Villa Mairea

I recently took a chance to revisit one of my favorite buildings of all time. Finnish architect Alvar Aalto's masterpiece, the Villa Mairea, exemplifies architectural execution down to the minutest detail. Phaidon released a book just on this building, and if you can get ahold of it, it shows all of the wonderful thought and nuance. Here are a few images to see what I mean.


The curvilinear entry way invites you into the house from the forest incorporating an organic sensibilty to the begininning of the promenade.



The backyard has this pool along with rusticated sauna made from old wood. Several rooftop balconies look over the courtyard.


The fireplace along with the sauna are centerpieces in every Finnish home. The central location of the fireplace distinguishes it as object upon which the rest of the house rotates around.


Detail of the fireplace. Aalto's sculptural representation of a windblown snow bank.