktor Adler since 1886; and of the “Handwork Friends Society” (Handarbetets Vänner), founded by the ladies of the capital, inspired by 7 Erik Sjœstedt, L’esposizione storico-artisticaindustriale di Stoccolma, in «Emporium» vol. VI n° 32, agosto 1897, pp. 144-152. 8 Raimondo D’Aronco planned the Modern Art Exposition in Turin in 1902, and he focused his efforts in spreading the new ideas of Art Nouveau in Italy. The International Art Exhibitions in Venice (today known as Biennali), where founded in 1895 by Riccardo Selvatico and Vittorio Pica, that will be one of its general secretaries until his death in 1930. 9 Vittorio Pica, Ferdinand Boberg, in «Emporium» vol. XXIII n° 136, aprile 1906, pp. 242-243. Ferdinand Boberg (Falun, 1860 – Stoccolma, 1946) in 1910 will design the italian embassy in Stockholm. Vittorio Pica, La moderna arte decorativa in Isvezia, 10 in «Emporium» vol. XXXI n° 186, giugno 1910, pp. 402-421.

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the popular artifacts showed in the Nordiska Museet. In his words, we can find some interesting predictions about the future challenges of modern arts, which was to “find a balance between two parallel currents: one popular, anonymous, traditional, and the other one aristocratic, individualistic and cosmopolitan”11.

Section II. 1921-1943: The Nordic countries during the Fascist decades Before 1928, and the birth of «La casa Bella» by Guido Marangoni and «Domus» by Giò Ponti, the protagonists of the Modern Movement were looking for a committed place for a serious debate. This role was played by several journals, most of them also dedicated to Arts in general, like Emporium, La cultura moderna, Dedalo, and -the most famous one- Architettura e arti decorative, founded in 1921 by Gustavo Giovannoni in Rome, according to the French Art et Décoration (Paris 1897) and L’Art décoratif (Paris 1898). However, compared to its French relatives, the focus on modern architecture was clearly present since the beginning: in the first issue is immediately published a fifty-page article -Il momento architettonico all’estero- by Marcello Piacentini, the leading Italian architect chosen by Mussolini. The aim was to find an “art that corresponds the current times, and to understand what it’s already been done and what it’s yet to do” 12. Some lines (but no images) are dedicated to both Sweden and Finland. For Sweden, Piacentini recalls the “revolution” made by Boberg, Tengbon and Ostberg with a “neo-traditional school”. In the same way, the Gesellius, Lindgren and Saarinen Studio represents Finland. However, the fast description betrays Piacentini preferences towards the so-called Nordic Classicism, also politically connected to a search for national identity. The article can be considered a big anticipation of the 1930 Architettura d’oggi, at that moment the widest publication on foreign architecture in Italy since the beginning of the century, where he confirms his 1921 positions.

8_The new magazine «Architettura e Arti decorative», Roma 1921 9_ Cover of Architettura d’oggi, di Marcello Piacentini, ed. Cremonese, Roma 1930 10_11_12_Illustrations from Architettura d’oggi, 1930

Actually, Piacentini was one of the few Italian architects of his generation that had the chance to travel abroad and to study the modern movements. As a matter of fact, 11 Ibid., p. 421. In 1915 Vittorio Pica will also publish the first volume in Italy about Modern Swedish Art: Arte e artisti nella Svezia dei nostri giorni. 12 Marcello Piacentini, Il momento architettonico all’estero, in «Architettura e arti decorative», maggio-giugno 1921, pp. 32-76.

1895-1950. The Nordic Architecture dissemination through Italian magazines

until the Second World War for most Italian architects the greatest moments for mutual exchanges were still the World Expositions (like Paris 1925, Paris 1937, New York 1939), and the Triennali in Milano (1933, 1936), which played a central role in the dissemination of Nordic design, like the finnish Artek13. Edoardo Persico and Giuseppe Pagano, and their new direction of «Casabella» since 1933 (n°61), finally made a great advance on this topic. Although the magazine was founded in 1928, we have to wait the 1935 for the first words on Nordic architecture.

