Jari Jetsonen: The project started in ’94 with three buildings: Maison Carre, Villa Mairea and Villa Skeppet. Discussing it with Markku Lahti in 1995, it sort of grew into a more general review of Aalto’s detached houses. Going through the houses, the important ones clearly stood out. And between the years 1928 and 1976 I discovered the life story of Alvar Aalto. It was a great revelation! Terho Manner’s house (1923) with it indications of a young Alvar’s admiration of Gunnar Asplund who actually didn’t take Alvar to work at his office. Then, Aino and Alvar’s home and the discovery of Functionalism. And there was the Niemelä House and quite a lot of vernacular Finnish architecture… One foot was in continental Europe, the other in Finland. And then Villa Mairea (1939) and a somewhat gradual decline until a surge of new activity with Elissa and Alvar’s Muuratsalo (1954), in which so much is achieved poetically in four directions. When you approach it from these different directions, it tells four different stories. And then there are traces of Finlandia Hall in Schildt’s house (1970), like the New Testament or a valuable postscript, I can’t…
JJ: Then thirdly I began taking a closer look at the buildings and found in each traces left by the occupants. Many of them had been modified quite extensively. Especially in Muuratsalo and Mairea, a fine personal patina remained. And the good materials have aged beautifully. That’s close to my personal taste. I’ve always liked natural materials and have even used them in my own scale models. If I think about Alvar in a more general way, it’s those tales, Wickberg’s the many stories that have been a kind of backbone because I come from the generation that never met Alvar. Stories are stories, and the photographs narrate my experiences when approaching those buildings.
- Tell me about your impressions of Villa Tammekann (1932) which you have just photographed.
JJ: TThe house is in a sad condition now but if it’s repaired it will be a spectacular gem in that row of buildings. It’s the only one with a flat roof. The state of disrepair lends in a kind of Tarkovskian atmosphere. Although all traces of Aalto have vanished in its present condition. It’s a renovator’s dream.
JJ: When he went to Paris to give a lecture, he practiced it in front of a mirror. Those theatrical gestures. He probably loved himself more than any other.
- A rare architect in the sense that he loved himself more than the mirror.
JJ: Many people have admired Aino. She did her own projects at night, on top of all that Alvar-fussing. The competition for the New York Expo! Making her own projects in secret at night, and those two during the day. And the family!
JJ: His point of departure was that he had married her. And Alvar’s charisma was so powerful that it swept others along. Everyone has said so. I’ve wondered, was he like a chameleon, talking with workers during the day and with the bigwigs at night, on first-name terms with everybody! He certainly knew how to talk…
Text : Louna Lahti’s Book "Alvar Aalto -Ex Intimo"
Publisher : Building Information Ltd, Helsinki. 2001
Interview : 16 July 1997 in Pärnu, Estonia
Photo: Villa Tammekann in 1997 and 2000
