Vyborg lies close the the border separating Russia and Finland. Its history includes many changes of hand between the neighboring countries. It has been conquered in wartime, and ceded in treaty agreements. It maintains a multilingual population and a shared cultural identity. Finish architect Alvar Aalto received the commission for the Municipal Library but not long after it’s completion Vyborg would return to Soviet control. The library would switch hands two more times before being permanently ceded to Russia in the 1944 peace treaty at the end of World War II. Throughout the conflicts books remained on the shelves, the only changes were additions to the collection.
History VIIPURI LIBRARY
ALVAR AALTO
Viipuri, Russia | 1934
Vyborg was heavily bombed during World War II but the library suffered a relatively small amount of damage. It was hit by only one shell, and a few windows were broken. The real damage to the library occured as a result of it being unused and unprotected from the elements for a decade after the war had ended. In 1952 plans for reconstruction began and two proposals were made; to preserve the original construction, or adopt the current Soviet style called Socialist Realism or Stalinist Style. The decision was made to use the original plans but all the surfaces, fittings, and furniture had been lost. Old photographs of the library were examined with microscopes to determine the original details.
Kayla Cohen and Jaewoo Lee
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