During the course of a career spanning over 50 years, Alvar Aalto designed nearly 100 single-family houses. Many of them are architectural gems, where his thoughts about dwelling and architecture come together. Aalto considered experimental building to be very important: in his opinion, there should always be an opportunity for experimentation in every project, for it is only in that way that architecture can be promoted and quality improved for the good of the ¿little man¿. It was specifically in the designing of single-family houses that Aalto could realize new ideas. Aalto¿s single-family houses can be divided into three groups: houses for individuals, the client of which was nearly always a relative or friend; houses designed for industrial institutions or other communities; and type- or standard houses. All the houses presented in Alvar Aalto Houses were originally designed for private clients.
The book presents eight single-family houses by Aalto from 1920s to the end of the 1960s, built in Finland, Estonia and France. Terho Manner's House, Töysä, Finland; Villa Tammekann, Tartu, Estonia; The Aalto House (Aalto's own House and Studio), Helsinki, Finland ;Villa Mairea, Noormarkku, Finland; Maison Louis Carré, Bazoches.sur-Guyonne, France¿Maison Aho, Rovaniemi, Finland;Villa Kokkonen, Järvenpää, Finland; Villa Schildt , Tammisaari, Finland Markku Lahti, director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation, tells in a fascinating way about the history of the selected houses, whom they were built for, and how Aalto adapted his own design ideals to the needs of his clients. Among the clients were some of the most famous cultural personalities of the time: art collectors, composers, and writers. Jari Jetsonen¿s fine full-colour pictures and Aalto¿s original drawings beautifully convey the special features of each house. The presentations of the houses are complimented by two essays: Markku Lahti¿s multi-angled review of Aalto¿s residential architecture, and architect, researcher Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen¿s fascinating description of Aalto¿s rich world of architectural details. The foreword has been written by Hiroshi Naito, architect and professor at the University of Tokyo.