Architecture
Alvar Aalto exhibition, Reykjavik
Architecture
Modern technology and expert construction techniques mean that in many contemporary buildings there exists a disconnect between a material’s use and its origin. It’s easy to forget that even the tallest, most lavish skyscraper is comprised, essentially, of matter extracted from natural, Earth-bound resources.
Click here to see more of Aalto's designs.
Modernist Finnish architect Alvar Aalto’s designs, by contrast, typically emphasise the biological characteristics of their component parts. A new exhibition at the Nordic House in Reykjavik examines, in particular, the frequent and inventive use of wood throughout Aalto's prolific and influential career.
His structures, at times, feel as though they might have occurred naturally. The look isn’t raw; indeed Aalto was fascinated with wood’s capacity to adopt different finishes, and the buildings evidence a keen eye for detail, function and aesthetics. At a basic level, then, the designs celebrate the material at its natural best – with some help, of course, from a true master craftsman.
INFORMATION
- Event dates
- 14 June 2008 to 30 August 2008
- Website
- http://www.alvaraalto.fi
- Telephone
- 354.551 7030
- Address
- Sturlugata 5
IS-101 Reykjavik
