A Study on Alvar Aalto’s Architectural Vocabulary

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A Study on Alvar Aalto’s Architectural Vocabulary
From the view point of Contextualism
- focused on the ‘Harmony of Heterogeneity’ through Collage by Aalto –
Jeong, Gwang-Hyeok / Koo, Young-min
INHA University, Republic of Korea

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Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Background and Purpose.
2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.1 The foundation and maturity of Aalto's architecture.
2.2 The evolution of Aalto's architectural vocabulary.
2.3 A review of the pluralistic understanding and source of Aalto architecture.
3. Collage of heterogeneous elements and Colin Lowe's discourse
3.1 Colin Rowe's Contextualism and Aalto's Idea.
3.2 Collage of heterogeneity and the creation of context.
4. Case Study
4.1 Case Study.
4.2 Case Analysis.
5. Conclusion

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1. Introduction

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1. Introduction
1.1 Background and Purpose.
physical and cultural context related to human being
Alvar Aalto
(1898 ~ 1976)
Regionalism
architect
embody a total environment that responds to every aspect of human life
Finland’s Nature & History
Space & Form
Organic combination

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1. Introduction
1.1 Background and Purpose.
“When an architectural gap occurs in the remaining part of the land, it is important to organically combine
people's movements through arrangements that form a close relationship between humans and architecture
rather than filling it with decorative gardens.” , Alvar Aalto
Aalto's architecture cannot be judged simply in
form or style.

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1. Introduction
1.1 Background and Purpose.
Aalto's architectural vocabulary
embody a total environment that responds to every aspect of human life
Mimicking Nature
Undulating Curve
Contextualism
Tactile Experiences
Collaged Architecture

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1. Introduction
1.1 Background and Purpose.
Colin Rowe's
Alvar
Aalto's
rediscover Aalto’s dialogue that predicted the architectural stance
after
assertion.
Architecture
modernism.

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.1 The foundation and maturity of Aalto's architecture.
Finland's beautiful natural environment and topography
Beaux-Arts architecture education

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.1 The foundation and maturity of Aalto's architecture.
Alvar Aalto’s Early architectural characteristics.
"It is not blindly accepting national romanticism, but rather critically implies things related to the uniqueness of
place and culture while checking and accepting the universality of modern architecture.“, Alvar Aalto
traditional forms of detail
classical wooden architectural
techniques
elevation composition by
symmetrical axes

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.1 The foundation and maturity of Aalto's architecture.
The characteristics of Alvar Aalto's mature architecture.
the heterotopia instead of homotopic unity of modern architecture, through ‘unstable harmony’
created by a composite of unfamiliar parts.
undulating curve
Collaged architecture

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.2 The evolution of Aalto's architectural vocabulary.
Aalto's change in architectural vocabulary.
Organic combination of human, nature, and architecture.

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.2 The evolution of Aalto's architectural vocabulary.
Aalto's change in architectural vocabulary.
Organic combination of human, nature, and architecture.
The cage of regionalism.

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.3 A review of the pluralistic understanding and source of Aalto architecture.
Aalto's architectural vocabulary
Mimicking Nature
Undulating Curve
Tactile Experiences
Collaged Architecture

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.3 A review of the pluralistic understanding and source of Aalto architecture.
Mimicking Nature

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.3 A review of the pluralistic understanding and source of Aalto architecture.
Tactile Experiences

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.3 A review of the pluralistic understanding and source of Aalto architecture.
Undulating Curve

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2. Alvar Aalto's Architecture
2.3 A review of the pluralistic understanding and source of Aalto architecture.
Collaged Architecture

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3. Collage of heterogeneous elements
and Colin Lowe's discourse

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3. Collage of heterogeneous elements and Colin Lowe's discourse
3.1 Colin Rowe's Contextualism and Aalto's Idea.
Meaning arises toward the context (past and present) in the process from the
moment of opening to recombination.

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3. Collage of heterogeneous elements and Colin Lowe's discourse
3.1 Colin Rowe's Contextualism and Aalto's Idea.
Collage city maintain their context through the simultaneous coexistence of
temporality and eternity.

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3. Collage of heterogeneous elements and Colin Lowe's discourse
3.2 Collage of heterogeneity and the creation of context.
A new but familiar
figure
Contextualism
Based on the ideology of zeitgeist, it resists the dominance of modern architecture that
determines architecture as an object and is completed through 16 years of urban research
and design experiments.
The Contextualism discourse, which was the basis of this book, is that the form of
architecture and urban space is
It's a paradox that it's the context around you that decides.
Contextualism reflects the existing surrounding shape and spatial order,
introducing a 'new but familiar' shape, and extending the context through
this.

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4. Case Study

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4. Case Study
4.1 Case Study.
Mimicking Nature
Tactile Experiences
Aalto's
architectural
vocabulary
Collaged Architecture
Undulating Curve

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4. Case Study
4.2 Case Analysis.
Finland Hall in New York World Expo

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4. Case Study
4.2 Case Analysis.
Villa Mairea

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4. Case Study
4.2 Case Analysis.
Baker House

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4. Case Study
4.2 Case Analysis.
Säynätsalo Town Hall

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4. Case Study
4.2 Case Analysis.
Vuoksenniska Church

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4. Case Study
4.2 Case Analysis.
Aalto theater Essen

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5. Conclusion

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5. Conclusion
5.1 Conclusion
Coexistence.
Eternity
Temporality
Production of organic dialogs between human-nature-architecture

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5. Conclusion
5.1 Conclusion
Colin Rowe's
Contextualism
Alvar Aalto's
Architecture
Both cities and architecture exist as psychological and cultural backgrounds
through eclectic attitudes.

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Thank you