The Aaltos a closer look at four Aalto buildings Alvar & Aino Aalto at ground level Rasmus Jonasson
All sketches and photographs except the original drawings by the Aalto office were taken and produced during the 2022 summer course “Alvar & Aino Aalto at ground level” with James Benedict Brown as responsible teacher. Thanks to everyone who participated during the trip and to every foundation and organisation who made the guided tours and visits possible. Also thanks to VR for their very enjoyable and comfortable train routes throughout Finland that not only made the travel possible in itself but also could sooth a clima te-scared mind and feed a travel-hungry stomach Seeing as it is difficult to pin exactly which Aalto is responsible for what part of each project the following texts will mostly refer to the authors as The Aaltos aiming to not further strengthen a dead man’s ego but rather show the great work accomplished by three talented architects and the office behind them.
Index 1-2. The Aaltos 3-4. Case studies 5-12. Villa Mairea 13-20. Aalto house 21-26. Studio Aalto 27-34. Paimio Santorium 35-36. Prominent Elements in the Aalto’s Building Catalog 37-40. The Savoy Vase in the Aalto’s architecture 41-43. Bibliography
The Aaltos
Aino graduated as an architect from Helsinki Institute of Technology. She started out as a carpenter intern before moving on to an architectural office. Aino and Alvar married shortly after she started working for his office and collaborated closely until Ainos death in 1949. (Suominen-Kokkonen, Graduated2014) as an architect from Helsinki Institute of Technology one year after Aino in 1921 (Alvar Aalto Foundation, n.d.). Alvar has been the most known of the Aalto’s and historically been credited with the designs of most Aalto buildings. But later his collaboration with his wives has been more acknowledged. (Viljo, Graduated2014) as an architect in 1949 from Helsinki Institute of Technology. She directly began working for Alvar and they married in 1952, three years after Ainos death. After Alvars death she worked to complete unfinished projects of Aalto and leading restoration projects of earlier Aalto buildings. (Alvar Aalto Foundation, n.d.)
AlvarElissa
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Looking at Artek on the other hand exposes Aino and Elissas work a bit more, especially Ainos. She acted both as the head of the Artek drawing office and later as CEO of the whole company (SuominenKokkonen, 2014), which not only shows that she had part in Alvars work but also that she in fact had more influence in the Aaltos work to the point that she without question was her own architect and designer with or without the need to mention her role as Alvars wife. In the film Aalto: Architect of Emotions in the letters Alvar and Aino sent during their time apart it also becomes clear that Aino many times had full control over the interior design and mainly furnishing in their projects (Suutari, 2020). Elissa also designed for Artek, for example printed textiles (Hipeli, 2012, 41). Although there is no mention of Elissa in the Designer section of the Artek webpage (Artek, n.d.). Elissa’s focus as Alvar grew older and in the end died, moved from designing and leading projects, for example Villa Hauta-aho and Säynätsalo Town Hall to, so to speak, finishing already started or designed projects. Working with restoration and together with the Alvar Aalto foundation making the vast archives of Aalto work we have today possible (Alvar Aalto Foundation, n.d.).
Even though Alvar is the Aalto mainly accredited with the designs by the Aalto studio one can not look beyond the work of both Aino and Elissa. Most likely a product of the role of men and women at the time they have both been overshadowed by Alvar. Perhaps another reason is how Alvar thrived in social contexts, enjoying the spotlight and networking that came with running a company (Viljo, 2014). Another reason for the women being forgotten could also be found in the fact that the works were simply signed Aalto/ the name of the office rather than any specific arhitect (Alvar Aalto Foundation, n.d.).
Case StudiesI Villa Mairea II Aalto House 3
III Studio Aalto IV Paimio Sanatorium 4
Case Study 1 - Villa Mairea 5
Case Study 1 - Villa Mairea
Case Study 1 - Villa Mairea 7
The building carries many of the elements often found in Aalto buildings. The two floors of the building are divided by placing the more intermediate spaces on the ground floor and private parts such as bedrooms on the top floor. A, in this case, relatively closed main facade with a more open facade towards the private garden and pool. The meeting of straight walls with more organic shapes in the entrance, wood clad painting studio and pool. Vernacular refe rence in the sauna and the connection of the intermediate spaces between private and public. Worth noting is that unlike other Aalto projects the dining, living and work spaces are usually connected but still separated by walls. In the Villa Mairea the ground floor is instead much more open and unseparated (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 88). Instead the Villa Mairea was designed with movable interior walls as well as a large sliding glass wall to allow a changeable space free to compose after the inhabitants needs although due to the complex nature of actually moving these elements this feature has most likely never actually been used (Mairea Foundation, 2022).
