Saturday, March 8, 2014

Alvar Aalto in Tampere

Site No. 52: Housing for Ex-service Men in Tampere (1940-41)

Today I visited again a new Alvar Aalto site, the second one in Tampere. A sunny (early) spring day brought me to Tampere, which is only a 90 minutes ride on the train from Jyväskylä. The side I visited today is a housing area consisting of 14 houses designed by Alvar Aalto in the early 1940s. The houses were build for men who had served in WWII. The housing area is located in the district of Nekala, about 4 kilometers from the city centre of Tampere. To get there use Bus 15 from the Central Bus Station (Keskustori) towards Kaukajärvi. The ride takes about 10-15 minutes and you should get off at a stop called Jokipohjantie 18. Follow the street in the same direction as the bus came for another 100 meter and turn then left to a street called Asevelitie. The site can easily be distinguished because a large stone was errected as a memorial for the war heros:


The houses are kept quite simple. They are single floored, made of wood and they hardly stand out from the surrounding family homes. However there are a few elements that help to differentiate them from other family homes. Especially to mention is the roof form and the backing of the roof elements. Here are now some pictures of the houses:


Due to the fact that this are private homes I was not able to have a closer look at the houses. In case you planning to visit this site please keep this in mind.


No comments:

Post a Comment