A+U 04:23, 631 - Alvar Aalto Library Landscapes

This issue features ten public libraries designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto between the 1920s and 1970s. It was after the completion of the Vyborg Library, a project which began in 1927 and took seven years to complete, that the architect started to gain international recognition. While designing Vyborg Library, Aalto discovered “fantastic mountain landscapes”, leading him to create valley-like depressions as spaces for people to gather and read, surrounded by stepped terraces of bookshelves and natural light. Among the libraries presented here are Rovaniemi City Library, Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University, Wolfsburg Cultural Center, and Mount Angel Abbey.