Alvar Aalto

Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (February 3, 1898 - May 11, 1976) was a Finnish architect.

He was a Scandinavian modernist designer, noted for his humanistic approach to modernism. His work includes architecture, furniture, and glassware. He was one of the first and most influential architects of the Scandinavian modern movement, and a member of the Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne. Major works include the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Finland, and the campus of Helsinki University of Technology. Aalto's glassware includes the world-famous Aalto Vase.

Contents

1 Life and Works

1.1 Significant buildings

2 External links

2.1 Archives
2.2 Catalogs
2.3 Buildings

3 References

3.1 Göran Schildt
3.2 Other authors
3.3 Research notes

Life and Works

Alvar Aalto was born in Kuortane, Finland. He studied architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology from 1916 to 1921. He returned to Jyväskylä, where he opened his first architectural office in 1923. The following year he married architect Aino Marsio . Their honeymoon journey to Italy sealed an intellectual bond with the culture of the Mediterranean region that was to remain important to Aalto for the rest of his life.

Aalto's wide field of activity ranged from furniture and glassware designs to architecture and painting. His vase designs are world-famous. Aalto furniture is manufactured by Artek, a company Aalto co-founded. Aalto glassware (Aino as well as Alvar) is manufactured by iittala.

Significant buildings

1921 - 1923: Bell tower, Kauhajärvi , Finland
1924 - 1928: Municipal hospital, Alajärvi, Finland
1926 - 1929: Defence Corps Building, Jyväskylä, Finland
1927: Töölö church , Helsinki, Finland
1927: Viipuri library (new drawings, 1928, 1929, 1933, built according to last drawings 1934 - 1935)
1928 - 1929, 1930: Turun Sanomat newspaper offices, Turku, Finland
1928 - 1929: Tuberculosis sanatorium and staff housing, Paimio, Finland
1931: Central University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia (former Yugoslavia)
1933 - 1935: Municipal library, Vyborg, Russia
1934: Corso theatre, restaurant interior, Zürich, Switzerland
1939: Finnish Pavilion, 1939 World's Fair
1947 - 1948: Baker House, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1949 - 1966: Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland
1952 - 1958: House of Culture, Helsinki, Finland
1958 - 1987: Town centre, Seinäjoki, Finland
1958 - 1972: North Jutland Art Museum, Aalborg, Denmark
?? - 1965: Regional Library of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland
1962 - 1971: Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland
1963 - 1965: Building for Westmannia-Dalecarlia Nation , Uppsala, Sweden
1962: Central-Building of the Satellite-city "Neue Vahr", Bremen, Germany
1970: Mount Angel Abbey Library, Mount Angel, Oregon

External links

Catalogs

artek Aalto furniture; company founded by Aalto.
Alvar Aalto glassware iittala
Between Humanism and Materialism New York Museum of Modern Art exhibit site. Contains an especially useful timeline of his life and career.

Buildings

References

Göran Schildt

Göran Schildt has written and edited many books on Aalto.

Aalto, Alvar. The Architectural Drawings of Alvar Aalto, 1917-1939, in eleven volumes. Prepared by the Alvar Aalto Archive in collaboration with the Museum of Finnish Architecture, Helsinki, and the Alvar Aalto Museum, Jyväskylä; with introduction and project descriptions by Göran Schildt. New York, Garland Pub., 1994.

Aalto, Alvar. Alvar Aalto in His Own Words. Schildt, Göran, (Ed.) Rizzoli, New York, 1998.

Schildt, Göran. Alvar Aalto: the complete catalogue of architecture, design, and art. Timothy Binham, English translator. Rizzoli, New York, 1994.

Other authors

Reed, Peter (Ed.) Alvar Aalto: between humanism and materialism. Museum of Modern Art/H.N. Abrams. New York, 1998.

Research notes

Aalto is famous and books have been written on many of his designs. They are also documented in the various architectural magazines.

One of the most extensive collections of references on Alvar Aalto in the USA can be found at the University of Oregon.