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Another interesting point about Villa Mairea is the Japanese in fluences found, for example the wooden poles by the main stair were originally drawn as bamboo poles (Pallasma, 1985). Another Japanese influence is the flower room or winter garden with sliding screens/walls and bamboo shelving. Though Villa Mairea remains the only building were this Japanese influence showed in the Aalto’s work (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 88)
Villa Mairea, designed in 1938-39 was commissioned by Harry and Maire Gullichsen who were friends of the Aaltos (Alvar Aalto Foun dation, n.d.).
Case Study 1 - Villa Mairea
Another similarity to the Aalto house is the material of the facade, although once again it is not as apparent or rather telling of what part of the house is clad in what way the white walls still mix to gether with the wood clad walls in a similar fashion. To compare Villa Mairea to another building by the Aaltos the entrance also carries a strong resemblance to the entrance of Paimio Sanatorium with an organically shaped roof extending from the main building volume.
As mentioned previously the entrance facade is not as closed off as other Aalto buildings, such as the Aalto house for example. There are still several windows and openings in this direction, perhaps due to the secluded location of the Villa Mairea. The garden facade on the other hand is actually only open from the main living room area, dining room and winter garden. But the feeling of opening towards the back still remains when moving around the building.
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The interior of Villa Mairea is perhaps most striking and well known from the open plan of the ground floor, and especially the living room, dining room, hall and office/library area. Here as mentioned the plan was left open with certain moveable elements to house the art collection of Maire. Today these walls have seen an addition of glass and plywood to connect them to the ceiling (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 88), further cementing the idea of them not really being used in their original, modular/moveable function.
The sliding glass wall towards the courtyard has apparently only been opened a couple of times as well (Pallasma, 1985). But still these ideas of modularity and moveability may have still played a large part, not as functioning elements but as experiments to further develop such ideas for the future as luxury models of what could later be made more available (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 86)
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Case Study 1 - Villa Mairea 11
Above to the left is a photograph from the entrance facade of the wood clad atelier on the top floor. To the right is a photo of the roof over the entrance as well as the angled windows from the bedrooms on the top floor. To the left are sketches of various elements and objects from inside the house such as the A805/Angel Wing, A810 and A330S/Golden Bell lamps, the wooden pillars inside the living room, the fireplace and other pieces and details from the Villa Mairea
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Case Study 2 - Aalto House 13
Case Study 2 - Aalto house
Case Study 2 - Aalto House 15
Built in 1936 the Aalto house was Alvar and Aino’s home in Helsinki, housing both their private and professional lives. The facade clearly shows which parts of the house had which functions as the professional parts are white painted brick while the private parts are wood clad (Alvar Aalto Foundation, n.d.), very similar to the exterior materials of the Villa Mairea.
These vernacular traces can also be found in the Villa Mairea when looking at the traditional sauna in direct connection to the very modern house.
In the Aalto house the sequence of intermediate rooms is seen perhaps more clearly than in Villa Mairea as the living room, dining room and office are all connected but still separated by thin walls, sliding doors and curtains (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 62) rather than keeping the division between the rooms as open as in Villa Mairea. The living room also opens up to the garden in a similar fashion and as Aino specified lists of plans for even the early garden plans (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 62) one could perhaps believe that the garden focus of Aalto buildings may come mainly from Aino’s ideas. One point made by Göran Schildt during a visit was how he could see the resemblance of the Niemelä farm he recently visited, but in a modern interpretation (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 62). These traces of finnish vernacular and history is also touched upon in the lecture Alvar Aalto and the future of the modern project, mentioning how “Aaltos sensitivity towards his native culture, which enabled him to render his architecture accessible to ordinary people” (Frampton, 2013).
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Case Study 2 - Aalto House 17
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The facade overlooking the street is in the Aalto house a very cle ar example of being closed off to the point of almost completely lacking windows. The only window on this facade is the one from the office reception to the left of the main door (Jetsonen & Jetso nen, 2011, 60). There is also a wall in white painted brick, like the office wing of the house, which covers the entrance to the kitchen and general utility-areas of the house. The different levels are also divided similarly to how Villa Mairea is planned. Utilities, living, dining and the office are located on the ground floor while bedrooms, the guest room and the central hall where the family ate break fast (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 60-62), clearly dividing the house between spaces for work, social and family life.
