Thursday, June 24, 2010

June 21, Monday







We took our giant bus to Turku, and along the way stopped at Hvittrask and the Paimio Sanatorium (the first of many Alvar Alto buildings we are seeing).





Hvittrask was a house designed for and by Hesellius, Lindgren and Saarinen (3 really famous Finnish architects). Many of the architects I will come across are kind of "out there" types of people with high hopes and strong beliefs.  These guys thought it was a good idea to live and work in the same space, and two of them ended up exchanging wives! This picture is of the exterior of the Saarinen house.


Paimio Sanatorium was designed by Alvar Alto in 1928. He is one of the architects I was most excited about in coming on this trip. He puts great effort into the human experience of someone using the space, and designs every detail of the building down to the gavel that is used in a courtroom (he actually did that). The Sanatorium was designed for people with tuberculosis. At the time it was thought that fresh air and being away from the city could cure them. 

1 comment:

  1. The Paimio Sanatorium looks like a beach towel with those colors. It also looks like it could be put to good use as a Miami Dolphins training/rehab center. Just my $.02.

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