13_On the left Edoardo Persico (Napoli 1900 - Milano 1936); on the right Giuseppe Pagano (Parenzo 1896 - Mathausen 1945), protagonist of «Casabella» since 1933. 14_ Edoardo Persico, Sanatorio di Paimio, in «Casabella» n° 90, 1935 15_Edoardo Persico, Cooperativa Foerbundet, in «Casabella» n° 92, 1935

The protagonist of this re-discovery was initially Persico itself, in issues 90 and 92, where he publishes two important articles about the Paimio Sanatorium and the Foerbundet Cooperative in Stockholm14. Persico is the first to clearly say that this “new movement” has a lot in common with the Nordic Classicism, which he describes with words in strong opposition to Marcello Piacentini “neo-traditionalist school”: “the Swedish neoclassicism, at this point, in not an academy, it’s an art; a severe discipline, not a simple way of doing”15. T wo numbers before, speaking of Aalto’s work in Paimio, Persico apologizes for not having more technical information, because this great building was only described in a very limited number of international magazines, like the finnish «Arkkitehti» (june 1933), the danish «Byggmästeren» (may 1932) and the English «Architectural Forum»16. At this time, very far from Vittorio Pica direct knowledge of the Nordic world, most of the information are coming from other international magazines, which started to have a bigger circulation abroad (as well as «Casabella» itself). The wider dissemination of architectural journals is also one of the reasons for the trip to the North, made by Giuseppe Pagano in 1939. Because of the great work of «Casabella» in showing the latest results and 13 From the selected bibliography at the end of this essay, we can notice that almost half publications on Nordic coutries are connected to this kind of events. Actually, the two articles are not signed, but 14 Edoardo Persico generally used a small black rectangle at the end. Edoardo Persico, Cooperativa Foerbundet, in 15 «Casabella» n° 92, agosto 1935, p.18. Edoardo Persico, Sanatorio di Paimio, in 16 «Casabella» n° 90, giugno 1935, p.12.

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the contradictory trends in Italy, in 1938 the Architects’ Unions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark invite Pagano to visit their countries and to present a conference on Moderne Architecktur in Italien.

Finally, in March 1943 (n°183), just before Pagano’s death in Mathausen and the sudden closure of the magazine in December, the «Casabella» editor in chief relies on Alvar Aalto’s words for the biggest problem that every architects will soon have to face: the tragedy He will finally underline that “there is only one formula: of the war and the reconstruction of a country, if not of a pride in moderation, and a deep conviction and intense continent18. desire for simplicity, honesty, and clarity. These are the true traditions of Italian architecture...In this sense, we Aalto’s words are at the same time a synthesis of the are working with colleagues throughout the world”.17 debate on the “minimum dwelling” and prefabrication, Predictably, this travel had a great impact on Pagano, also and a clever prefiguration of a new horizon for the future because he finally had the chance to build a solid net of architecture: the introduction of “humanity” in the connections with the Nordic architects (and not just with functionalist equation. a series of international magazines). Curiosly, the choice of an article written by Aalto as As a result, the highest number of publications on a magazine director final statement, will become a Modern Nordic countries are between 1939 and 1943, recurring idea for another protagonist: Ernesto Nathan with a special attention to masters like Asplund and Alvar Rogers, who was building his editorial work on Pagano’s Aalto. In this way, Edoardo Persico’s legacy, after his death ideas. in 1936, was collected not only by Giuseppe Pagano but also by Attilio Podestà, who made most of the writings about Sweden. 17 Giuseppe Pagano, Discorso sull’Architettura Italiana di oggi, in «Casabella-Costruzioni» n° 134, febbraio 1939, p.2-3. The passage is also quoted in Antonello Alici, From Pagano to Rogers. Continuità in Italian architecture between 1930s and 1950s, in Nils Erik Wickberg, Quo Vadis Architectura?, Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Architecture, Helsinki 2007, p.165.

