PROJECT - EXPERIENCING VILLA MAIREA - (part 2)
To what degree would Aalto credit the creation of Villa Mairea to Vitruvius’ myth of ‘a clearing within the forest’?
Was there an unconscious effort on his part to have believed the couple to hold such social prominence within their circle of designers and industrialists that Villa Mairea is to be a testament and a symbol of their status?
The 'clearing' is after all where ‘decisions are made’, where anything of importance is borne and where leaders congregate. The central as the seat of power, hence, whoever controls this dominion controls the seat of power.
Or, did Aalto consider Maria Ahlstrom the epitome of everything superior? Everything points to Aalto putting Maria on a pedestal. (to be explored in study 2). Why Villa Mairea? Why not Villa Gullichsen or Villa Noormarkku? To Aalto, Maria is the center of the universe and connects the past to the future as far as the ridge stretches from North to South. She is the key. The Ahlstrom name is as strong as the roots of the norway spruce. To Maire do we credit one of Aalto's finest creations and the beacon of his brilliance.
To distinguish one from the other and map out a kind of sequential superiority I believe, would be to see an underlying evidence that suggests a sense of hierarchy exists in Aalto's mind and a hierarchial structure was influential in the development of Villa Mairea whether achieved consciously or otherwise. Hence, it alludes to a kind of distinction and acknowledgement of a ranking.
STUDY/ANALYSIS 1: ELEMENTAL HEIRARCHY
STUDY/ANALYSIS 2: CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALITY
Another study from a planar perspective is the apparent hierarchial pattern of construction and materiality. (A gradual increase in the level of treatment and refinement can be observed from the Central position)
ANALYSIS 1:
Fundamental Elements
Everything in the universe is peceived to be a manifestation of fundamental building blocks -
(in ascending order of power): wood, earth, fire, water, air, void
Embodied within the three focus areas of Center, Perimeter and Outer we can discover a pattern of arrangement that signifies and further reinforces its heirarchial order as intended by Aalto
Order of hierarchy:
center - (open yard, pool) water, air, void
perimeter - (the solid building, fireplaces) earth, fire
outer - (forest of norway spruce and scots pine) wood
ANALYSIS 2:
From the central position:
We can observe from this vantage the changes in construction and materiality. There is an increase in the level of treatment and refinement from planes 1 to 4. When unfurled:
ABSTRACTION -
[ref: Juhani Pallasmaa - a Finnish architect and phenomenologist, concerned with phenomenology and multi-sensory architecture.
Pallasmaa, The Eyes Of The Skin: Architecture and the Senses (London: Academy Editions, 1996)]
Pallasma describes Villa Mairea as "an additive and episodic ensemble that grows detail by detail from below' - not an all-powering, ideal abstract structure dictated from above. Alto aims at a perceptual impact from the real vantage point of the viewer instead of intellectual formal considerations."
Alto considered both biological analogies and phychological dimensions in his designs; thus the emotional impact of his architecture is rooted in sensuous, archaic images of shelter, protection, confort, togetherness and familiarity.
The house is thus “archaic and modern, rustic and elegant, regional and universal at the same time. It refers simultaneously to the past and the future; it is abundant in its imagery and, consequently, provides ample soil for individual psychic attachment”
The result, Pallasmaa argues, is that the Villa Mairea "relates to the deepest existential dimensions of life and evokes a powerful architectural lived space"
This additive nature of Villa Mairea is readily evident in the display of materiality and construction from this planar perspective. I've decided to translate this dynamic changes into its quintessential geometric form using a decomposition process. The voronoi system is a perfect representation tool as the voronoi cells are similarly dynamic where its cell structures are made up of polytopes with different degrees in their combinations with relation to their vertices, sides and 2-dimensional faces.
The idea that the voronoi can represent the irregularities and poly-rhythms to provoke a response of haptic experiences as described by Pallasma by way of its changeable cell structures will in some way stay parallel to its degree of abundance in its imagery.
The degree of concentration in this diagram increases in conjunction with the level of importance of the spaces within this elevation.
And Maire's private studio is its crowning glory!
