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Hello World, This is us: An Introduction of Us to the Nature
from Trailing Our Steps:Transition of Humanism and Spatial Fluctuation through Scandinavian Architecture
The introduction of the humanism in architecture began in Saynatsalo Town Hall designed by Alvar Aalto completed in 1952.The town hall stands as a tall red brick fortress in the middle of Saynatsalo’s low rise community and Finland’s nature.
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With a truthful homage to Italian philosophy and architecture during the classical period, it is one of the architecture that marks the beginning of humanist architecture in Finland. The town hall embraces human experiences and interactions in the space as a core part of the ideal as it links its programs and elements to entwine humans to nature through the implementation of attentive architecture.
source: https://divisare.com/projects/317793-alvar-aalto-nico-saieh-saynatsalo-town-hall-1951
The building form of Saynatsalo Town Hall as a fan-shaped plaza is inspired by the Italian typology Piazza del Campo in Sienna with the uneven, tailored, and colored bricks resembling its origin in Italy. The building marks a shift from functionalist to humanistic approach in Alvar Aalto’s career as his work began to entwine itself closely to the nature and human.
The town hall in particular displays its emphasis on the connection to the nature through its various uses of natural materials such as stone, vines, and wooden furniture to improve the user experiences along with an emphasis on the landscape views to connect human to the surrounding nature. It also displays the capability in humanistic designs through the concept of Total Work of Art as Aalto designed stair rails, door handles, chairs, and furniture according to the available materials to enhance the comfort in human lives.
The development of Saynatsalo Town Hall is a testament to the everlasting connection to the surroundings and the success to negotiate nature and technology in humanism. Through the progression of time and society, its legacies on the community begin to unravel. The natural landscape around the building is preserved to provide the later generations of a holistic experience.
Red brick typology began to emerge around the town as a contribution to the community’s infrastructure. And Aalto’s design become popularized as one of Finnish defining characteristics as it provides comfort and embrace the traditional materials. As we involve the things that surround us in the design, they come back to embrace us.