16_ Giuseppe Pagano in Scandinavia in «Costruzioni-Casabella» n° 195-198, 1946 18 Alvar Aalto, La ricostruzione dell’Europa. Capitale problema di attualità nel campo edilizio, in «CostruzioniCasabella», n° 183, marzo 1943, pp.3-9

1895-1950. The Nordic Architecture dissemination through Italian magazines

17_ Casa madre dei Mutilati (Marcello Piacentini), Stadio Berta (Pier Luigi Nervi), Istituto di Fisica (Giuseppe Pagano) some of the buildings described during his conferences in Scandinavia

Section III. 1945-1950: Nordic countries as a positive example for the Italian Reconstruction. With the beginning of WWII in 1939, the complex system of architectural magazines in Italy will slowly fall apart. Even «Casabella», with the endless devotion of Giuseppe Pagano, will close in December 1943. However, in January 1941 Pagano took the direction of the second Italian magazine: «Domus», also founded in 1928 by Giò Ponti, but more concerned on interior design. Significantly, the first act of the new editorial staff is to change the journal subtitle “the Art in the House”, with “the arts in the house”. The reason was to “extend the program to those other social, moral, philosophical topics, intimately bounded with the home”19. On the other hand in 1938 «Casabella» changed name in «CasabellaCostruzioni» (n°121), and then, in 1940, in «CostruzioniCasabella» (n°145), focusing on new constructions and technical issues. For this reason is maybe possible to see, in Pagano’s plans, «Domus» focusing on different types of art as a natural counterpart to a more technical «Casabella».

18_covers of «Costruzioni-Casabella» with articles about Nordic Architecture, between 1939 and 1943 19_Due ville di Aalto, in «Casabella» n° 145, gennaio 1940, pp.25-28.

In the same month, Pagano is called again to the front in Albania, but he keeps a frequent correspondence with the editorial staff of the two magazines, that quickly publishes his writings. After Pagano’s death, «Domus» is the only architectural journal to survive trough the World War, even after a series of sudden changes in its direction. Finally, in January 1946, Ernesto Nathan Rogers will become the editor in chief for «Domus», with another subtitle: “La casa dell’uomo” (The man’s home). He writes: “I want a house that looks like me (in good): a home that looks like my humanity (…) We must form a taste, a technic, a moral, as terms of the same function. It is about building a society. There is no time to lose illustrating frippery”20. The ethical message and Pagano’s moral imperative is clearly present in Rogers mind21, together with a new series of feelings -introduced by Aalto in 1943 on «Casabella»- focusing on the true protagonist of architecture: the human being. As a complete circle, in December 1947 the last issue of «Domus» -with Rogers as director- is dedicated to 19 Giuseppe Pagano, Ti sei accorto, lettore…, in «Domus» n° 157, gennaio 1941, p. 1. Ernesto Nathan Rogers, Programma. Domus: la 20 casa dell’Uomo, in «Domus» n° 205-206, gennaio 1946, p. 3. In 1946 Rogers wrote one of the most famous 21 writings about Pagano: “Catarsi”

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Alvar Aalto’s work. Actually, in June 1947, Rogers wrote to Le Corbusier22 for a complete report on “architecture and the other arts”23. The long article -42 pages and 67 sketches- arrived too late, in October of the same year. After this first attempt, Rogers’ chance with Aalto arrived with the Triennale, where he asked the Finnish architect for an article on the same topic. With an interesting choice, Aalto titles his essay “Architettura e arte concreta”24, but he really talks about the uses of abstraction in the designing process, to find a personal synthesis between different impulses. “Social, humanitarian, economic, and technological requirements combined with psychological problems affecting both the individual and the group, the movements and internal friction of both crowds of people and individuals – all this builds up into a tangled web that cannot be straightened out rationally or mechanically. (…) This is what I do – sometimes quite instinctively- in such cases. I forget the whole maze of problems for a while. (…) I then move on to a method of working that is very much like abstract art”. As it was for Pagano, Aalto’s word help us understanding Roger’s intention for a magazine like «Domus», with his need of a “relationship”, a new “mediation” beyond functionalism, between technique, material needs and aesthetic believes, everything as a part of our “humanity”. Rogers interests in Aalto’s work will also lead him to the first Italian book on the topic, only an year after “Architettura e arte concreta”, for a small publishing house founded in 1944: Il Balcone25. Its special collection “Architects of the modern movement” was headed by Belgiojoso, Peressutti e Rogers in memory of Gianluigi Banfi, dead in Mathausen in company of Giuseppe Pagano.

