Alvar Aalto

Göran Schildt

Alvar Aalto-museo

Aalto interiors 1923-1970

Alvar Aaltos skulpturer

Det gyllene skinnet

Aalto's often-idealistic reform projects - his Renaissance revival, his rationalistic utopia - his writings as a propagandist during the war years; his comments on his own crucial travels to Italy, the 1939 New York World's Fair, and the "decadence of public buildings"; critiques of building and furniture design - all reveal the progression of ideas and convictions that grew and changed throughout Aalto's life, both reflecting and influencing the course of architecture in the twentieth century.

Alvar Aalto in His Own Words

"These fascinating texts illustrate important aspects of Aalto's outlook and career. They begin with a charming piece, dictated by Aalto near the end of hs life, about growing up beneath his father's two-tiered white table where the surveyor's apprentices worked, and his gradual ascent to the top tier. From Aalto's early writings (which he signed with the pseudonym 'Ping') there is a satirical sketch about Christmas festivities at Benvenuto Cellini's place, attended by an unlikely mix of characters including Eliel Saarinen, André Le Nôtre, and Katshusika Hokusai. Aalto's often-idealistic reform projects - his Renaissance revival, his rationalistic utopia - his writings as a propagandist during the war years; his comments on his own crucial travels to Italy, the 1939 New York World's Fair, and the 'decadence of public buildings'; critiques of building and furniture design - all reveal the progression of ideas and convictions that grew and changed throughout Aalto's life, both reflecting and influencing the course of architecture in the twentieth century. Other influences are also revealed in Aalto's contact with the Bauhaus in Germany, De Stijl in the Netherlands, Le Corbusier in France, and such important friends as Sven Markelius, Gunnar Asplund, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Siegfried Giedion, Lewis Mumford, Walter Gropius, and Frank Lloyd Wright, some of whom Aalto eulogizes in the chapter 'In Memoriam'. Annotated by Aalto's official biographer, Göran Schildt, [this book] is the essential, official guidebook to his philosophies and works. For architects, students, theorists, and admirers of Aalto's renowned architecture and design, this personal collection reveals the brilliant mind of the master. ... [This book] presents, for the first time, an illuminating collection of over 75 of his visionary lectures, speeches, articles, and other writings, and 100 archival illustrations"--Bookjacket.

One of the masters of modern architecture, Finland's Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) was a prolific and influential architect and a gifted designer. His unique contribution to modernism embraced context and the natural environment. Drawing on sources as diverse as the Finnish landscape, the Bauhaus, and Classicism, Aalto forged an organic design vocabulary that juxtaposed concrete and wood, copper and brick, volume and form in an original synthesis. His respect for function and use contributes to the lasting popularity of his buildings and furniture. Featured in this book are thirty-three of Aalto's most important pieces, including the Villa Mairea, the Town Hall at Säynätsalo, Baker Dormitory at MIT, and the Aalto vase, selected and analyzed in detail by Aalto scholar Göran Schildt, with an introduction by Professor Michael Trencher of Pratt Institute. Profusely illustrated with full-color photographs, as well as drawings and plans, this book surveys Aalto's career, from his Neoclassical works of the 1920s to his more organic designs of the 1940s and 1950s, from furniture and glass design to buildings completed posthumously. Works from Scandinavia, Europe, and the United States are represented. A chronological list of Aalto's major works and an index of their locations complete the volume.

Master Works

In the last of a three-part biography, the author traces the noted Finnish architect's life and career from 1939 to his death in 1976

Alvar Aalto, the Mature Years

Traces the influential Finnish architect's life and career from the late 1920s to 1939 and examines his designs for houses, apartment buildings, banks, schools, theaters, and office buildings

The Decisive Years

Alvar Aallon tutustuminen funktionalismiin

Nykyaika

A Life's Work : Architecture, Design, and Art

With the full cooperation of the Alvar Aalto Foundation, Goran Schildt has explored its archives, and some 20,000 letters, memoranda and contemporary newspaper cuttings as well as many building models, to ensure that every work is included in this volume.

Göran Schildt

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