Aalto and America / edited by Stanford Anderson, Gail Fenske, and David Fixler.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronology -- Introduction / Stanford Anderson -- Aalto's modernism : Aalto's embodied rationalism / Sarah Williams Goldhagen ; Floating signifiers: interpreting Aalto / Dörte Kuhlmann ; Aalto and the other tradition / Colin St. John Wilson -- Aalto and America : Aalto's image of America / Juhani Pallasmaa ; Aalto goes to America / Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen ; Bridge of wood: Aalto, American house production, and Finland / Pekka Korvenmaa ; Aalto, Wurster, and the 'new humanism' / Gail Fenske -- Aalto's work In America : Embracing independence: the Finland Pavilion, New York, 1939 / Sarah Menin ; Baker House: the individual and mass housing, a delicate balance / Michael Trencher ; Baker House and the modern notion of functionalism / Lawrence W. Speck ; Baker House and brick: Aalto's construction of a building material / Akos Moravánszky ; Illuminating Aalto: the renovation of Baker House / David N. Fixler ; Significance of Baker House / Paul Bentel ; Poetry in motion: Aalto's Woodberry poetry room at Harvard / Kari Jormakka ; Alvar Aalto and the EdgarJ. Kaufmann conference rooms / Matthew A. Postal ; Mount Angel Abbey library and the path from Viipuri / Michael Spens -- Documents : Aalto on America : The humanizing of architecture (November 1940) ; The intellectual background of American architecture (1945).

Overview: The internationally renowned Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) created several landmarks of modern design in the United States. The first, the Finland Pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1939, introduced his pioneering style to the country and established his reputation among his American peers. Subsequent designs produced in the United States marked major turning points in his evolving position as an architect. His commissioned project for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Baker House dormitory (completed 1949) features an undulating facade of red brick, a material that references the building's Boston surroundings. Aalto's fan-shaped plan for the Mount Angel Abbey Library (completed 1970) in St. Benedict, Oregon, his consummate exploration of the library type, capitalizes on the local terrain and the use of natural light. Aalto's designs had a lasting impact on American modernism, but his experiences in America also profoundly influenced his own stylistic development. Aalto and America is a detailed survey of this beneficial relationship, with contributions by fifteen international experts who explore these key designs in relation to larger themes in international politics, architectural culture, housing research, and modern criticism and design.