20_ La fondazione svedese Elving, in «Costruzioni-Casabella» n° 166, ottobre 1941 21_ Alvar Aalto, La ricostruzione dell’Europa. Capitale problema di attualità nel campo edilizio in «Costruzioni-Casabella» n° 183, 1943

After the first books on William Morris and Giuseppe 22 At the end of the war Rogers starts to coordinate the Italian-CIAM group, and with this privilege he will have the chance to get in contact with the CIAM international group, especially Le Corbusier. Paolo Nicoloso, Il CIAM di Bergamo, Le Corbusier e 23 le “verità” discutibili della carta d’Atene, in Marida Talamona (a cura di), L’Italia di Le Corbusier, Electa, Milano 2012, p.301. Alvar Aalto, Architettura e arte concreta, in «Domus» 24 n° 223-225, ottobre-dicembre 1947, p. 107. The English version has also another title: “The trout and the stream”. The publishing house was founded by Massimo 25 Carrà (the son of the painter Carlo), Fernando Ghisotti, Ludovico Castiglioni and Edoardo Hesemberger. See, Fiorella Vanini, La libreria dell’architetto. Progetti di collane editoriali 1945-1980, Franco Angeli, Milano 2012, p.65.

1895-1950. The Nordic Architecture dissemination through Italian magazines

Terragni, Rogers publishes an essay by Giorgio Labò -also dead in 1944- completely dedicated to the work of Alvar Aalto, but initially intended for a series of article on «Casabella» in 194126. Finally, during this harsh period, in open opposition with the «Domus» approach and its bourgeois elite, is Bruno Zevi’s direction of «Metron». He left Italy in 1939, due to the “racial laws”, and quickly returned in July 1944, when Rome was free for just two months. As soon as he came back, he started a huge dissemination of writings about reconstruction and foreign architecture. His sources were primarily coming from the USIS (United States Information Service), because of his cooperation with the United States Army, but also from Nordic countries. One of the possible explanations for this preference could be related to his first stay in London, in 1939, were he started to work for the Finnish architect Cyril Sjöstrom27. Besides, in February 1946, back again in New York due to a USIS request, he will personally meet Alvar Aalto, who was starting to work on the Baker House project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology28. 22_Cover of «Domus» n°157, january 1941.Giuseppe Pagano becomes the new director of the magazine after Giò Ponti

23_24_december 1947: Rogers’ last number for «Domus» (n°223-224-225) is dedicated to Alvar Aalto. He writes 23_Cover of «Domus» n°205, january 1946. “Architettura e arte concreta” (“The trout Ernesto Nathan Rogers becomes the new and the stream” in the english version) director of the magazine.

