Architect, Alvar Aalto
Aalto’s Studio. Photo by Kazunori Fujimoto. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Villa Mairea, Noormarkku, Finland. Photo by Ninara. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Author Thermos. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.
“We should work for simple, good, undecorated things" and he continues, "but things which are in harmony with the human being and organically suited to the little man in the street."
Alvar Aalto, speech in London 1957.
Source: Wikipedia.
Needing a break from Range, my current book, I picked up the dictionary (yes, a print version) and started reading, beginning with A. Eight words in, was Aalto, pronounced áltou. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) was a Finnish architect. According to my dictionary, Aalto “[stressed] an organic approach rather than strict adherence to the international style” and “he produced works beautifully related to environment and human needs.” Upon further study via Wikipedia, I learned that his methodology falls under a category called Gesamtkunstwerk, which says that he had “range” and did not confine himself to specialization (the main idea of my current book). I never heard of Aalto, yet in one renowned book of architecture, he’s mentioned more than Le Corbusier (see Wiki page). I like Aalto's philosophy and his buildings. He’s a contrarian during a time when architecture prized uniformity. As I recognize my comfort with the status quo, people like Aalto encourage me to shake things up and consider a new perspective. Here's to Aalto (and encyclopedic dictionaries)!