and warm regards from down under! I am currently in Australia on a 3 months research visit at Griffith University, far away from any Aalto building. Nevertheless, it is once again time to look back at another year of following Alvar Aalto's architecture reflected in this blog. It has been nine years since I started this blog in 2010. Also this year has been full of great site visits and I was once again able to tick off quite a number of outstanding buildings from my list.
Probably most remarkable for me this year was the visit to the Vyborg Library as I have had this visit on my list for so many years.Visiting the Vyborg Library also meant that I have now seen all Aalto buildings outside of Finland. Altogether I have traveled 11 countries to see Aalto's work. The other highlights certainly were the guided tour of the Finlandia Hall and visiting Villa Kokkonen in Järvenpää. In addition I also visited some less known Aalto sites such as the Adult Education Institute in Kajaani, Maison Aho and Korkalorinne Housing Area both in Rovaniemi as well as Harjuviita and KELA housing areas in Helsinki.
Another remarkable aspect worth mentioning here is also the growing readership of this blog. Just recently it reached a new record having attracted more than 160 000 readers. At this point I would like to say thank you for your loyal readership which I really appreciate a lot.
Also for the upcoming year more site visits are planned. One remarkable building that I have already reported earlier about and which has undergone a major renovation is the Museum of Central Finland, located in Jyväskylä, right next to Aalto's own museum. This museum had been closed for almost two years and will finally reopen again in early 2020. During summer 2019, after the renovations of the exterior had almost been completed, I had a chance to already take a first look at the building (picture below). It looks as if a lot of effort was put into bringing the building back to its original stage and I am already quite excited to see how the building's interior has changed once the museum opens again. Other sites that I am planning to visit in the upcoming year are the Primary School in Inkeroinen, the Power Station in Lieksa and I am currently playing with the idea to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this blog with a festive meal at the Savoy Restaurant in Helsinki that was entirely designed by Alvar Aalto.
Although I thought I am very far away from any Aalto building down here in Australia, my opinion completely changed last weekend when I made my way down to Sydney to see the most iconic building this country has to offer, the Sydney Opera House. While wondering through the building and taking a closer look at its exterior I could just somehow see also Aalto's work reflected in this building. It was just some small details that made me think so. I then started to read more about the architect Jorn Utzon and it came to me at no surprise when I learned that Jorn Utzon actually had worked with Aalto for some time and had also named Alvar Aalto as one of his great influencers. So although 15 000 kilometers away from Aalto's (and my) home, still I keep running into what he has created during his lifetime which remains after all quite remarkable and inspiring to me.
With this words I want to enter year 10 of my mission of following Alvar Aalto's architecture and hope that the buildings I am going to see this year will keep me inspired. At the same time I also hope you will stay tuned and keep following me on this journey.