Immediately, these two contacts became valuable sources for «Metron», a new magazine founded in Rome in 1945 that wanted to affect the Italian reconstruction and to fill the void left by «Casabella». «Metron» n°7, in 1946, is dedicated to the reconstruction of Finland and URSS, and –of course- it is open by another Alvar Aalto’s translation: “End of the Machine a habiter”.29 This brief article is mainly concerned on the necessity of a new economic and technical organization, as well as a careful research on housing. The following pages about the Rovaniemi Plan finally praise the birth of a National Planning Ministry in Finland, still absent in Italy. Bruno Zevi’s devotion to Nordic Architecture reach his climax in those last two years of the 1940s. In 1948 he will publish a selection af Erik Gunnar Asplund Works, for the Rogers collection “Architects of the modern 26 Francesca Romana Stabile, Un sabotatore: Giorgio Labò, Gamgemi, Roma 2014, p.64. Roberto Dulio, Introduzione a Bruno Zevi, Laterza, 27 Bari 2008, p.9 Roberto Dulio, Introduzione a Bruno Zevi, Laterza, 28 Bari 2008, p.134 Alvar Aalto, Fine della “Machine à habiter”, in 29 «Metron» n° 7, febbraio 1946, pp. 2-5. This article is strictly related to the one published on «Casabella-Costruzioni», in 1943.

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movement”30. In 1950, the first edition of Zevi’s History of Architecture is written to celebrate Alvar Aalto and Frank Lloyd Wright, two masters of a new architecture that he called “organic”. Zevi’s uses of the Nordic work, are strictly related to his ideas of an “active history”. In his writing, Aalto and Wright became real symbols for an “architecture of democracy”, identifying forms with a political connotation that was far from the original intentions of the two architects. Conclusions In conclusion, we can say that interests on Nordic countries were present since the beginning of the last century. The first papers came from the Travel literature (including the World Expositions), and so from a direct knowledge of the Nordic world. However, protagonists like Vittorio Pica were primarily interested in paintings and fine Arts, and relatively late reached modern architecture. We will have to wait the 1935 and the birth of the most famous magazine in Italy on Architecture -«Casabella»- in order to have a more mature and a wider understanding of the complex transformations in Nordic architecture. However, the choice of Nordic examples will be always strictly connected to the ethical and political messages of each magazine.

25_Pictures of a wooden construction and the ceiling of the Viipuri’s library, from Alvar Aalto, Architettura e arte concreta, in «Domus» n° 223-224-225, ottobre-dicembre 1947, pp. 3-15. 26-29_Paintings by Alvar Aalto, 1946-49

Edoardo Persico’s first attempts reached then a real turning point with Giuseppe Pagano trip to the North in 1939, which finally opened a new season of directed connections. However, as we can see from the bibliography, the re-discovery of the Nordic world was a team work, which included journalists like Attilio Podestà, Anna Maria Mazzucchelli and Giulia Veronesi, often forgotten or left in the background by history. After Pagano’s death in 1943, Ernesto Nathan Rogers and Bruno Zevi quickly followed his legacy, even if in different ways. Rogers tries to reflect on the multiple uses of humanities for the modern world, and to go beyond functionalism trying to find a balance with the past. Zevi on the other hand uses this past and the Nordic examples in a political way. His goal is to build a new society, truly democratic and modern, with a dedication that we can compare to Pagano’s devotion towards the Modern Movement31. 30 The volume dedicated to Frank Lloyd Wright –also written by Bruno Zevi- is published only in 1954. For the politicization of Architecture in Italy, see 31 also David Rifkind, The Battle for Modernism. Quadrante and the Politicization of Architectural Discourse in Fascist Italy, Marsilio, Venezia 2012

1895-1950. The Nordic Architecture dissemination through Italian magazines

Bibliography Rasmus Anderson, Gita invernale sulle coste della Norvegia, in «Emporium» vol.III n° 13, genn. 1896, pp.23-31. Erik SJŒSTEDT, L’esposizione storico-artistica-industriale di Stoccolma, in «Emporium» vol. VI n° 32, agosto 1897, pp. 144-152. Vittorio PICA, Ferdinand Boberg, in «Emporium» vol. XXIII n° 136, aprile 1906, pp. 242-243. Vittorio PICA, La moderna arte decorativa in Isvezia, in «Emporium» vol. XXXI n° 186, giugno 1910, pp. 402421. Vittorio Pica, Arte e artisti nella Svezia dei nostri giorni, Bestetti e Tumminelli, Milano 1915

30_Bruno Zevi (Roma 1918 - Roma 2000) 31_ Giorgio Labò (son of Mario Labò), Modena 1919, Roma 1944 32_ Alvar Aalto, Fine della “Machine à habiter”, in «Metron» n° 7, febbraio 1946, pp. 2-5.

