Alvar Aalto:

Through the Eyes of Shigeru Ban

An exhibition at the Barbican, London, until 13 May 2007

Villa Mairea

I approached this exhibition with some trepidation for Alvar Aalto was one of those playful yet practical visionaries who had a beneficial influence upon me. I was not disappointed with Shigeru Ban’s presentation.

Aalto’s buildings do not always have a striking impact when viewed from the outside, however their interiors are filled with warmth, and light, which seem to draw an quietness. Unfortunately the exhibition is not able to offer the living experience of being in an Alvar Aalto building, and particularly one from his earlier period, but it does offer a good insight into the breath of his work.

Finnish architect and designer, Alvar Aalto (1898 – 1976), is considered to be among the influential architects of the 20th Century. In this exhibition the contemporary Japanese architect Shigeru Ban offers his view on Aalto’s legacy.

The exhibition examines the development of Aalto’s architectural style, featuring models, drawings, photographs, and films, from several of his most noted buildings in Finland, Scandinavia, Germany, and the USA. Spanning over six decades, the presentation include the Paimio Tuberculosis Sanatorium (1929 – 33), Villa Mairea (1938 – 39), the Finnish Pavilion, New York World’s Fair (1938 – 39), North Jutland Art Museum (1958 – 72) and the development of the urban centre of Seinäjoki (1952 –87), a town in the west coast region of Finland.

Aalto achieved international fame with the sensitively designed Paimo Sanatorium. The building he conceived as ‘an instrument of healing’, and bearing in mind the psychological and physical needs of the patient, he paid special attention in the design to the essentials of natural and artificial light, air, space, sound, rest and movement.

In the beautiful Villa Mairea acclaimed as one of Alto’s masterpieces, there are similarities to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. Set amongst trees, it is a blending of rustic Finnish farm constructions, traditional Japanese architecture and garden design as well as continental Modernism. A central feature of the house is the fireplace both for its symbolic value and practical use. The striking sauna wing and pool are placed in the inner courtyard. Both fireplace and sauna retain their importance in Finnish home design

Alvar Aalto was born in Kuotane, a village in Southern Ostrobotnia. He completed his studies at the Helsinki University of Technology. He established his own architectural practice in 1923. In 1924 he married architect Aino Marsio (1894 – 1949). She played a major part in the design and management of Artek, a company established in 1935 for making furnishings as an extension of their architectural exploration.

Good design is a part of Finnish life and Alvar Aalto was an important figure in establishing this philosophy in his homeland and throughout Scandinavia. He was deeply influenced by the natural landscape and Bauhaus functionalism. He imbued the cold minimalism of Bauhaus with warm natural tones and preferred wood to metal. As a designer he created a number of striking pieces, the Flower and Savoy vases, the Paimio chair and the three legged Aalto stool.

The exhibition also features several of Shigeru Ban’s works, which acknowledge a debt to Aalto. They include his Paper Log House (1995) and Japan Pavilion, Hanover (2000).