Alvar Aalto: Finnish Pavilion Paris 1937 1937 Location Loca tion Par Paris, is, France France Date Dat e 193 1935 5 to 1937 1937 Building Buildi ng Type exhi exhibition bition pavilion pavilion Construction System wood pole siding and columns Notes At World Exposition, Paris, 1937. demolished. Lashed pole column detail.
The timber entrance was inspired by African vernacular buildings
"The Exhibit took place partly in closed-in buildings and partly under the open sky in such a way that the visitor hardly noticed the change from interior room to open space. Architecturally, it was was not the main composition which dominated —it was rather the individual groupings and the series of posts which were so conceived as to emphasize Finnish timber as both a structural element and wall surfacing” Scarsdale: Wittenborn & Company. Company. p75. — Karl Fleig. Alvar Aalto. Scarsdale:
Some of the wooden columns were made up of four separate vertical members members bound together by thin lashing of wood
Alvar Aalto's Finnish Pavilion Pavilion at the Paris 1937 was his first Finnish pavilion work and had powerful and long-lasting consequences for international opinion of his work. The pavilion competition was announced in April 1936 and ended on June 8. Aalto sent in two pavilion entries, entries, and his entry 'Le bois bois est en marche' won first first prize and 'Tsit 'Tsit Tsit Pum,' placed second. The location for the pavilion wasn’t considered ideal for an exhibition building: it was the highest point of the sloping, irregular site, and cutting down any trees was prohibited. However, However, in Aalto’s scheme the external spaces were an integral part of the conception. Aalto himself stressed, that “the visitor hardly noticed the change from interior room to open space”.
The subtly profiled wooden boarding created a visually volatile corrugated texture that changed according to the viewpoint or direction of the sun
The display of Finnish Pavilion evoked the spirit of a modern ’forest culture’ as the essence of Finnish life Topic6: Aino Lampinen, Sanyung Lee
The entire pavilion complex formed a curving shape around a small courtyard garden, which lured visitors in summer’s strong sunshine and heat. The plan was organized as “a walk through the woods”, and the grouping of the wooden pillars evoked a grove of trees. The concept to show Finnish wilderness revealed not only in garden and trees but also in the enormous photographs of forest landscapes that formed an essential part of the exhibition. And even more so in the tree trunks, assembled to form screens or scattered around the pavilion. The courtyard arrangement was said to resemble the loose organization of farm buildings in Middle Finland. It was also considered alike the staggered plans of traditional Japanese villas, which grew in similar echelon fashion and had open verandas and elevations to the garden and to small internal courts. The solid exterior of the main pavilion was in total contrast of the openness of the interiors. The main exhibition space was a large, rectangular, top-lit volume with a sunken well. It was two storeys high, which was characteristic of Aalto’s concept for this type of space. The cylinder-shaped roof lights cut out direct sunlight, and the natural lighting was re-created at night by lamps that shone both up and down. Viipuri City Library, 1935
Floor plans, easily notice the cluster of masses.
*References -Alvar Aalto: The Complete Catalogue of Architecture, Design, and Art by Goran Schildt -http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Finnish_Pavilion_Paris.html -Alvar Aalto, the mature years by Goran Schildt -Finland through French Eyes: Alvar Aalto's Pavilion at the Paris International Exhibition of 1937 by Fabienne Chevallierand Richard Wittman -Alvar Aalto by Richard Weston
The rectangular main hall and a stepped wing of low display rooms resembles the plan of Viipuri Library, as well as the diffuse use of northern light (roof lights) Topic6: Aino Lampinen, Sanyung Lee
Alvar Aalto: Finnish Pavilion New York 1939
Location New York, New York Date 1939 Building Type exhibition interior Construction wood System Notes competition winning interior evoking northern lights. At New York World's fair.
"This pavilion was truly a 'magic box' from a spatial point of view on the inside, whilst it remained a simple functional box on the outside.” —Malcolm Quantrill. Alvar Aalto: a Critical Study. p92.
1939 New York Finnish pavilion is one of Aalto's bestknown work. Even though the country's financial issues, Aalto created one of his major work. Alvar Aalto submitted two entries ('Maa, Kansa, Työ, Tulos' and 'Kas Kuusen latvassa oravalla'), and Aino Aalto a third entry ('USA 39') to the competition, and competition ran out on May 9, 1938.The result was amazing: Aalto won the first and second prize and Aino took third.
Finnish Pavilion at the New York World's Fair perspective, inspired by northern lights
Topic6: Aino Lampinen, Sanyung Lee
Finland could not afford to build its own pavilion, so the entry was designed in a rentable cubic section of a 'unit building' which the host country had allotted to several small nations. The competition assignment was very limited, more like decoration to face the challenge of how to enlarge the space visually. There was no proposal for either structural interest or façade design.
Alvar Aalto's Savoy Vase (1936) A collection of about ten objects from this series, from a shallow dish to an about one meter high vase, was pro duced after Aalto's sketches and first shown in summer 1937 at the Paris World's Fair, in the Finland pavilion. These series of Savoy Vase affected to the motif of New York Finnish Pavilion
Alvar's entry 'Maa, Kansa, Työ, Tulos' provided two alternative solutions for the dominating 'Northern lights' wall; the third version was finally built. The final drawings, prepared just before and after Aalto's first trip to America, are dated between August 1938 and April 1939. A high, forward-leaning wooden wall with a wavy form was placed diagonally across the length of the box. The wall on the other side transformed the boxy room into a confrontation of two unique façades. These two extraordinary walls formed a tension-filled courtyard in the middle of Finnish pavilion, leaving the service spaces hidden between the free-form wall and the outer wall. The different levels of the undulating wall stepped and inclined so that the photographs on the wall were more visible. The northern lights effect was made with closely-placed fins and colored light from spot-lamps.
*References -Alvar Aalto: The Complete Catalogue of Architecture, Design, and Art by Goran Schildt -http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Finnish_Pavilion_Paris.html -Alvar Aalto, the mature years by Goran Schildt -http://janmichl.com/index.html -Alvar Aalto by Richard Weston Finnish Pavilion at the New York, plan and isometry
Northern lights
Topic6: Aino Lampinen, Sanyung Lee
