ALVAR AALTO

With Nordic culture at the height of its influence this book offers the chance to discover the region''s most famous and successful architect, Alvar Aalto, one of the twentieth-centuries most popular and accessible masters. Born in Finland, Aalto’s work is steeped in the influence of the unique Nordic ''nightlands,'' a severe climate with limited sunlight that has informed much of Scandinavia''s design legacy and current noir-ish appeal. In architecture, this intensity has lead to an unparalleled integration of culture and place. Aalto''s sensitivity to external factors became a touchstone for all his work and his enthusiastic engagement of Modern architecture became a response to the severity long dictated by Finland’s climate. This was followed by a lifelong resistance to the ‘dehumanisation’ of the International Style, an empty formal shell unable to respond to life taking place. Aalto''s significant body of work includes architecture and design, spanning furniture, textiles and glassware. Considered by most to be by far the most popular and accessible of the first generation of leading Modern architects, Aalto’s architecture is arguably unmatched by that of any other major designer of the 20th century in its integration with place and daily life. This book engages the architecture of Aalto through an integrated examination of his major works, how they engage the light, climate and topography of their sites, exemplifying the way in which he extended Finnish tradition and engaged newly emerging Modern materials. It describes the actual inhabitation of Aalto’s architecture and the way in which daily life and of contemporary culture are integrated in the experience of interior space – something that was of paramount importance to Aalto. This is a fantastic and leading title for Aalto and architecture enthusiasts as well as the uninitiated who are keen to learn more.