Architecture -17- Alvaro Aalto - The Community Center Of Saynatsalo Finland

It is intimate and idiosyncratic, with an unusual layout directly responsive to the genius loci. The various buildings forming the group—municipal offices, council chamber, library and officials' residences—are planned round a courtyard which is artificially raised above the surrounding wooded countryside by using the material excavated for the buildings' foundations. Gaps between the buildings allow access to the courtyard, from which all the buildings are entered, up flights of steps, and also allow views towards distant lakes and the penetration of the low northern sun. Materials are dark red brick, wood and copper, and the abruptly varied roof shapes, seen through closely planted trees, cause the whole group to be absorbed into the rugged landscape and to appear as a romantic intensification of the scene in which it is set down.

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