|
Showing 1 - 3 of
3 matches in All Departments
Alvar Aalto remains Finland's greatest architect, retains his place
among the Modern Masters of twentieth-century architecture and is
now recognized internationally as one of the world's greatest
architects of all time. For Finland, Aalto, through his
architecture, furniture, glassware and sculpture, contributed
perhaps more than any other Finn to the creation of the cultural
identity of the new independent Finland and its promotion around
the world. His Finnish Pavilions in Paris and New York from the
Thirties placed Finland centre-stage, establishing its identity as
a modern, innovative country and generated huge interest in this
northern land of lakes and forests. He went on to work in 18
countries around the world, as well as designing many of Finland's
most important buildings of the 50s, 60s and 70s. This new
biography of Aalto is the first to comprehensively cover his life,
from the backwoods of Ostrabothnia to international fame and all of
his buildings, from the early alterations and extensions to shops
and houses in Jyvaskyla to Finlandia Hall.It draws on Aalto's
archive, recollections of former employees and contemporaneous
publications to fully explore Alvar Aalto the architect, rather
than simply Alvar Aalto's architecture. For the first time, his
life is set in the context of the events that surrounded and shaped
it - the Finnish Civil War, the Great Depression, The Winter and
Continuation Wars, the post-war boom in education, Finland's
industrialisation and eventually the social revolution of the 60s
which led to his characterization as a member of a Finnish elite
and temporary unpopularity. It covers his life from his childhood,
growing up in regional Jyvaskyla and Alajarvi, his architectural
studies in Helsinki, combat in the Civil War through to the
founding of his first office, his early neo-classical work and his
international breakthrough with the completion of Paimio Sanatorium
and Viipuri Library. It deals with his personal life, his marriage
to Aino, what working life in his first office was like, the
architectural competitions, his key friendships and continuous
financial difficulties.As his career progressed, it explores the
patrons who were so important to him - the Gullichsens and the
founding of Artek, his new American friends, professorship at MIT.
After the war, the death of Aino, marriage to Elissa and the period
of his greatest architectural achievements - Saynatsalo Town Hall,
Otaniemi University and Imatra Church. It considers the
organisation of his new office in Helsinki, his expanding team,
fame and eventually vanity. The book seeks to understand what drove
him, the combination of skills, talents and character traits, which
led to his extraordinary global success. As you will be aware,
there is no shortage of books on Alvar Aalto, or to be more
precise, there is no shortage of books on Alvar Aalto's
Architecture. (Only one previous biography exists, published first
in 1984 and now out of print). This book is about an architect and
his architecture, written by another architect, not an
architectural historian. It is the first, frank and
fully-comprehensive biography of Alvar Aalto.
|
|