Villa Mairea
From Archiplanet
 | Villa Mairea |
| Designer | Alvar Aalto |
| Location | Noormarkku, Finland |
| Date | 1937 to 1939 |
| Building Type | house |
| Climate | cold |
| Context | rural forest |
| Architectural Style | Modern |
| Street Address | |
| Notes | Expressionistic variations within a modern/organic framework. The sum is a calmly stunning architectural tone poem, deeply resonant in a special place and time, earthy and exotic all at once. |
| At Great Buildings | http://www.GreatBuildings.com/buildings/Villa_Mairea.html |
Contents |
[edit] Images
[edit] Discussion
Commentary
"The Villa Mairea was built as a country house for the architect's friends Marie and Harry Gullichsen. The house stands in the middle of a pine forest at the top of a hill in western Finland. The house looks out mainly on to continuous unbroken stretches of forest, with a narrow vista through an opening in the trees on to a river and sawmill (which at the time of the house's construction was one of the first industrial enterprises in this part of Finland).
"Although the inner court is open on one side, the forest creates an effective 'wall' enclosing it. A sauna and swimming pool are located on the opposite side from the large living room on the ground floor."
— Karl Fleig. Alvar Aalto. New York: Praeger Publishers. p175.
Details
The villa was designed 1937 to 1938 and built 1938 to 1939.
The sauna wing was constructed of Finnish fir, while the balconies and parts of the exterior were clad in teak.
[edit] Maps
[edit] References
Roger H. Clark and Michael Pause. Precedents in Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985. four-square diagram, p188.— Updated edition available at Amazon.com
Dunster, David, ed. Alvar Aalto. London: St. Martin's Press, Academy Editions, 1984.
Karl Fleig. Alvar Aalto. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975. NA1455.F53A239. ISBN 0-275-49660-0. p175-9.
Karl Flieg, ed. Alvar Aalto, Volume 1. Scarsdale, NY: Wittenborn, 1963. NA1455.F53A22 v.1. p108. site plan, p109. lower floor plan, p110. upper floor plan, p118. stair elevation, p118. stair section detail, p118.— A definitive 'complete works' of Aalto. Although a bit dated, an invaluable reference for students of Alvar. Available at Amazon.com
Malcolm Quantrill. Alvar Aalto: A Critical Study. New York: Schocken Books. ISBN 0-8052-3845-X. NA1455.F53A237. p83-92.
J.M. Richards. 600 Years of Finnish Architecture. p150.
William S. Saunders. Modern Architecture—Photographs by Ezra Stoller. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Publishers, 1990. ISBN 0-8109-3816-2. exterior photo, p43.— A wonderful & inspiring book of beautiful photographs by the master of architectural photography. Available at Amazon.com
Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman. Architecture, from Prehistory to Post-Modernism. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1986. ISBN 0-13-044702-1. LC 85-11988. NA200.T7 1985b. exterior photo facing the long elevation, f885, p558.— Available at Amazon.com
