Aino Niskanen: On the Folk Roots of Finnish Modernism

Chen-Yu Jiou: Japan, Aalts Nature

Chen-Yu Jiou: Japan, Aalts Nature

Source
Kabinet architektury, Ostrava
Publisher
Tisková zpráva
11.04.2017 06:50
Alvar Aalto

The Role of Folk Tradition in Japanese and Finnish Architecture in the Works of Alvar Aalto in the 1930s.
House of Art, Ostrava (GVUO) / April 12 – June 4, 2017 / opening April 11, 2017, 17:00

Lectures on April 12, 2017, in the House of Art in Ostrava:
16:00 - Assistant Chiu Chen-Yu – Department of Architecture, Bilkent University, Turkey: Japan, Aalto's Nature
17:00 - Professor Aino Niskanen – Department of Architecture, Aalto University, Finland: On the Folk Roots of Finnish Modernism

Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) belongs to the group of the most significant creators of modern architecture and art of the 20th century, whose philosophy of viewing the world and ideas influencing the quality of living space through contemporary architecture remain tangible and relevant today.
The Ostrava exhibition "from scratch" is prepared by the Cabinet of Architecture in cooperation with GVUO and Aalto University in Espoo, Finland. The exhibition will focus, among other things, on a little-known and, to the detriment of lovers of architecture and art, until now overlooked "episode" that significantly influenced Aalto's work, and it will be presented in Ostrava for the very first time. Ostrava will join with cities and institutions around the world in commemorating the 40th anniversary of the death of this giant. Ostrava will find itself in this esteemed company and thus contribute to its visibility in the broader European context. In this regard, it is important to note that almost simultaneously, a grand exhibition on the life and work of Alvar Aalto will take place in Paris.

Exhibition Authors: Chiu Chen-Yu, Juhani Pallasmaa, Aino Niskanen / Aalto University
Curators and Producers of the Exhibition: Tadeáš Goryczka, Jaroslav Němec / Cabinet of Architecture

In our era, when production is dominated by standardization, it must be admitted that formalism is a highly inhumane matter. A standardized project should not be the final product; on the contrary, it should be created so that its shape can be completed and perfected by the human hand, utilizing all the individual laws that guide it […]. There exists a civilization that, in its craft development phase, demonstrated a high sensitivity and understanding for the work of the individual. I mean certain aspects of Japanese culture, which, despite its limited initial materials and forms, allowed people to continuously masterfully vary and create new combinations every day.
The ideas and ideals of traditional Japanese architecture and Finnish folk construction played an important role in the early career of the masterful Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898-1976). Early on, he rejected historicizing and functionalist approaches to design and advocated for a more humane architectural synthesis that corresponded to the physical and psychological needs of people in the 1930s. Aalto's synthetic and mature works from this period clearly demonstrate his ability to metaphorically speak to nature and perceive the demands of human senses when interpreting the refined aesthetic of Japanese architecture and the forms of Finnish folk buildings. This exhibition, the first of its kind, thoroughly examines the role of Japanese and Finnish folk tradition in architecture in the mature architectural work of Alvar Aalto and reveals the reasons for his success, how Aalto became Aalto – the great master and architect who managed to humanize modern architecture by embracing the inspiring aesthetics of foreign and indigenous traditions.
In the 1930s, Aalto showed a great interest in traditional Japanese architecture. He had two fundamental reasons for this: the first was the post-war dissemination of Japanese culture around the world; the second was the friendship of Aalto's family with Japanese ambassador Hakotaro Ichikawa and his wife Kajoko. Although Aalto never visited Japan, the Alvar Aalto Foundation still preserves his collection of books on Japanese art and architecture, which provides clear evidence of Aalto's view of Japan. Among them is the original work 華道三十六家選 (Thirty-Six Works on Japanese Flower Arrangement) from 1934, which Aalto received directly from the ambassador's family, and the volume The Japanese House and Garden by Tecuro Yoshida from 1935, which undoubtedly provided Aalto with a highly cultivated introduction to Japanese house and garden architecture.
Aalto, inspired by modern interpretations and the promotion of Japanese building tradition, completely fell in love with Finnish folk buildings from the late 1930s. Although it was not easy to clarify how Aalto viewed Finnish traditional folk construction, earlier studies indicated that the architectural forms and spaces of Karelian villages and the Seurasaari Natural History Museum could serve as fertile ground for Aalto's understanding of local tradition. However, based on certain similarities in the folk building traditions of Japan and Finland, it now appears that Aalto's interpretation of his own domestic building culture was primarily influenced by adopted Japanese ideology and aestheticism. Therefore, Aalto's mature work from the 1930s is a mixed interpretation of Japanese and Finnish building cultures.
The exhibition presents not only Aalto's major projects from the 1930s but also his important works from the 1920s. Its goal is to emphasize significant changes and developments in Aalto's philosophy regarding architecture and design. It also showcases selected images from Aalto's studies of Japanese architecture and key documents illustrating his perception of Finnish folk architecture, drawing attention to the analogy between Aalto's view and his presentation of folk building tradition in Japan and Finland. Two of the most prominent examples of the synthesis of adopted ideas and patterns are Aalto's design for his own house and studio in Munkkiniemi (1936) and the Mairea villa (1939).
Significant shifts in Aalto's works from the 1920s to 1930s further confirm that Aalto largely drew inspiration from Japanese and Finnish traditional folk construction. They document changes in Aalto's approach to design and the evolution of his philosophy: Aalto began to view modern architectural design anew and embraced and obeyed tradition and the natural environment. The inspiring tradition and metaphor of nature that Aalto found in Japanese architecture and Finnish folk building could affirm his extended concepts of rationalism and functionalism: Aalto aimed for the humanization of modern architecture with regard to both the physical and psychological needs of human beings. Through the adopted Japanese aestheticism and affection for primitive indigenous culture, he did not merely imitate borrowed building forms but also sought to create his own Finnish tradition in harmony with nature.

[…] There exists a very special, close relationship between us, modern architects, and the balanced architecture of our country. In my opinion, we are primarily united by a deeper understanding of the language of materials […].
From a letter to the Japanese ambassador in Helsinki in 1941, Aalto wrote (Schildt 2007, pp. 360-1)
[…] I am sending you a collection of photographs of our Finnish buildings. The houses in old Karelia are especially dear to my heart. They are almost the only European examples of architecture comparable to Japan […].
From a letter to his old friend Otto Völckers in Munich, Aalto wrote (Schildt 2007, p. 361)

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