Villa Mairea

By Chishimba Chimanya

I chose to base my essay on Alvar Aalto and his guest house called Villa Mairea. He was born on 3rd February 1989 and passed away on 11th May 1976, he lived a long life and had an illustrious career which spanned decades. The Villa Mairea started its construction in 1938 and was completed in 1939 the project was assigned to Alvar Aalto by the Gullichsens a wealthy Finnish couple. They had asked him to treat the house as an experiment and he did just that, Sveiven(2010) points out that this marked Alvar Aaltos transition from traditional to modern architecture.

I chose this particular architect and this particular building because of his style when it comes to designing buildings, the location, material and overall concept it resonated with me because I have always felt drawn to nature and its beauty, this building is another example of how an architect managed to place a building into an environment without making it feel forced or appear out of place. It shows that you do not have to destroy something beautiful to create something beautiful. The first thing one notices when looking at the Villa Mairea is the wooden panelling which came from a number of different trees including the surrounding birch it wraps around the house and gives it a very calming effect and the white colour of the house is complimented by the surrounding trees, from what I can see from looking at images of the residence Aalto chose to incorporate as little concrete as possible for example the walkway in image 3 has grass on it rather than been paved over with stone slabs which makes it look more natural and earthy. Furthermore, he chose not to enclose the residence within a fence he left it open and free to give off a sense that it is one with nature. He also tried to incorporate Japanese culture into his design he did so by adding sliding doors to the main entrance and the garden room.

Although there are many things to admire about the building there are parts of the design which I do not agree with for example in image 2 the way in which the windows are placed and organized does not seem to fit in with the overall structure of the building. It feels as though no thought was taken when selecting them nor was it taken when placing them, granted at that time they did not have the necessary technology to help them see how the windows will look once the building was completed. One can also notice that the wooden panelling reduced in this side of the building which to me makes it look naked and gives it this incomplete feeling which is a bit disappointing.

The woodwork is something which I did not think would have been possible to do at a time when modernism was still in its early stages and new designs relating to a new style could be met with scepticism as using wood or other soft materials was seen as the old way, around this time new constructions techniques relied heavily on steel, glass and concrete as they were the materials which were considered strong, resistant and had the ability to admit light while still remaining structurally sound that is why they were sought after when designing buildings a good example of this is the Bauhaus, this use or versatile materials to create hard exteriors and strong foundations may have been brought about as a reaction to the first world war as a way of insuring a buildings longevity if another war was to come.

Aalto knew of the direction in which modernism was being taken but chose to go with both soft and hard materials. The overall result of the Villa Mairea is simply divine. In a county like Finland where they were more accepting to change the simple design which was attributed to modernism was welcomed as it was a sign of modernity and progress also it was a time when functionality preceded ornamentation which meant the buildings had a certain order and style which can be seen in Villa Maireas L shaped design. The location or house and the way in which he chose to design it harmonizes with nature and I think that is what I like most about it.

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References

Sveiven, M. (2010). AD Classics: Villa Mairea / Alvar Aalto.https://www.archdaily.com/85390/ad-classics-villa-mairea-alvar-aalto

Armitage, H. (2016). The Architecture Of Alvar Aalto: A Finnish Icon.

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/finland/articles/the-architecture-of-alvar-aalto-a-finnish-icon/

Stefan. (2016). Alvar Aalto's Architecture.

http://alvaraaltosarchitecture.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/villa-mairea.html

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