ANALYSIS 3:
1.Doorway along the hallway in the first floor that open out onto the verandah above the dining room exhibits a timber balustrade design of rudimentary arrangement
2.Main access to the private yard from the ground floor living room displays a strong visual element along the stairwell of tightly and irregularly grouped vertical timbers
3.The private yard can also be accessed via the ground floor consevatory. As you move towards the doorway of the conservatory the vertical elements of the bay windows that look out onto the private yard still give the impression of walking along the edge of the forest, finding a break and emerging out onto the clearing)
4.Another break in the perimeter is the basic timber gate made of several horizontal and vertical elements between the stonewall near the sauna and the man-made mound
5.A similar gate as well as the timber pergola along the eastern wall create the same impression.
NB:This study does not regard the dining hall exit and the adjacent door to the servant’s quarters that are both strongly concealed behind the stone constructed outdoor fireplace to hold valid consideration in this process as they seem created out of necessity rather than as part of a larger design scheme.
Within this void, we discover an interesting system defined by these indicators that appears to be made with intent and precision.
DELIVERABLES:
Esoteric Sentiment
To what degree would Aalto credit the creation of Villa Mairea to Vitruvius’ myth of ‘a clearing within the forest’?
Was there an unconscious effort on his part to have believed the couple to hold such social prominence within their circle of designers and industrialists that Villa Mairea is to be a testament and a symbol of their status?
The 'clearing' is after all where ‘decisions are made’, where anything of importance is borne and where leaders congregate. The central as the seat of power, hence, whoever controls this dominion controls the seat of power.
Or, did Aalto consider Maria Ahlstrom the epitome of everything superior? Everything points to Aalto putting Maria on a pedestal. (to be explored in study 2). Why Villa Mairea? Why not Villa Gullichsen or Villa Noormarkku? To Aalto, Maria is the center of the universe and connects the past to the future as far as the ridge stretches from North to South. She is the key. The Ahlstrom name is as strong as the roots of the norway spruce. To Maire do we credit one of Aalto's finest creations and the beacon of his brilliance.
THESIS:
Aalto had in mind to create a symbol.
A symbol for influence and prestige.
BACKGROUND:
One would say that the Ahlstrom/Gullichsen names would fall in the upper echelon of the Finnish social pyramid if one did exist; more due to the success of generations of Ahlstrom industrialists and designers. Maire Ahlstrom and Harry Gullichsen are protagonists for and believed in a type of social utopia and Villa Mairea would be an expression of that vision and aspiration.METHODOLOGY:
Establish patterns of heirarchy. To distinguish one from the other and map out a kind of sequential superiority I believe, would be to see an underlying evidence that suggests a sense of hierarchy exists in Aalto's mind and a hierarchial structure was influential in the development of Villa Mairea whether achieved consciously or otherwise. Hence, it alludes to a kind of distinction and acknowledgement of a ranking.
STUDY/ANALYSIS 1: ELEMENTAL HEIRARCHY
Villa Mairea located within the forest must emote such feeling of overwhelm in a way that captivates one to feel a certain connectedness and being a part of a megacosm. One cannot avoid but to focus on the natural elements overwhelming Villa Mairea. In this regard, this study will analyse the dominant fundamental elements that exist within the identified focus areas of Central - Perimeter - Outer.
STUDY/ANALYSIS 2: CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALITY
Another study from a planar perspective is the apparent hierarchial pattern of construction and materiality. (A gradual increase in the level of treatment and refinement can be observed from the Central position)
STUDY/ANALYSIS 3: TRANSITIONAL INDICATORS
Formal devices that would distinguish between being in the inner sanctum and along the fringes. Similar to being on the fringes of this seat of power that before one is taken into confidence, there are transitional indicators of crossing over this threshold.FINDINGS:
ANALYSIS 1:
Fundamental Elements
Everything in the universe is peceived to be a manifestation of fundamental building blocks -
(in ascending order of power): wood, earth, fire, water, air, void
Embodied within the three focus areas of Center, Perimeter and Outer we can discover a pattern of arrangement that signifies and further reinforces its heirarchial order as intended by Aalto
Order of hierarchy:
center - (open yard, pool) water, air, void
perimeter - (the solid building, fireplaces) earth, fire
outer - (forest of norway spruce and scots pine) wood
ANALYSIS 2:
From the central position:
We can observe from this vantage the changes in construction and materiality. There is an increase in the level of treatment and refinement from planes 1 to 4. When unfurled:
ABSTRACTION -
[ref: Juhani Pallasmaa - a Finnish architect and phenomenologist, concerned with phenomenology and multi-sensory architecture.
