Alvar Aalto Books

For the first time, an exciting volume that spans every aspect of the career of Alvar Aalto, one of the masters of 20th-century architecture and design. From Aalto s origins in Nordic Classicism through his International-style Modernism and finally to the breathtaking beauty and warmth of his late designs, the architect s work is showcased in this richly illustrated compendium, compiled by the experts at the Aalto Museum in Finland. Though Aalto died in 1976, his buildings stand as testaments to the balance and humanism of his vision. His beautiful yet practical furniture and home designs, from his free-form vases to his plywood stools, are immediately recognizable and still being produced using groundbreaking techniques that he developed. The only book of its kind, Alvar Aalto Designer takes the reader from lighting fixtures to living rooms, using original sketches and photographs of Aalto s chairs, lamps, and glassware. Aalto said, "We should work for simple, good, undecorated things, but things which are in harmony with the human being and organically suited to the little man in the street". This book weaves the designer s biography with examples of his life's work, showing how Aalto reached out to an international audience with his borderless, approachable, yet supremely elegant, style.

Aalto's often-idealistic reform projects - his Renaissance revival, his rationalistic utopia - his writings as a propagandist during the war years; his comments on his own crucial travels to Italy, the 1939 New York World's Fair, and the "decadence of public buildings"; critiques of building and furniture design - all reveal the progression of ideas and convictions that grew and changed throughout Aalto's life, both reflecting and influencing the course of architecture in the twentieth century.

Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (18981976) was not only influenced by the landscape of his native country, but by the political struggle over Finland's place within European culture. Aalto turned to ideas based on Functionalism, subsequently moving toward more organic structures, with brick and wood replacing plaster and steel. He also designed buildings, furniture, lamps, and glass objects. Contains approximately 120 images, including photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans Introductory essays explore the architect's life and work, touching on family and background as well as collaborations with other architects The body presents the most important works in chronological order, with descriptions of client and/or architect wishes, construction problems and resolutions The appendix includes a list of complete or selected works, biography, bibliography and a map indicating the locations of the architect's most famous buildings