Singapore Design Festival 2007

Synopsis:

Architecture cannot save the world but it can set a good example, so said Alvar Aalto.

Driven by idealism and guided by his philosophy of architecture’s “ulterior motive” in creating buildings as symbols of “the idea of creating paradise” for ordinary mortals, Aalto conceived designs for almost one hundred one-family houses during his fifty-five year career as an architect from 1921 to 1976. More than half of these were realised. Yet, as much as he has achieved recognition within and beyond his home country, Finland, this aspect of his work receives little attention.

The exhibition then highlights sixteen one-family houses selected from different points in his career: from Terho Manner (1923) via the more renowned Villa Mairea (1939) and Muuratsalo Experimental House (1954) to Villa Skeppet from the early 1970s. Through the one-family houses, which form a varied and fascinating component of Aalto’s extensive output, the trajectory, including changes and developments, of his architectural practice can be traced.

NUS Museum partners with the Department of Architecture at NUS to facilitate first-year students in interpreting and analysing Aalto's practice in dialogue with other masters of modern architecture. Selected presentations will be featured in the exhibition.

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