The late architect Alvar Aalto's experiments with structure have turned out fine works that are still highly sought after
LIGHT FANTASTIC: The Floor Lamp A810 comes with a black leather-covered stand and lampshades that face opposite directions. This allows the light to be spread out, making it less harsh on its surroundings. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIMTHE 'little' man was a big consideration in the work of late Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.
'For Aalto, every design had to have the 'little man' in the centre,' says Professor Matti Rautiola, adding that this meant taking the user into account.
'He was considered one of the most famous architects,' says the professor, a board member of the Alvar Aalto Foundation.
Aalto (1898-1976) was sometimes called the 'Father of Modernism' in the Nordic countries.
He was extremely prolific in his 55-year career, having designed about 500 buildings, mostly in Finland. He also designed 100 single-family homes - to fit just one family - and more than half of which were realised. There are still some 50 such houses standing today.
Photographs and drawings of 16 of these works are on display at Alvar Aalto, an exhibition at the NUS Museum.
Prof Rautiola says Aalto was not interested in designing homes for the rich.
He designed the single-family homes for three groups - friends and relatives, corporations that required housing for its staff and, lastly, as standardised housing models.
He created a sense of place in his homes, 'so that each person can feel unique and feel that the place was specially designed for him', explains Prof Rautiola.
Aalto once wrote: 'Architecture cannot save the world but it can set a good example.'
In 1954, he built the Experimental House - his summer home - at the side of a huge rock outcrop, experimenting with various brick-layering styles to test their durability in the Finnish weather. He even built a fireplace in an outdoor courtyard for this house on Muuratsalo, a Finnish island.
The house still stands today and Prof Rautiola says that when the fireplace is lit and the surroundings are all dark, it feels like being indoors.
By the 1950s, Aalto was one of the few Finns who were considered so important that if they were late for a Finnair flight, the plane delayed take-off until they were on board.
According to a past report, Aalto often arrived late and Finnair passengers were accustomed to waiting for him.
While he designed buildings and homes, he also designed on a smaller scale. In 1935, together with a group of young Finnish idealists, he started the furniture brand Artek.
The pieces he created, such as the Stool 60 and the Armchair 42, were a result of his structural experiments.
His Floor Lamp A810 with its leather stand and his birch wood Tea Trolley are so well-known, 'every Finn wants to buy them', says Prof Rautiola.
Another icon is the Aalto vase for Finnish glassware company Iittala. Its organic form was inspired by the leather breeches carried by Eskimo women, and is one of the most copied shapes in the world.
Some Artek and Iittala pieces are available at Scandinavian lifestyle store Style:Nordic in Ann Siang Road.
Despite more than 30 years after his death, Aalto still has something to impart to young designers today.
'They can learn that the value of good design is a universal quality,' concludes Prof Rautiola.
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