Alvar Aalto and The Art of Landscape

Teija Isohauta worked as a curator of education at the Alvar Aalto Museum between 1986 and 2009. As freelancer she has worked on exhibitions at Alvar Aalto Museum and the Finnish Architecture Museum. She received a scholarship from the Finnish Culture Foundation to investigate deeper connections between Aalto and landscape, and has an MA from Jyväskylä University, Finland.

• ContentsPreface by Jussi Rautsi Introduction WRITINGS OF ALVAR AALTO Landscape Biology and nature Garden and architecture THE ORIGIN OF AALTO’S LANDSCAPE CONCEPT The Finnish national landscape Light and shadow in Alvar Aalto’s architecture The garden art as part of landscape The holistic approach in Aalto’s architecture Riihitie HouseThe garden city movement Sunila The re-evaluated landscape The shifting contours in Aalto’s architecture Muurame Church The room in between Muuratsalo experimental house Towards a modern landscape Paimio SanatoriumThe forerunners of Nordic landscape architecture, the contemporaries of Aalto Garden designers consulting AaltoAteljee AaltoThe Japanese reconstructed landscape Authenticity of materials and forms in Aalto’s architecture Villa MaireaThe Mediterranean landscapeThe constructed landscape of AaltoJyväskylä universityA side track to the OrientNational pensions InstituteThe United States – genius loci and the raised importance of spatial planning Aerial plans and greeneriesOulu river rapids centreALVAR AALTO – THE INFLUNCES OF THE VISUAL ARTS The Modern art in Aalto’s timeGesamtkunstwerkThe role of sketchingSalpausselkä relief and Suommussalmi war memorialShaping the terrain as an attribute in Aalto’s architectureSäynätsalo Town HallToward ‘monumental art’SeinäjokiCASE STUDIES Green flexibility – Master plans of Imatra and Lapland Two sides of Urbanism – Helsinki City Centre and satellite centre StensvikTwo town halls using the best out of landscape – Kiruna and Alajärvi Cultural projects – in a valley and on top – Nordic House and Shiraz Art museumChurches as landmarks – Riola di Vergato and in LahtiThe private houses on the slope – Maison Carré and Villa Kokkonen CONCLUSIONS Featuring landscapeALVAR AALTO Architecture in the Landscape of Central Finland, 1926CHRONOLOGY Aalto’s main projects related to his writings, travels and personal contacts Index