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.
