During the course of a career spanning more than fifty years, Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) designed nearly one hundred single-family houses. Aalto, also known for his furniture and glassware, worked in a distinctive style that blended modernism and traditional vernacular architecture. Now available in paperback, Alvar Aalto Houses presents twenty-six of Aalto's innovative residences-from small summer homes and postwar standardized housing to large housing complexes for industrial commissions-built between the 1920s and the 1960s.

This book presents the intimate and personal houses and saunas designed by Aalto - his early works, as well as the later ones, including many that have rarely been published. Included are two summer houses that Aalto designed and built for himself: Villa Flora and the world-famous Experimental House in Muuratsalo. The summer houses featured in this book were all personally designed by Aalto for his relatives and friends.

Der Architekt und Designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) war einer der wichtigsten Vertreter organischer Gestaltung im 20. Jahrhundert. Seine Architektur fasziniert bis heute durch natürliche Materialien und skulpturale, geschwungene Formen. Für das Sanatorium in Paimio entwarf Aalto 1932 den ersten Freischwinger aus Holz, seine Savoy Vase (1936) gilt heute als das Symbol finnischen Designs schlechthin. Die Ausstellung gibt einen umfassenden Einblick in das Werk Aaltos, präsentiert seine wichtigsten Bauten, Möbeln und Leuchten und geht den Inspirationen nach, die sein Werk prägten. Schlüsselthemen sind Aaltos Dialog mit wichtigen Künstlern wie Hans Arp, Alexander Calder oder Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, seine intensiven internationalen Verbindungen, seine Auseinandersetzung mit Fragen des rationalen Bauens, aber auch seine Suche nach einer Gestaltung, die stets den Menschen in den Mittelpunkt stellt. 0Exhibition: Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany (27.09.2014-03.01.2015).

a+u March issue features Alvar Aalto's houses. 12 works from the 1920s to 1970s are presented with photographs taken by photographer Jari Jetsonen, and texts by architectural historian Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen. In this issue, we approach Aalto's design from the perspective of "materials and details" of each house. Jari Jetsonen's photographs, which capture human lives, reveal the quality of the space and through them we trace the processes of design. In each project, Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen describes its background at the time of construction, such as social situations or design processes, to Aalto's choices of materials and details as a result. The original drawings are provided by the Alvar Aalto Foundation. In addition to the general drawings, a number of detail drawings such as sections of staircases or fireplaces are included in large scales along with photographs.

Summer is when Finland is at its spellbinding best. Emerging from a seven-month long winter, Finns head outdoors to savor the magical light of the all-too-brief Scandinavian summer. Cityscapes give way to pristine lakes, endless forests, and idyllic seaside vistas. The Finnish summer house offers a unique opportunity for their owners to relax, get back intouch with nature, and enjoy outdoor activities such as boating, swimming, and hiking. Not surprisingly, the architecture of the Finnish summer house occupies an almost mythic, even mystical, place in the hearts of their inhabitants as well as their architects. Indeed, many Finnish architects regard the design of their own summer residence or weekend studio as one of their most important works. For them, the summer house is not only a place to spend leisure time, but also a chance to study specific technical details and experiment with new spatial concepts. Finnish Summer Houses presents in detail twenty villas, cottages, and cabins by architects such as Eliel Saarinen, Oiva Kallio, Alvar Aalto, and Juhani Pallasmaa, among many others. Authors Jari and Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen use contemporary photographs, archival images, drawings, and plans to illustrate the diversity found in the designs of Finnish summer residences. From Lars Sonck's Lasses Villa (1895), with its traditional farmhouse elements, and Alvar Aalto's Muuratsalo Experimental House (195254) to Erkki Kairamo's sparse Villa Aulikki (19952003), which seems to grow out of its landscape, the works in this book are of a highly personal nature; indeed, most of the summer houses are still used by the architect or the families of their children. The very best examples of these fantastic summer homes are collected here, making Finnish Summer Houses an inspiration for anyone dreaming about a summer home of their own.

Alvar Aalto is universally acknowledged as one of the most important figures of twentieth century architecture. This book looks at his working processes and models, and at the way his work has positioned itself globally. It is a useful reading for architects, designers and those interested in the origins of contemporary architecture and culture.

Résumé. - Resümee. - Sommario. - Resumen.