| Title |
A Study on the Contemporary Adoption and Transformation of the Alvar Aalto Legacy - Focusing on the Viipuri-type Skylight of the Aveiro Library (1988-95) by Alvaro Siza - |
| Authors |
Kim, Hyon-Sob ; KwakSeung |
| Keywords |
Alvar Aalto ; Alvaro Siza ; Viipuri-type Skylight ; Aveiro Library ; Transformation |
| Abstract |
The purpose of this paper is to show how the Finnish modern architect Alvar Aalto's (1898-1976) works were adopted and transformed in the contemporary context, through a study of the Aveiro Library (1988-95) skylight by the Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza (1933-). The Aveiro skylight is the 'Viipuri-type skylight' based on that of Aalto's Viipuri Library (1927-35), which arrayed a series of circular skylights to introduce diffused indirect light to the interior. In the Aveiro, however, the artificial lamps above the skylights were modelled on Aalto's later design elements after the Viipuri, and the dome-like curved ceiling as well as the conical light-tube protruding above the roof illustrate Siza's will to a creative transformation. Likewise, Siza's Viipuri-type skylights are continually evolving in his later projects. Nevertheless, despite the two architects' similar use of the skylight, we can notice there not only that Aalto still emphasised the modernist rationality while the contemporary Siza argues for the symbolic value of light; but also that the systems in Viipuri and Aveiro have different details conditioned by the respective regional contexts. In conclusion, this research supports the continuity of the 20th century architectural development and implies cross-fertilisation of culture. |