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 Jyvaskyla University, Finland.

Contents Preface 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 House The 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 Sanatorium The forerunners of Nordic landscape architecture, the contemporaries of Aalto Garden designers consulting Aalto Ateljee Aalto The Japanese reconstructed landscape Authenticity of materials and forms in Aalto's architecture Villa Mairea The Mediterranean landscape The constructed landscape of Aalto Jyvaskyla university A side track to the Orient National pensions Institute The United States - genius loci and the raised importance of spatial planning Aerial plans and greeneries Oulu river rapids centre ALVAR AALTO - THE INFLUNCES OF THE VISUAL ARTS The Modern art in Aalto's time Gesamtkunstwerk The role of sketching Salpausselka relief and Suommussalmi war memorial Shaping the terrain as an attribute in Aalto's architecture Saynatsalo Town Hall Toward 'monumental art' Seinajoki CASE STUDIES Green flexibility - Master plans of Imatra and Lapland Two sides of Urbanism - Helsinki City Centre and satellite centre Stensvik Two town halls using the best out of landscape - Kiruna and Alajarvi Cultural projects - in a valley and on top - Nordic House and Shiraz Art museum Churches as landmarks - Riola di Vergato and in Lahti The private houses on the slope - Maison Carre and Villa Kokkonen CONCLUSIONS Featuring landscape ALVAR AALTO Architecture in the Landscape of Central Finland, 1926 CHRONOLOGY Aalto's main projects related to his writings, travels and personal contacts Index