Finland [antikvár]

Architecture needs the existence of something old and permanent, like the cycle of the years, the rhythm of the moon, the majesty of the streams, or the old moss-covered rock. I feel that the most important aspect in modern architecture is the attempt to make man rediscover these fundamental values. Aulis Blomstedt, 1950—70 Nature, biology, offers profuse and luxuriant forms; with the same constructions, same tissues and same cellular structures it can produce millions and millions of combinations, each of which is an example of a high level of form. Human life comes from the same roots. The objects that surround man are hardly mere fetishes and allegories with some mystical eternal value. They are more likely to be cells and tissues, alive just as cells and tissues are, the building components of which human life is composed. They cannot be dealt with in a different way from biology's other units, otherwise they would be in danger of becoming unsuited to the system, of becoming inhuman. AlvarAalto, 1935 In contrast to the view which sees in established forms and the standardization of new forms the only way towards architectural harmony and a building technology that can be successfully controlled, I . want to underline that the most profound property of architecture is a variety and growth reminiscent of natural organic life. I should like to say that in the end this is the only real architectural style. If barriers are set up before it, architecture fades and dies. Alvar Aalto, 1938