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Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 087070107X
ISBN-13: 9780870701078
Mar 1998
Publisher: Museum of Modern Art
320 pages
Language: English |
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* ML=ships from multiple locations, AE/AP/AA=ships from U.S. Military location.
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* ML=ships from multiple locations, AE/AP/AA=ships from U.S. Military location.
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Synopsis
Peter Reed, associate curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, has edited this exhibition catalog for the exhibition of the same title (February 19 to May 19, 1998). Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), the subject of the exhibition and this accompanying catalog, is perhaps one of the most overlooked modern architects. In his work, Mr. Aalto sought to maintain both his Finnish heritage and native landscape, while infusing it with a modern sensibility. The title of the exhibition and catalog refers to his interest in dualities and opposites; he was especially adept at combining diverse qualities in one project. The exhibition includes examples of his well-known laminated wood furniture and the famous "Savoy Vase" of 1936, as well as project drawings and videotapes of actual building interiors.
| Size | | Length: | 320 pages | | Height: | 10.5 in | | Width: | 10.0 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 70.4 oz |
Industry Reviews
Aalto's skillful fusion of opposites is underscored by the subtitle of the Museum of Modern Art's exhibition and catalog, Between Humanism and Materialism (the name the architect gave to a 1955 lecture). However, that duality, which is addressed in the catalog's collection of excellent essays, is not fully enough reflected in the show's physical presentation. Intelligently organized by Peter Reed, the Modern's associate curator of architecture and design, the show has been handsomely installed by Jerry Neuner. . . . This scrupulous chronological survey brings to mind the classic displays that decades ago made MoMA exhibitions a watchword for clarity and good taste. Yet despite all the obvious care and precision of their efforts, Reed and Neuner could not fully overcome the major problem in mounting an Aalto show. The architect produced few drawings with enough 'wall power' to dominate a gallery space, . . . and models of his buildings . . . give little idea of the environmental setting that was all-important to Aalto's individualized conceptions.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Filler
The idea that Aalto--in implicit contrast to Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe--should be seen as an unworldly humanitarian is not so much ironic as unthinking. None the less, as the essays in the catalogue to the current exhibition show, it has proved strangely durable. While Marc Treib suggests that Aalto '(constructed) a sublime forest for "the little man" . . . (that) can be fully experienced (but) never completely fathomed', Peter Reed promotes him as the single-handed creator of a 'new humanism' in architecture. . . . Exhibits, too, have been chosen to emphasize Aalto's eye for the small. To an extent, this reflects a simple lack of space. . . . Even so, the museum's view of Aalto's work seems selective. . . . [The exhibits] fit neatly into MOMA's galleries, but even more tidily into the portrayal of Aalto as a man preoccupied with the everyday. The truth, of course, is rather different. It was Corbusier's apartment blocks and Mies's office buildings that really addressed the problems of daily life.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Darwent
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