The diversity of timber in Alvar Aalto's architecture: forests, shelter and safety - Teija Isohauta

I was interesting to look into the materials that go into making the building itself. Timber has always been one of my favourite materials in architectural design. I love the natural look of it, especially in modern architecture. I also didn’t know that 78% of Finland is covered by forest. I like the idea that the local architects use the resources that are at hand. Not only is the wood used for housing, but also a use for food and clothes. It was nice to see how resourceful the people of Finland are with their surroundings as the text continues to speak about how many materials can be produced from the forest. It is also clear within this piece of text, the love that Aalto has for natural supplied materials, which is clearly shown within his architecture.

Moving on to classic tradition, the text moves on to speak about the history of Finland’s architecture in the 17^th century most predominately being churches. It was interesting to see the real fundamental influences behind his work and how he had these influences from such a young age. His first few designs included copious amounts of timber, refurbishing old churches and making them beautiful again. I found I could definitely relate to this, not only can there be links made between this and the work I am currently studying at university, as we have been made to come up with plans for refurbished buildings, but it is also an interest of mine outside of the curriculum. With shows such as the ‘Restoration Man’ on channel four, which I have a bit of a passion for, I felt like this was of great interest to me, and also seeing how restorations were done in the past as opposed to the present.

I could compare the idea of organic form, which was a strong influence in Aalto’s work, to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright similarly used this idea of ‘organic form’ making the architecture sit in with nature without it looking out of place. This is also something I take into great consideration when doing a project, making sure the building itself does not look out of place and that it fits in with its natural surroundings, perhaps even enhancing them. I also like the idea that Aalto uses organic products, timber in this instance. He makes his work not only physically fit in with the surroundings but the aesthetics work within the area.

Overall, I found this an interesting read. It was good to look at an architect from this part of the world, as generally in modern architecture, Scandinavian design is one of my favourite styles. Today, in this part of the world, architecture is so new and upcoming, architects are creating work that breaks the mould and there is also a higher demand for it here than anywhere else.