Villa Mairea - Alvar Aalto

Assessment 2
Lenny Ellis / 12928103
Architecture and Landscape Cultures

Donnell Garden - Thomas Church

 Villa Mairea Donnell Garden Complex Form Rigid Form
Unpredictable Continuity
Curving Biomorphic Curvaceous Wooden
Curving Verticality
Wooden Natural Iconic Rolling Wooden
Freeform Walkway
Undulating Evoking Sculpture
Undulating
Retreat Rolling Complicating
Unfettered
Timber Biology Juxtaposed

Verticality Outdoor
Alvar Aalto’s Villa Mairea
Landscape Mid-century
brings the beauty of
Sensory nature into the safety and
Juxtaposed Regarded
order of the home,
Thomas Church’s Donnell
Submerged Curvaceous
Garden brings the safety
and order of the home
Materiality Unfettered
into the natural
environment…
Rhythms Foreshadowed

Walkway Sculpture Living/Organic

Biology
Continuity Complicating Biomorphic
Landscape
Freeform Outdoor
Composed
Verticality Static
Unpredictable Wooden Materiality
Timber Wooden
Complicating Iconic
Rhythms Timber
Evoking Mid-century
Regarded Regarded
Villa Mairea
Villa Mairea was designed by Alvar Aalto in
Finland and built as a summer home for the
Gullichson family in 1938. The design is
based in the Finnish cultural tradition of
environmental responsibility and Aalto’s
personal passion for living close to the earth.
Environmental Composition

Alvar Aalto was given absolute freedom in the design of

the Villa Mairea. This allowed him to resolve his rationalist
manifesto, which is demonstrated in his use of
biodynamic forms to create shared spaces, representative
of the family dynamic. This also allowed him to move
away from the formalities of historical facades, and really
innovate, with nature as the catalyst.

At that time, Aalto also was greatly influenced by the

recent design and construction of Fallingwater, by Frank
Lloyd Wright, and even wanted to move this house to the
water to emulate the simplicity and emphasis on
environment found at the site of Fallingwater.

Finnish Culture
Finland has always had a
strong environmental social
conscience, and educated
from generation to generation
how important the natural
world is and how and why the
human condition is linked so
tightly to the natural
environment.
Alvar Aalto was raised with
these ideals and very
adamantly encouraged
building naturally by conveying
the very essence of the natural
(and not overdoing it). He felt
that he true objective of
architects was this, because
“everything superfluous turns
ugly with time.” (Aalto, 2005)
California Culture
California culture has a strong
history based in innovation and
disruption. The leisure culture
in and around the valley is also
very prevalent. Discovering
how to integrate the new within
to better resolve the traditional.
Thomas Church was a very
down to earth personality, but
also harboured a passion for
innovation. He desired to
create landscape as a place to
live in; something that feels
more akin to an outdoor room,
wishing that we could literally
live in the garden. (Church,
1995)
 Stone walls and wood panels
Materiality

Villa Mairea has strong representational emphasis on wooden columns, panels

and natural binding materials in the interior and exteriors that draw on the
verticality of its heavily wooded natural perimeter. The internal main staircase
and structural supports take on an almost vernacular quality with
unconventionally crafted joints and bindings. Many of the vertical elements are
paired to imply an organic density similar to that of the surrounding forest glen.

The structures implanted among the Donnell garden also attempt to bring the
strongest elements of the garden environment into the interior with the use of
stone and timber panels to isolate spaces. Large panes of sliding glass span
the southern exterior with with minimal framing or obstruction to expand the
Wrapped double column

views and invite the gardens environs to the interior spaces. These spaces are
merely based on the natural rooms that Thomas Church created in the
landscape that surrounds the built structures. The real living space at Donnell
garden is the garden and pool environment itself.
Gardens
Aalto designed the Villa Mairea home
as well as the landscape for the villa,
While the environment differs greatly
and made a point to incorporate the
between Mairea and Donnell, The two
landscape into the building design
share a strong natural aesthetic and
himself. Thomas Church, on the other
connection to landscape.

hand didn’t design the internal

structures himself, but because of the
Sheltered by large trees, the natural
clear definition of boundaries and of
surrounds of the Donnell gardens is
the landscape design (and its
comprised of plants native to the
establishment well before buildings
California climate, oak trees,
were designed or constructed), the
strategically placed ground cover.
gardens were a major influence in the
Mairea, located in an alpine glen in
architectural design and collaboration.
rural Finland, gives host to surrounding
Finnish fir and teak.

Thomas Church introduced a distinct

variance from the traditional gardens.
that ties directly to the environment
surrounding the Donnell gardens which
is littered with stones throughout the
natural landscape.

Kidney Pools

The most evident link between these two bodies or work is the
organic shape of the kidney pool. This design, first implemented
by Aalto in Villa Mairea, was a modern simplification of a natural
pool with a curved or graded surface and organic edge. This was
in sharp contrast to the more common traditional designs,
composed of simple geometric units, common in pools of the
time.

In abstracting a natural body of water into a beautifully simplified

organic bowl-like shape, Aalto and later Church were able to
create an object that famously embodied the modern design
aesthetic.

This relationship implies that design is not an isolated exercise. I

would argue that every idea comes from another inspiration.
Whether it’s literal and obvious or abstract and somewhat
objective. In this case, nature inspired Fallingwater and Finnish
culture, the combination of which inspired Alvar Aalto to design
an organic pool base on abstracting a natural body of water.
Then Thomas Church found inspiration to further simplify the
shape of what would be referred to as the kidney shaped pool,
and inspire a new style of Modernism in California.

To take this even further, we might even consider the effect of

drought in Califonia years later, to inspire the skateboarding
community to utilise this pool design to later be used in skate
parks all over the world. One long string of iteration and
innovation popularised by the application of these two very
aspiring individuals, Alvar Aalto and Thomas Church.

“The more social the art - and architecture is one of the most
social of arts - the more collective the spirit, the participation of
the environment and the whole epoch, in the work it involves. The
striving to give one’s best can come to fruition only in these
conditions.” -Alvar Aalto
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