Alvar Aalto de L’Oeuvre Aux Ecrits (1988)

Text in French. 31cm x 22cm. Alvar Aalto is one of the most renowned architects of the 20th century. The clarity of his work has meant that it is often perceived today as a cornerstone of the “modern movement.” But it would be wrong to see in Aalto’s work only the expression of the dominant traits of a series of functionalism to which this movement is too often reduced. In objects as well as in architecture and in the relationship between the two, Aalto sought and found a richness of meaning and use that goes well beyond simple obedience to function. Steeped in local culture and the history of architecture, he worked to bring together the material of modern, regional, rational production for industry, yet sufficiently diverse to satisfy all the dimensions of human existence. It is this human dimension that clearly emerges when reading the writings gathered in this book, published for the first time in France. They reproduce statements made by Alvar Aalto, who was economical with words throughout his life, preferring to let the architecture he designed speak for his ideas—ideas that remain astonishingly vivid today. Condition: very good in slightly worn dust-wrapper.