ARCHITECT

ALVAR AALTO

PROJECT

MUURATSALO EXPERIMENTAL HOUSE 1952

The experimental house of Muuratsalo is located on the shores of Lake Päijänne. The house was used as the summer home by the Aalto family until 1994. Since then, the house has been acquired by the museum. The house is enclosed by a provisional courtyard space which, when looking outward, frames the landscape within its entrance. This partial enclosure mediates the space, creating a distinction between interior and exterior, open and closed form. Aalto described this group of buildings as a combination of an architect's studio and an experimental centre, in which one could also carry out experiments that are not yet sufficiently well developed to be tried out in practice and where the proximity of nature may offer inspiration for both form and structure. It was a kind of a laboratory, which at the same time was combined with a playful approach.

source: Wikipedia