Coming around the house to the garden exposes not only the large glass wall to the living room but also the roof terrace, accessible from the central hall on the top floor. The terrace extends the wood clad facade seen from the front by wrapping around volume un derneath it. Another element in the Aalto house found in later works by Aalto such as Maison Aho and Villa Kokkonen (Jetsonen & Jetso nen, 2011, 186, 200) is the skylight found in the top floor hall as seen in the photograph below to the left, to the right is the terrace seen from the garden.
The furniture consists of both special built in furnishing, some of the couples favorite pieces such as Aino’s Piano (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 62) as well as furniture by other designers such as lamps by Poul Henningsen and a prototype of a PH lamp in cardboard (Hipeli, 2012, 41) which still stands on Aino’s piano today.
The sketch above shows the view from the living room, lacking most furniture except the stairs, towards the office wing of the house. The thin wall was mainly a visual block as even closed one could still hear voices from the other side (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 62). Below is a panorama of the living room in 2022
Case Study 2 - Aalto House 19
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Walking around the house towards the garden leads visitors by the office wing. On this facade there is one large window over the general office area, and one corner window where Alvar’s own desk stood (Alvar Aalto Foundation, 2022). The roof of the office wing is also slanted inwards creating a spacious atmosphere bringing the light from the window down over the desks as well as opening up the room towards the exterior wall rather than towards the intermediate and private areas of the house.
In the photograph above to the right is the corner window and the sketch to the left shows the office wing facade opposite from the street with the inwards slanting roof profile.
Case Study 3 - Studio Aalto 21
Case Study 3 - Studio Aalto
Case Study 3 - Studio Aalto 23
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The Taverna and top floor of the building are made up of fan shaped rooms which is another element found in other Aalto works such as in Villa Oksala or the Enso-Gutzeit Company Site engineers house (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 180, 196). The facade towards the street is also closed and walled off while the view from Alvars own office towards the courtyard opens up with large windows along the curved wall. The other office staff on the other hand only got courtyard facing windows at the ceiling to let light in, perhaps to limit insight into Alvars office while he was working (Alvar Aalto Foundation, 2022). Organic shapes can also be found in the stairs in Alvars office and in the amphitheater/stairs in the garden.
The studio building was designed in 1955, six years after Aino’s death. The office had grown and the space in the Aalto house was no longer large enough to accomodate the whole operation (Alvar Aalto Foundation, n.d.). The studio is located close to the Aalto house and the office there saw continued use by Alvar and Elissa as their private studio even after 1955 and construction of Studio Aalto (Jetsonen & Jetsonen, 2011, 60). In 1963 the Taverna was built as an additional space for the staff to eat (Alvar Aalto Foundation, n.d.) where windows, similar to those on the entrance facade of the Villa Mairea can be found as seen in the photograph below.
Case Study 3 - Studio Aalto 25
The sketches above show in plan and elevation how the three fan shapes connect together and form the volumes of the studio building. What can also be seen to some degree is the fact that the rooms are not only fan shaped in plan but also in section as all three volumes also have slanted roofs. Looking back to the office in the Aalto house gives the impression that Alvar was quite content with the layout of the workspace save for the lack of space as the two offices are in fact quite similar to some degree.
The sketches to the left show the view of Alvars office, the top seen from the outside, looking from the large wall sometimes used to project movies or slideshows. The bottom sketch is a section looking outwards in the opposite direction also showing the balcony inside the office used to test lamps and other lighting fixtures
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Case Study 4 - Paimio Sanatorium 27
Case Study 4 - Paimio Sanatorium
Case Study 4 - Paimio Sanatorium 29
Comparing the Paimio Sanatorium to the three other Aalto works studied here does not bring up as many similarities as perhaps the Villa Mairea and the Aalto House due to being a completely different type of project, but elements such as the organic shapes together with straight lines, the connection to nature and a general care for detail is still apparent at large.
