Alvar Aalto: Finnish Pavilion Paris 1937

Location Paris, France

Date 1935 to 1937
Building Type exhibition pavilion
Construction System wood pole siding and columns
Notes At World Exposition, Paris, 1937.
demolished. Lashed pole column detail.

The timber entrance was inspired by African

vernacular buildings

"The Exhibit took place partly in closed-in buildings and partly under
the open sky in such a way that the visitor hardly noticed the change
from interior room to open space. Architecturally, it was not the main
composition which dominatedit was rather the individual groupings
and the series of posts which were so conceived as to emphasize
Finnish timber as both a structural element and wall surfacing
Karl Fleig. Alvar Aalto. Scarsdale: Wittenborn & Company. p75.

Some of the wooden columns were made up of

four separate vertical members bound together
by thin lashing of wood

Alvar Aalto's Finnish Pavilion at the Paris 1937 was his first Finnish
pavilion work and had powerful and long-lasting consequences for
international opinion of his work. The pavilion competition was
announced in April 1936 and ended on June 8. Aalto sent in two
pavilion entries, and his entry 'Le bois est en marche' won first prize
and 'Tsit Tsit Pum,' placed second.
The location for the pavilion wasnt considered ideal for an exhibition
building: it was the highest point of the sloping, irregular site, and
cutting down any trees was prohibited. However, in Aaltos scheme
the external spaces were an integral part of the conception. Aalto
himself stressed, that the visitor hardly noticed the change from
interior room to open space.

The subtly profiled wooden boarding created a visually volatile corrugated texture that changed
according to the viewpoint or direction of the sun

The display of Finnish Pavilion evoked the spirit

of a modern forest culture as the essence of
Finnish life
Topic6: Aino Lampinen , Sanyung Lee

The entire pavilion complex formed a curving shape around a small

courtyard garden, which lured visitors in summers strong sunshine
and heat. The plan was organized as a walk through the woods, and
the grouping of the wooden pillars evoked a grove of trees. The
concept to show Finnish wilderness revealed not only in garden and
trees but also in the enormous photographs of forest landscapes that
formed an essential part of the exhibition. And even more so in the
tree trunks, assembled to form screens or scattered around the
pavilion.
The courtyard arrangement was said to resemble the loose
organization of farm buildings in Middle Finland. It was also
considered alike the staggered plans of traditional Japanese villas,
which grew in similar echelon fashion and had open verandas and
elevations to the garden and to small internal courts.
The solid exterior of the main pavilion was in total contrast of the
openness of the interiors. The main exhibition space was a large,
rectangular, top-lit volume with a sunken well. It was two storeys
high, which was characteristic of Aaltos concept for this type of
space. The cylinder-shaped roof lights cut out direct sunlight, and the
natural lighting was re-created at night by lamps that shone both up
and down.
Viipuri City Library, 1935

Floor plans, easily notice the cluster of masses.

*References
-Alvar Aalto: The Complete Catalogue of Architecture, Design, and Art by Goran Schildt
-http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Finnish_Pavilion_Paris.html
-Alvar Aalto, the mature years by Goran Schildt
-Finland through French Eyes: Alvar Aalto's Pavilion at the Paris International Exhibition of 1937
by Fabienne Chevallier and Richard Wittman
-Alvar Aalto by Richard Weston

The rectangular main hall and a stepped wing of low display rooms resembles the plan of Viipuri Library,
as well as the diffuse use of northern light (roof lights)
Topic6: Aino Lampinen , Sanyung Lee

Alvar Aalto: Finnish Pavilion New York 1939

Location New York, New York
Date 1939
Building Type exhibition interior
Construction
wood
System
Notes competition winning interior evoking northern lights.
At New York World's fair.

"This pavilion was truly a 'magic box' from a spatial point of

view on the inside, whilst it remained a simple functional box on
the outside.
Malcolm Quantrill. Alvar Aalto: a Critical Study. p92.

1939 New York Finnish pavilion is one of Aalto's bestknown work. Even though the country's financial issues, Aalto
created one of his major work. Alvar Aalto submitted two
entries ('Maa, Kansa, Ty, Tulos' and 'Kas Kuusen latvassa
oravalla'), and Aino Aalto a third entry ('USA 39') to the
competition, and competition ran out on May 9, 1938.The
result was amazing: Aalto won the first and second prize and
Aino took third.

Finnish Pavilion at the New York World's Fair perspective, inspired by northern lights

Topic6: Aino Lampinen , Sanyung Lee

Finland could not afford to build its own pavilion, so the entry
was designed in a rentable cubic section of a 'unit building'
which the host country had allotted to several small nations.
The competition assignment was very limited, more like
decoration to face the challenge of how to enlarge the space
visually. There was no proposal for either structural interest or
faade design.

Alvar Aalto's Savoy Vase (1936)

A collection of about ten objects from this series, from a shallow dish to an
about one meter high vase, was produced after Aalto's sketches and first
shown in summer 1937 at the Paris World's Fair, in the Finland pavilion. These
series of Savoy Vase affected to the motif of New York Finnish Pavilion

Alvar's entry 'Maa, Kansa, Ty, Tulos' provided two alternative

solutions for the dominating 'Northern lights' wall; the third
version was finally built. The final drawings, prepared just
before and after Aalto's first trip to America, are dated between
August 1938 and April 1939. A high, forward-leaning wooden
wall with a wavy form was placed diagonally across the length
of the box. The wall on the other side transformed the boxy
room into a confrontation of two unique faades. These two
extraordinary walls formed a tension-filled courtyard in the
middle of Finnish pavilion, leaving the service spaces hidden
between the free-form wall and the outer wall. The different
levels of the undulating wall stepped and inclined so that the
photographs on the wall were more visible. The northern lights
effect was made with closely-placed fins and colored light from
spot-lamps.

*References
-Alvar Aalto: The Complete Catalogue of Architecture, Design, and Art by Goran Schildt
-http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Finnish_Pavilion_Paris.html
-Alvar Aalto, the mature years by Goran Schildt
-http://janmichl.com/index.html
-Alvar Aalto by Richard Weston
Finnish Pavilion at the New York, plan and isometry

Northern lights
Topic6: Aino Lampinen , Sanyung Lee