Alvar Aalto, case a terrazze, Sunila Kauttua, Finlandia, 1938/47

Date:November 13, 2017

Tags: balcony, casestudyhouse, extraurbano, private house, terrace

Alvar Aalto, dormitorio MIT, Boston, USA, 1947-1949 →

Alvar Aalto, case a terrazze, Sunila Kauttua, Finlandia, 1938-1947

Alvar Aalto (3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. Aalto’s design approach is mainly close to functionalism and organic architecture, his favorite materials are wood and brick and his buildings fit harmoniously into the landscape.

Alvar Aalto designed the neighborhood around the Kauttua paper mill of A. Ahlström Osakeyhtiö. His work rests on the prototype of Vaino Vahakallio in 1934/35. Actually this terraced house is one of the five, which have never been built, because of the Winter War. One of the main characteristics of it is the adaptation of the facilities in the natural location they belong to, and their connection with nature.

Terraced houses (Terasitalo in finnish) in Sunila Kauttua are living example of Aalto’s desire to place building to a natural environment. It’s one of the Aalto’s most significant works. The architect originally designed houses for senior employees od Ahlström Oy ‘s Kattua paper mills. This model is part of the third type of houses designed for this neighborhood. The concrete-brick building has four floors and six residental units. The are composed as a ‘staircase’ in the terrain when each floor has access directly to the ground. They are minimal flat, and all identical. Those on the upper floors have a terrace with a area approximately 30 m2, and a transversal ventilation, while that on the ground floor have a little area , which can be used as a courtyard. Larger apartments have the area od 120 m2. It involves large open-plan living room, three bedrooms, a kitchen, a small dining and a guest room. The first three buildings floors continue from the kitchen to the slope beneath the ground, with a small laundry room, basement and a storage space. On the top floor there are three smaller apartments.

The Ahlström’s family owned the houses a long time, until Eura municipality opened the empty flat to public in 2016. Today the place serves as a showroom, where varied exhibitions are organized.