Pallasmaa, The Eyes Of The Skin: Architecture and the Senses (London: Academy Editions, 1996)]
Pallasma describes Villa Mairea as "an additive and episodic ensemble that grows detail by detail from below' - not an all-powering, ideal abstract structure dictated from above. Alto aims at a perceptual impact from the real vantage point of the viewer instead of intellectual formal considerations."
Aalto’s architecture incorporates dislocations, skew confrontations, irregularities and poly-rhythms in order to arouse these bodily, muscular and haptic experiences. His elaborate surface textures and details, crafted for the hand, invite the sense of touch and create an atmosphere of intimacy and warmth. Instead of the disembodied Cartesian idealism of the architecture of the eye, Aalto’s architecture is based on sensory realism; his buildings are not based on a single dominant concept or Gestalt; they are sensory agglomerations”
Alto considered both biological analogies and phychological dimensions in his designs; thus the emotional impact of his architecture is rooted in sensuous, archaic images of shelter, protection, confort, togetherness and familiarity.
The house is thus “archaic and modern, rustic and elegant, regional and universal at the same time. It refers simultaneously to the past and the future; it is abundant in its imagery and, consequently, provides ample soil for individual psychic attachment”
The result, Pallasmaa argues, is that the Villa Mairea "relates to the deepest existential dimensions of life and evokes a powerful architectural lived space"
This additive nature of Villa Mairea is readily evident in the display of materiality and construction from this planar perspective. I've decided to translate this dynamic changes into its quintessential geometric form using a decomposition process. The voronoi system is a perfect representation tool as the voronoi cells are similarly dynamic where its cell structures are made up of polytopes with different degrees in their combinations with relation to their vertices, sides and 2-dimensional faces.
The idea that the voronoi can represent the irregularities and poly-rhythms to provoke a response of haptic experiences as described by Pallasma by way of its changeable cell structures will in some way stay parallel to its degree of abundance in its imagery.
The degree of concentration in this diagram increases in conjunction with the level of importance of the spaces within this elevation.
And Maire's private studio is its crowning glory!
ANALYSIS 3:
TRANSITIONAL INDICATORS
To enter this inner sanctum, formal devices such as columns and railings made to resemble tree trunks are located at certain points to create the impression similar to that of emerging through the fringes of a forest clearing.
To enter this inner sanctum, formal devices such as columns and railings made to resemble tree trunks are located at certain points to create the impression similar to that of emerging through the fringes of a forest clearing.
We notice these transitional indicators are concentrated only at areas that provide direct access to this inner sanctum:
1.Doorway along the hallway in the first floor that open out onto the verandah above the dining room exhibits a timber balustrade design of rudimentary arrangement
2.Main access to the private yard from the ground floor living room displays a strong visual element along the stairwell of tightly and irregularly grouped vertical timbers
3.The private yard can also be accessed via the ground floor consevatory. As you move towards the doorway of the conservatory the vertical elements of the bay windows that look out onto the private yard still give the impression of walking along the edge of the forest, finding a break and emerging out onto the clearing)
4.Another break in the perimeter is the basic timber gate made of several horizontal and vertical elements between the stonewall near the sauna and the man-made mound
5.A similar gate as well as the timber pergola along the eastern wall create the same impression.
NB:This study does not regard the dining hall exit and the adjacent door to the servant’s quarters that are both strongly concealed behind the stone constructed outdoor fireplace to hold valid consideration in this process as they seem created out of necessity rather than as part of a larger design scheme.
Within this void, we discover an interesting system defined by these indicators that appears to be made with intent and precision.
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ReplyDeleteGood efforts. All the best for future posts. I have bookmarked you. Well done. I read and like this post. Thanks.
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