Villa Mairea

Case Study 1 - Villa Mairea

Case Study 1 - Villa Mairea

Case Study 1 - Villa Mairea

Villa Mairea, designed in 1938-39 was commissioned by Harry and Maire Gullichsen who were friends of the Aaltos (Alvar Aalto Foundation, n.d.).

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 reference 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).

Another interesting point about Villa Mairea is the Japanese influences 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)

Case Study 1 - Villa Mairea

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.

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 together 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.

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) .

Case Study 1 - Villa Mairea

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