Red House Brick: Architecture by Alvar Aalto

Red House Brick: Architecture of Alvar Aalto When I started to research more about Alvar Alto, it was easy to see how amazing he was as a designer in general. His variety was like no other, going from designing massive libraires and universities, to bending plywood to design chairs, his range is unmatched. But when looking into his architectural work, it was incredible to see what type of buildings he designed using red house bricks. Buildings standing at 20-30 metres in height whilst having beautiful curves in them, it’s just amazing.

Growing up in Australia, the type of houses built from red house bricks are vastly different. Bland, mundane apartment blocks or small houses painted a bad picture of the red house brick, so seeing what Alto designed and how he designed buildings to utilize that material in such an astonishing way, is so fascinating. To me, it really shows how far backwards we’ve come. No buildings are designed in that fashion anymore, assuming because of how expensive it would be with manual labor and material costs. But saying that, it shows what we can do with design and certain materials, and how it can change our perspective on a particular material.

In today’s Australian building world, we generally see the red house brick for common buildings such as small houses, apartment blocks, and small libraries. Most suburban areas are littered with houses that have four full walls of red house bricks along with a corrugated iron roof, and even looking as far as suburban areas in the UK, it’s a very similar situation as they had to make cheap apartments to account for the heavy population in such a small area. Therefore, growing up in Australia we have this mentality of the red house brick and houses full of the red house brick as tedious and mundane look. In a sense, when comparing it to how Alvar Aalto used the red house brick in his commercial and residential projects, makes it feel like we’ve gone backwards.

Looking back at the Town Hall at Saynatsalo, the Experimental house at Muuratsalo and the Jyväskylä University Building, it’s amazing to see how he could use such a simple building material and use it in a way to make the building spectacular, especially on such a large scale. The Jyväskylä University Building has this beautiful façade which only has bricks, but because of a few different angles on the wall, and because of the height and width of the wall, it looks like an artwork of the red house brick. Another example is the Baker house at MIT (Boston), which stands at 20 metres in height. The Southern façade of this building has three massive curves in it, and to make this work in a commercial building such at the Baker House, is astounding. On the northern side of this building has another remarked aspect of his work which is how he layers the bricks to create a different shaded façade.

This technique is also used in, which is known as Alto’s most famous building, the Town Hall at Saynatsalo, Finland. The environment in which this building is in really frames the building and this part of the building, and it makes the amazing contrast between nature and the heavy use of red bricks and how he layers the bricks. Furthermore, the experimental house is probably the best example of contrast between todays building world and the 1950’s the decade which it was built. We see here that he experiments with different sized bricks, different shapes, and different placements of the bricks. The exterior of the bricks is also painted white which also contrasted the colour looking into the courtyard of the building.

It is a shame that the red house brick has been visualized as a tiresome building material in the modern building era, comparing it to the 1950’s with Alto’s work. It would be a good change to incorporate more red house bricks into new buildings but use them in a way in which Alto did as well. Unfortunately, that may not be possibly more many reasons such as price and time, but it’s good to appreciate what is possible, thanks to Alvar Aalto.

1.

Rautatalo Office building Architect: Alvar Aalto Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue This piece of Alto’s work is probably his most basic out of all, as it’s a rectangular box which has a huge amount of glass and steel. But the size of the brick wall on the smaller side is quite impressive, standing at 32 metres. Furthermore, on the long side facing the street, it has giant red brick arches which is rarely seen anymore, especially in the 1950’s.

2.

Experimental house Architect: Alvar Aalto Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue The experimental house is better known as a piece of artwork from Alvar Alto, rather than a building. The amazing way he used different shapes and sizes of bricks to create different patterns on the two is amazing.

But also, the way he used high walls with openings in them to picture the environment around the building is truly a work of art. This house is one of Alto’s most famous examples of red brick work that he created.

3.

Baker House Dormitory, MIT Architect: Alvar Aalto Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue This building is incredibly remarkable in terms of the time it was built and the pure scale of it. Using red bricks in multiple curved walls is hard enough, but to add that the building is 20 metres in height. In addition to that, Alto design the faced on the other side to be layered as well. And the outcome of the building is amazing, from the designing process to the application, to the outcome. And to top it off, Alvar became a professor, for then he lectured at MIT in Boston, MA.

4.

Aalto Studio Architect: Alvar Aalto Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue Although the red bricks are painted white, it’s still an incredible example of how he designed curved shaped buildings, using bricks. This is a much smaller scale compared to other buildings, but he still uses same building techniques such as ribbon windows, high ceilings, and obviously, curved bricks. Now, it is preserved for tour use.

5.

Town Hall Saynatsalo Architect: Alvar Aalto Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue As far as brick facades go, this is one of my favourites. There is something so powerful about the minimal-to-no windows and full walls of red bricks. And the layering of each wall just makes this even more extraordinary. And to top it off, it coincides with the amazing surroundings of Saynatsalo because of the contrast between red bricks and the forest. Alto was able to integrate the environment with the building, remarkably.

6.

Polytechnic University of Otaniemi Auditorium Architect: Alvar Aalto Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue Another project where Alto has shown what the possibilities are with brick on a massive scale. The example I have used is only a portion of the whole university, which is probably the most fascinating building there, the auditorium. Walls standing at 26 metres in height, whilst being curved with a circumference of 64 metres.

7.

Jyväskylä University Building Architect: Alvar Aalto Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue Jyväskylä University another university that Alto has designed with most buildings being red brick. The façade I have chosen to focus on from the building is another example of how amazing a full red brick façade can look.

Only having a window in the top left corner and a small entry door down the bottom is a typical Alto building style

8.

Hall of Culture Architect: Alvar Aalto Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue Another building located in Finland, and another building with a full red brick façade around the whole building.

However, this is unique to the others as it has curved brick walls, but also curved brick columns. This building was originally design for the Finnish Communist Party but is now one of the most popular concert venues in Finland.

Clay Model that did not work out

24 hours later...

Red House Brick: Interpretations

1.

Villa Savoye as if Alto designed it.

Architect: Le Corbusier Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue Controversial. As the Villa Savoye is regarded as one of the most respected architectural buildings ever built (designed by Le Corbusier). I have decided to do my take on what it would look like if Alto designed it. Which is not far from it as it was also designed in the same decade as most of Alto’s buildings, but also because of its minimalistic design, along with the ribbon windows which alto used in most of his buildings. The red brick façade is the obvious change on the building, along with the red brick courtyard upstairs, which relates back to the experimental house.

2.

Griffith University G39 block as if Alto designed it.

Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue I thought I’d have a take on what Alto what do in the Gold Coast, especially on a building that we all know so well. My assumption of what he would do with this building, is replace the Northern windows with ribbon windows, whilst again, having a full brick façade. Change the glass on the entry façade of the building with more ribbon windows and red brick.

3.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as if Alto designed it.

Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Model Done by: Mark McPhail Materials: 1mm Cardboard and Glue I thought I’d see what Alto’s take on the famous Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum would be like, seeing as it’s a curved façade, which Alto would have used brick for. This was a little bit before Alto’s famous decade of the 50’s but he still would have made it work, as it follows the same minimalist design. I imagine the rounded sides being fully made from red brick, but the wall above the entrance staying white