A műemlékek sokszínűsége (A 28. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1998 Eger, 1998)

Előadások / Presentations - The architecture of Alvar Aalto (1898-1976)

Villa Mairea, Noormarkku 1938-41). „To paint a landscape well I must first discover the geological foundations" (Paul Cézanne). Alvar Aalto got a traditional classical education in the Finnish Polytechnical Institute, where it was obligatory to study and draw scetches in all classic architectural styles. He knew well the history of architecture of Greece and Italy. Aalto's favorite was Italy, where he travelled several times. The sketches he drew from Fan-like form in town plans. Sunila 1936-38 amphitheatres or other ruins are wellknown. Theatres and their situation in the landscape following natural forms can be seen later on in his production. They are a part of Aalto's menthal landscape. He studied carefully the sections and other details. (University of Technology, Otaniemi, 1962-63) Aalto's own summer-house (Muuratsalo 1953) was a „tesf'-house, where he tested different kind of bricks and use of wood. You can find an atrium here, too. It is surrouded by wild forest. One interesting detail is the traditional „sauna" on the lake-side. Alvar Aalto describes in his article „Motifs from the past" his relations to the history of Finnish architecture: „The stylistic motifs are so rare, particularly in Finland's older architecture, that for this reason alone they are true gems, and much else besides. They are the condensed manifestation of the distance that isolates us from European centres of culture, and even if we attach a meaningless epithe like 'provincial art', their artistic value in none the lesser. All phenomena of this kind in our artistic heritage are so very Nordic, dare I say so very Finnish, as Finnish as we could ever hope them to be, but on the other hand, they preserve a grain of what constituted the international artist in our forefathers. It perhaps seems unnatural to examine these motifs separate from the broader architectural heritage to which they belong and, indeed, on closer consideration, it is impossible to do so,