Marcello PIACENTINI, Il momento architettonico all’estero, in «Architettura e arti decorative», maggio-giugno 1921, pp. 32-76 Marcello Piacentini, Architettura d’oggi, ed. Cremonese, Roma 1930 Edoardo PERSICO, Cooperativa Foerbundet, in «Casabella» n° 92, agosto 1935, pp. 8-27 Edoardo PERSICO, Sanatorio di Paimio, in «Casabella» n° 90, giugno 1935, p.12-21.

Monica Prencipe

Giuseppe PAGANO, Discorso sull’Architettura Italiana di Bruno Zevi, Storia dell’Architettura Moderna. Da William oggi, in «Casabella-Costruzioni» n° 134, febbraio 1939, Morris ad Alvar Aalto, la ricerca spazio-temporale, Einaudi, Torino 1950. p.2-3. Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture. The Giorgio MIRANDOLA (a cura di), «Emporium» e l’Istituto Growth of a New Tradition, Harvard University Press, Italiano d’Arti Grafiche 1895-1915, Nuovo istituto italiano Cambridge 1941 d’Arti grafiche, Bergamo 1985 Alvar AALTO, La ricostruzione dell’Europa. Capitale problema di attualità nel campo edilizio, in «CostruzioniCasabella», n° 183, marzo 1943, pp.3-9

Antonello Alici, From Pagano to Rogers. Continuità in Italian architecture between 1930s and 1950s, in Nils Erik Wickberg, Quo Vadis Architectura?, Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Architecture, Helsinki 2007

Giuseppe PAGANO, Ti sei accorto, lettore…, in «Domus» Roberto DULIO, Introduzione a Bruno Zevi, Laterza, Bari n° 157, gennaio 1941, p. 1. 2008 Nikolaus Pevsner, I pionieri del Movimento Moderno. Da William Morris a Walter Gropius, Rosa e ballo, Milano Giorgio MANGINI, Alle origini di Emporium. Il viaggio 1945 di A. Ghisleri all’Esposizione Universale di Chicago del 1893, in «Emporium» Parole e figura tra il 1895 e il 1964, Ernesto NATHAN ROGERS, Programma. Domus: la casa Edizione della Normale, Pisa 2009 dell’Uomo, in «Domus» n° 205-206, gennaio 1946, p. 3. Paolo Nicoloso, Il CIAM di Bergamo, Le Corbusier e le Alvar AALTO, Fine della “Machine à habiter”, in «Metron» “verità” discutibili della carta d’Atene, in Marida Talamona n° 7, febbraio 1946, pp. 2-5 (a cura di), L’Italia di Le Corbusier, Electa, Milano 2012 Alvar Aalto, Architettura e arte concreta, in «Domus» n° Fiorella VANINI, La libreria dell’architetto. Progetti di 223-225, ottobre-dicembre 1947, pp.3-15. collane editoriali 1945-1980, Franco Angeli, Milano 2012 Giorgio Labò, Alvar Aalto, Il balcone, Milano 1948 Bruno Zevi, Erik Gunnar Asplund, Il balcone, Milano 1948

Francesca Romana STABILE, Un sabotatore: Giorgio Labò, Gamgemi, Roma 2014

1895-1950. The Nordic Architecture dissemination through Italian magazines

33_ Erik Bryggmann, Una chiesa in Finlandia, in «Metron» n° 31-32, gennaio 1949, pp. 46-49.

Monica Prencipe

1895-1950. The Nordic Architecture dissemination through Italian magazines

UniversitĂ Politecnica delle Marche FacoltĂ di Ingegneria - Dipartimento DICEA Corso di laurea in Ingegneria Edile Architettura