Villa Mairea

CD-ROM contains: files for all of the plans, sections and elevations included in the book.

Aalto's commission for this private residence allowed him to design a house that brought together a brilliant synthesis of color, material, form, and scale. The result was a widely celebrated house that was both modern and at the same time unmistakably Finnish. This handsomely produced and comprehensive publication documents all facets of this architectural masterpiece through lavish full page interior and exterior photographs, extensive essays, plans and diagrams.

Featuring over 100 of the most significant and influential houses of the twentieth century, For each of the houses included there are numerous, accurate scale plans showing each floor, together with elevations, sections and site plans where appropriate. All of these have been specially drawn for this book and are based on the most up-to-date information and sources.

This is a unique and comprehensive study of the entire span of Finnish architecture in the 20th century. Using comparative critical analysis, the author weaves Aalto's contribution into his overview of the evolution of modern Finnish architecture and includes the work of a range of lesser published figures. It will be of considerable interest to architects, art historians and all those interested in modern Finnish architecture.

During the course of a career spanning more than fifty years, Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) designed nearly one hundred single-family houses. Aalto, also known for his furniture and glassware, worked in a distinctive style that blended modernism and traditional vernacular architecture. Now available in paperback, Alvar Aalto Houses presents twenty-six of Aalto's innovative residences-from small summer homes and postwar standardized housing to large housing complexes for industrial commissions-built between the 1920s and the 1960s.

This volume presents over 40 texts in the topic of architectural regionalism, a subject of growing interest in contemporary practice and on college curricula today.