Some Dimensions On Wood
May 24 - August 19, 2007
In the Studio at the Alvar Aalto Museum
In Alvar Aalto's architecture wood had an important role, symbolically and as a material. Aalto brought out the biological characteristics of wood and its relationship with human beings and with nature in his architecture. Knowledge of the properties of wood, the ease with which it can be worked as a material and the potential offered by heat treatment and different surface finishes were all important to him. The soft values in Aalto's architecture and the way that people are taken into account in all his designs can be seen throughout his work. This exhibition presents Aalto's relationship with tradition, innovation and nature through the medium of architectural drawings, photographs, models of entire buildings and detailed cross-sectional models.
On show as examples of wooden ceilings are the barrel-vault ceiling of Muurame Church (1926-29) and the cassette ceiling of the proposal for Jyväskylä Rural Parish Church, two of Aalto's earliest works. In the design for the Helsinki Fair Hall (1934) and the Otaniemi Sports Hall (1952), the wooden beam structures continue along the wall as part of the ceiling structure and prophesy the concrete beam forms that became well-known in Aalto's later work. The exposed roof trusses at Säynätsalo Town Hall, known as the 'butterflies', have load-bearing characteristics as well as being aesthetic elements of the space. The wavy ceilings at the Siena Cultural Centre (1966) and Lahti Church (1969-79) continue the roof form of the lecture hall at Viipuri (Vyborg) Library (1933-35) and variations on them were later used as acoustic walls in concert halls and theatres.
Aalto was involved in designing the Ahlström AA standard-type house with its all-important variations (con variazioni) - where flexible variation of the basic wooden-element model produced practical homes that fitted in with the terrain and answered the residents' needs.
The Varkaus standard house (single-family home, known as VOK) (1941) and the houses for engineers at Kauttua (1944), which are included in the exhibition, show that Aalto also understood how important the human scale was to congeniality.
Of Aalto's lightweight structures, the pavilion for the Paris World Fair (1937) was given special panels designed by Aalto and special columns made of spruce and ash. The 'Forest Pavilion' (1938) for the Lapua agricultural show was carried out with curved wooden cladding and the pavilion for the New York World Fair (1938-39) was given a complete panelled wall that imitated organic forms. The carefully considered details for the balustrades at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1947-49) and the Jyväskylä Institute of Pedagogics (now the University of Jyväskylä) (1952-71) were also carried out skilfully in wood.
The exhibition gives a small-scale survey of the importance of wood in Aalto's work. At the same time it contributes to topical international debate on the ecological aspect of architecture and explains how Aalto's ideas and work were ahead of their time - they were ecological even before the concept of ecology had emerged. In his work, Aalto emphasised a genuinely responsible way of designing sound, sustainable architecture.
For further information
Alvar Aalto Museum
Alvar Aallon katu 7, Box 461, 40101 Jyväskylä
Open Tue-Sun 11-18. Exceptions in opening hours during the holiday seasons.
tel. +358 14 - 624 809
Information Officer Mirkka Vidgrén, puh. +358 (0)400 - 254708
Curator of Education Teija Isohauta, puh. +358 (0)14 - 624 810