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In 1929 Alvar and Aino won a competition for a tuberculosis sanatorium, which was completed in 1933 and helped spring the Aalto’s into the international spotlight and popularity both for their architecture (Alvar Aalto Foundation, n.d.) and their furniture design (Hipeli, 2012, 37). The sanatorium was in use for tuberculosis up to the 1960’s and has since served several purposes and is today run by the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation (Paimio Sanatorium Foundation, n.d.). In the early design stages Alvar fell ill and as he put it himself he “was able to use myself as a test case of how an ill person’s room should actually be constructed” and also that a sick patient “is naturally more delicate, more sensitive, than a normal person” (Paimio Sanatorium Foundation, n.d.). The design very much shows this care and perhaps understanding of a sick person’s situation through many specially designed elements. For example the patient’s room is designed from the perspective of laying down rather than standing or sitting, the perspective of a person’s time in his/her weakest possible condition if you will. For example the ceilings were dark, light should not shine directly into the patient’s eyes and perhaps most famous are the silent wash basins, so others would not be disturbed by the sound of water splashing (Kim, 2009, 11).
The layout of the building aims to always give patients the best possible natural conditions of sunlight and wind (Paimio Sanatorium Foundation, n.d.) the air coming in from the pine forest was for example believed to have healing effects which informed the placement of the balcony where breathing exercises/sessions were conducted year round. Most furniture and details in the sanatorium was also designed so as to not collect dust (Paimio Sanatorium Foundation, 2022). In a time where modern architecture praised rationalism and efficiency, the meticulous designing of Paimio Sanatorium may seem excessive, but rather than being rational, the Aalto’s could be seen as being reasonable and caring for the patients emotional requirements (Kim, 2009, 11).
Case Study 4 - Paimio Sanatorium 31
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When entering the Paimio Sanatorium the visitor is first met with the canopy over the entrance, in a shape reminiscent of the Villa Mairea entrance and pool. Nicknamed Aalto’s Lung by the nurses. (Kim, 2009, 13). To the left is also a photo of the backside of the wing shown in the sketch, one could imagine that the trees shadowing the wall may have inspired the outside wall for screening in Studio Aalto.
A notable piece of design that came out of the Paimio Sanatori um project and later into production via Artek is the Paimio chair or armchair 41 (Alvar Aalto Foundation, n.d.). The chair was made to give the user an optimal sitting position for breathing. It could also be seen as an adaptation of Breuer’s Club Chair with the tubular steel exchanged for birch and plywood (MoMA, 2019). When compa ring the design of Aalto to Breuer one can see the Aalto’s adaptation of rationalism into reasonability or perhaps human rationalism (Kim, 2009, 12)
Case Study 4 - Paimio Sanatorium 33
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35 3-Room Sequence Organic Shapes Closed Front/Open Back FacadeVernacularMaterials Prominent elements in the Aaltos building catalog
The Closed Front / Open Back, a returning concept in the Aalto’s buildings, is the facade to the street which often is relatively closed, especially compared to the back of the building where generous openings and connections between inside and outside are found.
The Three Room Sequence, In many of the buildings the Dining, Living and Work rooms lie in connection to each other. Either with an open plan or separated by thin walls, textiles or moveable elements. Also more often than not the intermediate spaces in this sequence open up towards the garden bringing it into the three room sequence and perhaps turning it into a four room sequence
The Organic Shapes, ranging from pools, canopies to stairs and beyond, the straight modern shapes are carefully put together with free organic almost intuitive shapes. Aalto himself spoke about intuition and instinct as something that will always be present in architecture and that it in itself could be “astonishingly rational” (Kim, 2009, 12) The Facade Materials, often utilizing, but not limited to, painted brick and dark wood cladding the Aalto’s combined materials in a similar fashion to shapes. The facade materials often give hints of what is to be found inside of each volume. Especially in the private commissioned houses by the Aalto’s the facade materials are seldom of only one type.
Theinstead.Vernacular, In several cases the Aalto’s connection and sensitivity towards the finnish culture and vernacular shows, in the plans, in materials and in pieces such as the fireplaces to name a few. This care may have been what set the Aalto’s apart from other modernists at the time and gave them a more human feeling than other more rationalized examples.
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When looking into one specific group of or individual architect(s) and finding several recurring elements one might realize that following the catalog or archive shows that every single building is not always a new concept in itself but rather an evolution of previous ideas in a more developed form. Perhaps this evolution of ideas and concepts also transfers between disciplines of design?
