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This is a much needed and lively study of the still insufficiently known Finnish modern master Alvar Aalto, whose sensitive and increasingly revelant architectural legacy will surely only increase in stature as the years unfold.--Kenneth Frampton
Alvar Aalto was remarkably inventive in architecture and industrial design. Moreover, his command of technology was integrated with a humanistic style of building, and like Saarinen and Frank Lloyd Wright he sought an organic synthesis of his structures with their surroundings. Aalto's success in approaching these ideals may account for the extraordinary spread of his influence on an international scale. In this broad study of Aalto's work, Malcolm Quantrill assesses its development in terms of two powerful sources-the Finnish National Romantic movement and the Modern movement in architecture. His critique of Aalto's most significant buildings and furniture designs is complemented by photographs of many stages of their creation, from the spontaneity of initial sketches to the completed detail. Professor Quantrill first met Alvar and Elissa Aalto at Muuratsalo in June 1953, and he has been studying and photographing Aalto's buildings ever since. His book provides striking insights into the work of one of the greatest architects of the century.
This is a much needed and lively study of the still insufficiently known Finnish modern master Alvar Aalto, whose sensitive and increasingly revelant architectural legacy will surely only increase in stature as the years unfold.--Kenneth Frampton
Aalto is often called the quintessential modernist, and at first glance this appears to be rightly so. The forms are organic, the materials compatible. Yet Aalto is also the master of the ambiguous space and mystery; in one building one senses history but not exactly why, and in another Aalto has combed a curve to create an almost unbearable tensio
An intellectual biography that reconsiders the influence of Aalto's Finnish origins and explores geography as a dominant theme in the history of modern architecture Perhaps no other great modern architect has been linked to a native country as closely as Alvar Aalto (1898-1976). Critics have argued that the essence of Finland flows, as if naturally, into his quasi-organic forms, ranging from such buildings as the Baker House in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to iconic 20th-century designs, including his Savoy vase and bent-plywood stacking stools. What did Aalto himself say about the importance of nationalism and geography in his work and in architecture generally? With an unprecedented focus on the architect's own writings, library, and critical reception, Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen proposes a dramatically different interpretation of Aalto's oeuvre, revealing it as a deeply thoughtful response to his intellectual and cultural milieu--especially to Finland's dynamic political circumstances following independence from Russia in 1917. Pelkonen also considers the geographic and geopolitical narratives found in his writings. These include ideas about national style and national cultural revival, and about how architecture can foster cosmopolitanism, internationalism, and regionalism. Expanding the canonical reading of Aalto, this work promises to influence future inquiries on Aalto for generations to come.
Drawing on his own experience and intimate knowledge of Nordic architecture in Scandinavia, the author situates Aalto (1898-1976) within the realms of international modernism and Finnish culture, and explores his inspirations: the Finnish landscape and vernacular traditions, Italian domestic architecture, and Greek site planning, as well as the work of architects such as Gunnar Asplund and Le Corbusier. The complete range of Aalto's work is examined through a study of recurring themes and through detailed investigations of key projects. Abundantly illustrated. 10x11.75" c. Book News Inc.
This title reveals Alvar Aalto's creative performance through a series of conversations with the members of his atelier spanning a period of 50 years from 1944 tom 1994. Over 60 projects covering the full range of Aalto's work are discussed, giving the reader a sense of his practice.
Sir James Stirling was arguably the greatest British architect of the twentieth century. This book provides the most comprehensive critical survey of Stirling's work to date, charting the development of his ideas from his formative years, through his partnership with James Gowan, on to his period in practice as sole partner; and finally, his partnership with Michael Wilford. Using archival material, extensive interviews with his partners and others who worked for him, together with analytical examination of key buildings, this detailed critical examination explains his philosophy, working method and design strategy. In doing so, it sheds new light on the atelier structure of his office and who did what on his major buildings. Geoffrey Baker is the first to analyse in depth the articulation systems used in major projects undertaken by Stirling. He confirms that the Staatsgalerie complex at Stuttgart does not demonstrate Stirling's interest in post modernism but rather an enhanced sensitivity towards context informed by his growing allegiance to the classical canon. Baker explains how this important development in his work, powerfully influenced by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, is consummated in perhaps the finest of Stirling's uncompleted works, the extension to London's National Gallery. In a discussion of his mature works, Baker explains how Stirling's work can be understood in terms of several interconnected ideas. These include surrealism, historicism, myth and metaphor, inconsistency and ambiguity, bi-lateral symmetry, the garden, rusticity and arcadia, and the archetype, seen as the repository of the collective architectural memory. As well as discussing his interests and those who influenced Stirling, the book compares his oeuvre with that of the pioneers of modern architecture, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto and Le Corbusier. This book charts a remarkable career, and offers invaluable insights not only into the masterly, timeless architecture, but also into the man himself: charismatic, irreverent, courageous, serious; sometimes rude, often stubborn, belligerent, yet gentle. He was endlessly inventive and deeply dedicated to his art, producing buildings that reflect all of the above, buildings that are magnificent and ultimately humane.