The Northern Architecture of Alvar Aalto

Today we're going to look at a very interesting subject: windows and where to place them in private homes. And we'll do it through the example of private architecture in Finland. In many ways, that country's climate and natural setting are comparable to ours, so the methods of Northern architecture are quite applicable in Russia. The period we'll examine begins in 1920 and continues to the present day. Why? Because it was in the 1920s, during the era of modernism in Europe, that "Aalto's style" first appeared in Finland.

The term "modernism" arose out of a need to put a single name to the variety of architectural movements that emerged in the 1920s. We'll focus on two of them: "functionalism" and "organic architecture." Functionalism raised technique to the rank of a driving architectural force; form followed function. Organic architecture put people and their needs first, seeking to emphasize their connection with nature. These two seemingly opposite styles came together in the work of the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. His buildings are inseparable from their surroundings and, at the same time, remarkably functional.

Aalto believed that nothing in a building should be left to chance. The amount of natural light, the way sunlight falls into the rooms, the views from those rooms, the way nature reaches into the interior, and the unity of exterior and interior space are the defining features of his work, and of contemporary Finnish private architecture.

For his summer house, for instance, the architect chose brick facades (he used more than 50 kinds). The window frames, shutters, and doors are made of wood (over time it was meant to darken and "blend in" with the rocky terrain around it). The foundation was made as shallow as possible, since the architect worked hard on the idea of foundationless houses. All of these methods were developed for maximum unity with nature. As you can see, nearly all the materials used to finish the facades are eco-friendly. And to let the facades flow smoothly into the interior, the same finishing materials are used indoors. But the most interesting part is the windows!

The windows are a direct dialogue with nature. They are made so that, through them, you can watch certain things going on around you without always being visible yourself.

A window looking out onto the road to the house. Anyone approaching is perfectly visible to you, but you are invisible to them because of the window's height and size.

A window at door level, thanks to the raised floor level inside, lets you see the forest at an adult's eye level (on the opposite side of the wall is a special opening that frames a view of the forest). At the same time, from such a window you can see everything happening in the yard perfectly well.

The window onto the courtyard sits a little lower, so that a person can comfortably sit beside it or, as in this case, on the windowsill and watch nature.

A portal, created by deliberately leaving an empty space between two brick walls, lets nature into the house.

THE LOUIS CARRÉ HOUSE

A window for watching the grass grow or the snow glitter. Set deliberately "into the floor," it lets you see the morning dew on the grass and the dog's tracks in the snow. It could be curtained off on both the inside and the outside when needed.

The window onto the ceiling on the second floor of the house. The house itself stands on a hill. A window like this opens up a view of the sky and the tops of the trees. The decorative shutters could be removed when desired.

The picture window. Thanks to its horizontal, elongated shape, it becomes a natural painting within the interior.

The square point window. It, too, is a natural painting in the interior, opening up a view of the homeowner's favorite distance. As a technique, it can be used to frame a view of the owners' favorite tree, flower bed, or lake.

The view from the second-floor windows onto the treetops of the forest.
The presence of nature in the house.

Aalto's Nordic style of architecture is carried on by today's architects. But what about the windows?

Consider a design by the Finnish firm Huttunen-Lipasti-Pakkanen Architects.

Here the facades and the interior of the building are a single whole. The exterior continues indoors through the use of wood and floor-to-ceiling windows. The landscape becomes one of the walls of the living space.

A strip window on the facade facing the backyard and a transparent door form "nature paintings" within the interior, set off by their frames. Their distance from the dining table is calculated so that the landscape stays in view. At the same time, the windows create a sense of privacy and intimacy in the interior space. From the front, you cannot see the owners of the house or their guests, because of the levels at which the windows are placed.

The next Finnish villa is the work of Avanto Architects. Here nature literally becomes the building material and forms the walls of the house, along with floor-to-ceiling windows. This villa is also interesting for following the principle of Palladio's Villa Rotonda: as in that famous building, its windows face each of the cardinal directions.

As you can see, windows are the single most important element of Northern architecture today. They come in different shapes and sizes, but they invariably serve to unite nature and architecture. Even in the harsh northern climate, they remain relevant and comfortable. The key is not to be afraid to experiment; then glass facades will turn the house not into an aquarium but into a comfortable space where nature, people, and function live side by side.