Video No. 6050. English Language Pal VHS.
An Exploration of Art on Film.
'Technology And Nature'.
Directed by Ywe Jalander.
The Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) is one of the great figures of modern architecture, ranked alongside Gropius, Le Corbusier and van der Rohe.
Reacting against the Art Nouveau-influenced style that prevailed in newly independent Finland, Aalto developed his own highly distinctive idiom via a series of buildings, such as the Library at Viipuri (1927-35), that are considered classics of the International Modern style in architecture.
This film analyses Aalto's uniquely successful resolution of the demands and possibilities created by new technology and construction materials with the need to make his buildings sympathetic both to their users and to their natural surroundings.
Aalto's buildings stand apart from the rigorous mainstream rationalism of much modern architecture, expressing his mystical understanding of a balanced relationship between human society and nature. His inventive use in particular of timber represents both a reference to the forest landscape of Finland and a building material that is "warm" and extremely adaptable. Aalto's architectural philosophy was fully realised in his post-war masterpieces, and such buildings as the Finlandia Concert Hall, Helsinki (1971) have made Aalto's native country a place of international architectural pilgrimage.
Also filmed in Italy, Germany and the USA, this documentary shows how the Finnish natural environment and art traditions were essential elements in Aalto's pioneering harmonisation of technology and nature.
