The Aalto Library in Vyborg

Dear all,

today, it is my great pleasure to share with you that I have finally visited the Aalto Library in Vyborg! After seeing the interior of the Finlandia Hall, this has been the missing puzzle piece for me, the remaining Aalto building that I wanted to see for so long and one of the key works that defined Aalto as an architect. At the same time I am also proud to announce that I have now visited all Aalto buildings ever designed and built outside of Finland. Altogether I have visited 18 Aalto sites and traveled to 10 different countries starting in 2012 when I visited first Aalto buildings in Estonia, Denmark and Iceland followed by Germany and my U.S. Aalto Summer Trip in 2015. In 2017 I went to see an Aalto building in Switzerland followed by my European Aalto Summer Tour that took me to Aalto buildings located in Sweden, Germany, France and Italy. Visiting Russia, the tenth country in which Aalto's work has been realized made my list of foreign Aalto sites complete. Although the Aalto Library in Vyborg is the closest Aalto building to the Finnish border, arranging for visa and actually getting to Russia has for a long time appeared to me as an obstacle. The more happy I am that I finally had the chance to do this visit and I must say it was really great!

Site No. 83: Aalto Library in Vyborg / Russia (1927-35)

Vyborg Castle

By the time Alvar Aalto designed the library, Vyborg was still part of Finland. In fact Vyborg was the second largest city in Finland and its cultural center as well as the gateway to the world. Vyborg dates back to the 11th century and has been a Hanseatic city. Ruled by Sweden and Russia as well as the German influences through the Hanse made it a multicultural city in which Swedish, Russian, German and Finnish were all commonly used languages. The city as well as large parts of Carelia were lost during the WWII and former inhabitants of the city had to resettle in Finland. Among those were also some of my ancestors. The library survived the war but decayed over the years. In 1994, first efforts were made to preserve and renovate the building. The restoration gained more momentum in 2010, after the Finnish president had met with the Russian prime minister. Restorations were completed in late 2013. Almost 80 years after its completion in 1935, the library had been brought back to its original condition and has certainly become one of the main attractions among visitors of Vyborg today.

Ferry to Vyborg

The Aalto Library is located in Torkkeli park right in the city centre of Vyborg and can easily be reached by foot. To travel to Vyborg, I took actually the ferry from Finland. There are regular visa free day cruises organized during the summer months by ferry from Lappeenranta. Vyborg will be reached during a 5 hour crossing through the Saima Canal, a eight lock canal that connects lake Saima and Lappeenranta with the Baltic Sea and Vyborg. This is certain an interesting and exciting way to travel to Russia and I can only highly recommend this route also because it allows visa free entry intro Russia. The time in Vyborg is with three hours rather limited, but certainly there is enough time to go and see the Aalto Library as I did.

Vyborg Library was build between 1927 and 1935 and it is regarded as one of the major examples of 1920s functionalist architectural design. The building is in particular famous for its wave-shaped ceiling in the auditorium which Aalto argued was designed for acoustic reasons. 

The ceiling was entirely renewed during the renovations and is once again the highlight of the building, that can be seen both from inside the auditorium as well as from the outside.

The actual library and reading rooms are located in the upper levels. What stands out here are the round ceiling windows that provide natural light to the readers and create an interesting atmosphere.

The staircase to the upper levels were the actual library and reading rooms are located.

An interesting detail are also the wave shaped handles. These were reinstalled during the renovation as they had gone missing during the decay of the library.

The library features also a significant amount of literature on the library and Aalto himself.

Another highlight is certainly the staircase that has windows to both sides, the outside and the inner lobby.

The staircase shares similarities with that of the Paimio Sanatorium, designed by Aalto around the same time as the Vyborg Library.

In addition to the upper level library and reading rooms, there is also a children's section on the lower level right behind the lobby.

Finally, from the street level the newspaper and magazine reading room can be accessed through a separate entrance.

The exterior clearly shows elements of functionalist architectural design similarities with Villa Tammekann in Tartu that Aalto designed about the same time, in the early 1930s. 

