Aalto

Alvar Aalto

(1898-1976) made a

unique modernist mark

. Influenced by both the landscape and the political independence of his native Finland, he designed

warm, curving, compassionate buildings,

wholly set apart from the slick, mechanistic, geometric designs that characterized much contemporary European practice.

Whether a church, a villa, a sauna, or a public library, Aalto's

organic structures

tended to replace plaster and steel with brick and wood, often incorporating

undulating, wave-like forms

, which would also appear in his chair, glassware, and lamp designs. An adherent to detail, Aalto insisted upon the

humanity of his work

stating: "Modern architecture does not mean using immature new materials; the main thing is to work with materials towards a more human line."

Many of Aalto's public buildings such as

Saynatsalo Town Hall

, the lecture theatre at

Otaniemi Technical University

, the

Helsinki National Pensions Institute

and the

Helsinki

House of Culture

may be seen as psychological as well as physical landmarks in the rebuilding of Finland after the ravages of war.