Illustration Credits

Pelkonen, Eeva-Liisa

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Illustration Credits

Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen

Alvar Aalto: Architecture, Modernity, and Geopolitics

Illustration Credits

Author

Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23396

Illustration Credits

Cover image: National Board of Antiquities, Helsinki; fig. 3: Kalervo Ojutkangas; fig. 6: Max Plunger; fig. 7: Atelier Laurent; fig. 9: Jukka Romu; fig 10: Signe Brander; figs. 12, 14, 21: Päijänne; figs. 13, 123: Kari Hakli; fig. 15: Göran Schildt; figs. 16, 18, 19: P. O. Welin; fig. 17: Hannu Aaltonen; fig. 26: Martti Kapanen; fig. 27: Alvar Aalto; figs. 29, 35, 37–40, 83, 95: Gustaf Welin; fig. 41, 54: C. G. Rosenberg; fig. 47: Board of Antiquities photo archive, Helsinki; fig. 50: Maija Holma; fig. 56: Heinrich Iffland; fig. 70: Eino Veljekset Karhumäki Oy; fig. 80: I. K. Inha, Vienna; figs. 84–86: Kolmio; fig. 87: Haus und Garten; fig. 89: Weltspiegel; fig. 92: Walter Klein; figs. 98, 100, 105, 120, 121: Eino Mäkinen; fig. 101: Artek; figs. 104, 106: Ezra Stoller, © ESTO; fig. 108: Collection of the author; fig. 115, 119: Heikki Havas; fig. 118: Rune Holma; fig. 122: David Hume Kennerly © The White House/UPI/Lehtikuva

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Book details

BOOKAlvar Aalto: Architecture, Modernity, and Geopolitics

Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00347

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23378

Perhaps no other great modern architect has been linked to a native country as closely as Alvar Aalto (1898–1976). Critics have argued that the essence of Finland flows, as if naturally, into his quasi-organic forms, ranging from such buildings as the Baker House in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to iconic 20th-century designs, including his Savoy vase and bent-plywood stacking stools.

What did Aalto himself say about the importance of nationalism and geography in his work and in architecture generally? With an unprecedented focus on the architect’s own writings, library, and critical reception, Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen proposes a dramatically different interpretation of Aalto’s oeuvre, revealing it as a deeply thoughtful response to his intellectual and cultural milieu—especially to Finland’s dynamic political circumstances following independence from Russia in 1917.

Pelkonen also considers the geographic and geopolitical narratives found in his writings. These include ideas about national style and national cultural revival, and about how architecture can foster cosmopolitanism, internationalism, and regionalism. Expanding the canonical reading of Aalto, this work promises to influence future inquiries on Aalto for generations to come.

"This novel interpretation sheds a clear light on Aalto's relationship with Finland's society and culture, not merely by better defining the architect's often overlooked 'context,' but by recreating the intellectual milieus in which he developed. Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen introduces a very fresh discussion of Aalto's writings and designs in the framework of Finland's modern history."—Jean-Louis Cohen, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

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Author

Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen

PublisherYale University Press

Print publication date May 2009 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300114287

EISBN 9780300273953

Illustrations 124

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

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