Touching upon the organic shapes often found in the Aalto’s works, the parallel to the very famous Savoy vase is not unreasonable to Thesee. connection may be somewhat far-fetched and imposed onto simply a curved element in some cases, but it is hard to deny that the curved stairs in Alvar’s office or the pool in Villa Mairea don’t follow the same logic that the lines of the vase itself does.
37 The Savoy Vase in the Aalto’s Architecture
38 Villa Mairea
39 The Savoy Vase in the Aalto’s Architecture Paimio Sanatorium
40 Studio Aalto
Alvarmairea/Aalto Foundation. (2022, 6 17). Guided Tour of the Aalto House and Studio Aalto [Guided Group Tour of the Aalto House and Studio Aalto by the Alvar Aalto foundation]. Munkkiniemi, Helsinki, Finland. Artek. (n.d.). Designers. Artek. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https:// www.artek.fi/en/company/designers
Villa Mairea. Alvar Aalto. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.alvaraalto.fi/en/architecture/villa-
41 Bibliography
Elissa Aalto. Alvar Aalto. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.alvaraalto.fi/en/information/ Alvarelissa-aalto/AaltoFoundation. (n.d.). Paimio Sanatorium - Alvar Aalto Foundation. Alvar Aalto. Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https:// Alvarwww.alvaraalto.fi/en/architecture/paimio-sanatorium/AaltoFoundation.(n.d.).StudioAalto-AlvarAalto Foundation. Alvar Aalto. Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https://www.alvaraalto.fi/ Alvaren/architecture/studio-aalto/AaltoFoundation.(n.d.).
Alvar Aalto Foundation. (n.d.). The Aalto House. Alvar Aalto. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.alvaraalto.fi/en/architecture/theAlvaraalto-house/AaltoFoundation. (n.d.). Aino Aalto. Alvar Aalto. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.alvaraalto.fi/en/information/aino-aalto/ Alvar Aalto Foundation. (n.d.). Alvar Aalto - Alvar Aalto Foundation. Alvar Aalto. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.alvaraalto.fi/ Alvaren/information/alvar-aalto/AaltoFoundation.(n.d.).
https://paimiosanatorium.com/en/architects/
Frampton, K. (2013, 2 7). Alvar Aalto and the Future of the Modern Project [Public Lecture at the university of Toronto]. youtube. Retrieved 8 2, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/ Hipeli,watch?v=Mjd58mE76tUM.(2012,71).Artek and Alvar Aalto. DOCOMOMO, 46, 36-41. DOAJ. Jetsonen,https://doi.org/10.52200/46.A.1VT1MFZFS.,&Jetsonen,J.(2011).AlvarAalto Houses. Princeton Architectural Press. Kim, H.-S. (2009, 1 5). Alvar Aalto and Humanizing of Architecture. Journal of Asian architecture and building engineering, 8(1), 9-16. DOAJ. https://doi.org/10.3130/jaabe.8.9 Mairea Foundation. (2022, 6 15). Tour of Villa Mairea [Group tour of the Villa Mairea by the Mairea Foundation]. Villa Mairea, Pori, Finland. MoMA. (2019). Alvar Aalto. Paimio Chair. 1931–1932. MoMA. Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https://www.moma.org/collection/ Paimioworks/92879Sanatorium Foundation. (n.d.). Alvar Aalto - Introduced by Alvar Aalto Foundation. Architects - Paimio Sanatorium. Retrieved August 16, 2022, from Paimio Sanatorium Foundation. (n.d.). Paimio Sanatorium: Alvar Aalto’s breakthrough project. Paimio Sanatorium. Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https://paimiosanatorium.com/en/paimiosanatorium/ 42
43 Bibliography
Paimio Sanatorium Foundation. (2022, 6 16). Guided tour of Paimio Sanatorium [Guided tour of Paimio Sanatorium by the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation]. Paimio Sanatorium, Paimio, Finland. Pallasma, J. (1985). Villa Mairea- Fusion of Utopia and Tradition. Yukio Futagawa. Suominen-Kokkonen,https://villamairea.fi/en/villa-mairea/R.(2014,December).MARSIO-AALTO, Aino. BLF. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.blf.fi/artikel. Suutari,php?id=1386V.(Director). (2020). Aalto: Architect of Emotions [Film]. Euphoria Film. Viljo, E. M. (2014, December). Alvar Aalto. BLF. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.blf.fi/artikel.php?id=1408
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