Alvar Aalto
dal 20/2/2007 al 12/5/2007
Segnalato da
20/2/2007
Alvar Aalto
Barbican Centre, London
The exhibition examines the development of Aalto's architectural ideas and style, featuring models, drawings, photographs and artefacts from 14 of his key projects, built mainly in Finland, Denmark, Russia and the USA. On show also his wide-ranging product designs including his famous stacking stool and other furniture pieces, as well as glassware, light fittings and textiles.
Through the Eyes of Shigeru Ban
Attended by Shigeru Ban
‘The ultimate goal of the architect…is to create a paradise. Every house, every product of architecture…should be a fruit of our endeavour to build an earthly paradise for people.’ (Alvar Aalto, 1957)
Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) is universally acknowledged as a landmark figure of 20th century architecture and design; ranking alongside other Modernist masters such as Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. Filling the whole of Barbican Art Gallery, this is the first major retrospective of work by Alvar Aalto to be held in the UK. The exhibition is designed and curated by leading Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, renowned for his original use of materials such as paper tubes to create remarkable structures. Opening February 2007, the exhibition explores the themes linking these two influential architects and demonstrates how they share an organic approach to design as well as an aspiration for a humanitarian goal in architecture.
The exhibition examines the development of Alvar Aalto’s architectural ideas and style, featuring models, drawings, photographs and artefacts from 14 of his key projects, built mainly in Finland, Denmark, Russia and the USA. Spanning six decades, featured projects include Paimio Tuberculosis Sanatorium (1929-33), Villa Mairea (1938-39), AA-System Houses (began 1937), Experimental House (1952-53), North Jutland Art Museum (1958, 1966-72) and the development of the urban centre for Seinäjoki (1952-87). Shown alongside Aalto’s original models are newly commissioned analytical models of Aalto’s buildings produced by Shigeru Ban Laboratory, Keio University, Tokyo. Also displayed are recent photographs of Aalto’s buildings taken by American photographer Judith Turner which shed new light on his work.
Aalto was as concerned with the interiors of his buildings as he was with the structure. The exhibition also showcases his wide-ranging product designs including his famous stacking
stool and other furniture pieces, as well as glassware, light fittings and textiles. Many of these items continue to be manufactured today by the renowned Finnish design company
Artek, founded by Aalto in 1935.
…/…
Aalto admired the dedication to individual craftsmanship and sensitivity to natural materials that he found in Japanese architecture from the 1930s. 60 years on, this influence comes full circle in the work of Shigeru Ban who acknowledges a huge debt to Aalto’s organic approach to design, sharing his ambition to harmonise buildings with their environment.
Ban is famous for his experimental use of natural materials such as cardboard, bamboo and wood. Seminal works featured in the exhibition include his early furniture designs, Carta Collection (1998) and L-Unit Chairs (1993) as well as his ground-breaking works including Paper Log House, Kobe (1995), Furniture House , Yamanashi (1995), Japan Pavilion, Hanover Expo (2000) and his recent design for the New Pompidou Centre in Metz, scheduled to open in 2008.
Ban began to use paper tubes as structural elements in 1986 when he designed an Aalto exhibition in Toyko. His subsequent experiments using recycled cardboard broke the conventional notion of a building material. The exhibition also showcases his revolutionary approach to building temporary shelters with paper tubes to house the displaced victims in the aftermath of the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. This echoes Aalto’s humane approach to architecture, most evident in his designs for prefabricated houses made in response to the World War II housing crisis. Both architects combine traditional materials with modern technology and experimented with the idea to provide an individual human touch to pre-fabricated housing structures.
The exhibition is designed and co-curated by Shigeru Ban, in collaboration with Juhani Pallasmaa, former director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture, Helsinki, and Tomoko Sato from Barbican Art Gallery.
Media View: Wednesday 21 February 2007, 11am – 2pm
Barbican Centre
Silk Street - London
Opening times: Daily 11am–8pm (Except Tuesday & Thursday 11am–6pm)
Admission: £8; £6 concessions