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Is There Any Finnish Architecture After Alvar Aalto?
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14098 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
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1 / 1988 |
2,071 Words |
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Kaarin Taipale
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Since Alvar Aalto's death in 1976, there has been no other Finnish architect to rival his international fame. Aalto's younger colleagues seemed to suffer from a father complex, denying much of his significance while the master was still alive. Only in recent years have we seen a reevaluation of Aalto's position as a revered model for Finnish architects. Today it is easy to recognize his direct influence in the work of many young designers--in Finland architects are considered young until at least fifty. But even in those cases when his influence cannot be traced, his passion for excellence has set a standard for Finnish architecture. To this day the profession has been characterized by total, almost idealistic devotion to work.
It is characteristic of Aalto's architecture--as of all great architecture--that he seems to have solved all problems concerning the context of the building and the client's needs with a single grand gesture. But at the same time--and this is also typical of Finnish "signature architecture" in recent years--Aalto pays the greatest attention to even the smallest detail. He was truly carrying out Mies van der Rohe's famous dictum, "God is in the detail." The distinctly humanist characteristic of the best of Finnish architecture lies precisely in giving this loving attention to materials and finishes chosen for their tactile, sensuous qualities. If the big scale expresses the intellectual--I am tempted to say "masculine"--side of architecture, the small scale then is the key to what might be considered the "feminine" secrets of the art of building.
Concern for Detail
An explicit concern for detail is not surprising in the design of public buildings. Typical of welfare society, standards for public housing are kept high. There are still good architects who consider housing developments just as challenging as public buildings or glamorous projects for wealthy clients.
Although the fact has seldom been openly acknowledged by Finns themselves, Finnish architecture has always been strongly influenced by international movements that, however, have rapidly absorbed national characteristics. After a regional transformation, such styles have been, as it were, declared national property and their origins quietly forgotten. This may well be typical of a small nation with a need and desire to express its cultural identity and, at some point in history, its political independence.
After having long been the wooded hinterland of Sweden, Finland in 1808 became part of the Russian Empire, then expanding to the west. Divided thus, the country was governed from Stockholm as well as St. Petersburg, with new ideas coming from the two capitals. In the turmoil of World War I, Finland regained its sovereignty in 1917. At the turn of the century, the nation's self-esteem had been strengthened by an intense cultural life that produced a style known as National Romanticism. The Art Nouveau-inspired mode involved poets, painters, composers--including Sibelius--and architects, among them Eliel Saarinen, who later moved to America.
The Paimio Sanatorium (1929-1933) shows clearly how quickly Aalto adapted the rational theory of the Modern movement and became one of its masters. The characteristic ingredients are all there: the horizontal ribbon window, the flat roof, volumetric expression of different functions, an advanced
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