Aalto and America (Yale University Press, 2012) is a comprehensive study of Alvar Aalto’s projects, experiences and influence in the US. The book has been edited by Stanford Anderson, Gail Fenske and David N. Fixler and it includes contributions by Sarah Williams Goldhagen, Dörte Kuhlmann, Colin St. John Wilson, Juhani Pallasmaa, Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Pekka Korvenmaa, Sarah Menin, Michael Trencher, Lawrence W. Speck, Ákas Moravánsky, Paul Bentel, Kari Jormakka, Matthew A. Postal, and Michael Spens.
Aalto built three major works in America that counter among the most important in his career: the Finland Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair, Baker House at MIT and the Library at Mount Angel Abbey, Oregon. Beyond the works themselves, the interaction of Aalto’s engagement reached far beyond that of a tourist or casual traveler, or even an astute observer. It involved, rather, virtually all facets of his life and work. Aalto and America calls attention to the complex nature of Aalto’s experience with America. It explores his key works in depth while examining larger themes in international politics, architectural culture, housing research, and modernist criticism and design. In doing so, it highlights the distinctive strain of modernism that Aalto and others practice around 1940 in Europe and the United States.
The text is in English. The book has been richly illustrated with photographs, architectural drawings and other visual archive material.
The copy in our stock is in very good condition. There is only some minuscule shelf wear on the dust jacket.