With finally visiting the Aalto Library in Vyborg, a dream has come true for me. I have seen so many pictures of the building and have been following the news on the restorations closely. Now finally, as the building had been brought back to its original glory I am happy that I had the chance to visit and experience it first hand. The Aalto Library in Vyborg is certainly a must for every Aalto fan and a building you should not miss. Taking the cruise down the Saima Canal provides a nice and easy way to visit this icon of functionalist architecture while avoiding the hassle of acquiring a visa for the purpose of this visit.

Villa Kokkonen

Site No. 82: Villa Kokkonen in Järvenpää (1967-69)

After so many years of passing by Järvenpää on my way to Helsinki, today, I finally got off the train in order to visit another iconic masterpiece of Alvar Aalto's work. The building in question is no less than the former home of the well-known Finnish composer Joonas Kokkonen (1921-1996) for whom Aalto designed this house. The house is located just a few kilometers off the city of Järvenpää right on the shores of Lake Tuusula. This area is also known for housing the Finnish artist community at the turn of the 20th century. Famous Finnish writers, composers and painters such as Jean Sibelius, Aleksis Kivi or Eero Järnefelt resided in this area. Joonas Kokkonen was seen as one of the last representatives of this community and it comes at no surprise that he had his home erected here.

After Kokkonen had selected the right spot for his new home, he started to look for a suitable architect. Knowing Alvar Aalto through the Finnish Academy, of which both were members at the time, he asked Aalto for advice in finding an architect. Aalto understood this inquiry as a joke because he immediately offered his services, assuming that he was the architect Kokkonen had in mind at first. Kokkonen was not necessarily interested in receiving an extravagant building, like he had perceived Aalto's previous work until then. It is said that Kokkonen was at first not very happy with all the great ideas Aalto proposed. In the end, however, he gave Alvar Aalto free hands which Aalto in return in Kokkonen's favor by not charging him for his services at all. The purpose of the building certainly was to provide Joonas Kokkonen with a quiet space where he could compose. The center piece of the building is Kokkonen's grand piano itself. Aalto kind of designed the house around the instrument. The grand piano is located in a large room that is these days used for music performances and can easily host 30 listeners at a time.

The house itself was after Kokkonen's death purchased by the City of Järvenpää and is currently run by two very engaged entrepreneurs that keep the house open to the public. Besides guided tours they also organize, on a frequent basis, concerts as being musicians themselves. Each guided tour includes also a musical performance by the two hosts, featuring works of Kokkonen him selves. The house can be visited during the frequently organized guided tours without reservation or by making an appointment in advance. More information can be found here. I participated in one of the guided tours that provided interesting in-sights into the building, its history and its former owner. During the tour it was possible to explore the grounds as well as large parts of the buildings interior. Similar as with other private homes designed by Alvar Aalto such as Villa Mairea or Villa Schild it was not allowed to take photographs of the interior unless agreed with the organizers beforehand.

Villa Kokkonen opens up in a fan shape towards Lake Tuusula. The building is divided into three major areas, the large concert room with the grand piano, a center tract with living and dining room for receiving guests and a third more private wing that contains the bed rooms and space for personal. In addition there is a sauna, a garage and a small cabin for storage located on the grounds.

Right by the wooden sauna there is also a small pool that provides a beautiful view towards Lake Tuusula. 

Stairs are leading down towards the sauna, pool and garden. The roofing is kept in a very similar style as can be found at Villa Mairea with plans covering the columns.

The wooden coating of the building kept in dark brown reminded me instantly of the Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale Aalto designed in the 1950s.

Järvenpää can easily be reached by local train from Helsinki. Take the R or H train from Helsinki Central Station and you will be in Järvenpää in just 30 minutes. From Järvenpää station it is about 3 kilometers to Villa Kokkonen. During weekdays and on Saturdays there is a direct bus connection from the railway station to the house with line 21. During my visit on a Sunday there was no bus connection, however, walking to the house didn't take me more than 30 minutes and finding Villa Kokkonen is fairly easy by just following the street signs. I was lucky enough to get a ride back to the station by one of the other visitors and my thanks and gratitudes go to her.

Villa Kokkonen is another great example of Aalto's outstanding talents and a must to visit if you are in Helsinki region or are visiting any of the other artists home of the Finnish artist community such as Jean Sibelius Ainola. The guided tour together with a musical performance and the delicious coffee served afterwards are definitely adding great value to the experience.