Aalto

Modern Grace

Lyrical forms from Finland

Alvar Aalto  (1898–1976) made a  unique modernist mark. Influenced by both the landscape and the political independence of his native Finland, he designed  warm, curving, compassionate buildings,  wholly set apart from the slick, mechanistic, geometric designs that characterized much contemporary European practice.

Whether a church, a villa, a sauna, or a public library, Aalto’s  organic structures  tended to replace plaster and steel with brick and wood, often incorporating  undulating, wave-like forms, which would also appear in his chair, glassware, and lamp designs. An adherent to detail, Aalto insisted upon the  humanity of his work  stating: “Modern architecture does not mean using immature new materials the main thing is to work with materials towards a more human line.”

Many of Aalto’s public buildings such as  Säynätsalo Town Hall, the lecture theatre at  Otaniemi Technical University, the  Helsinki National Pensions Institute  and the  Helsinki  House of Culture  may be seen as psychological as well as physical landmarks in the rebuilding of Finland after the ravages of war.