Revisiting Alvar Aalto : a re-reading of the legacy of Fernando Távora through the lens of japanese culture

Abstract

"For us, it was possible that, at the time, A[lvar] A[alto] was the character that appears as God to resolve tragedy: a prestigious figure solving the problems we were facing." Fernando Távora [1, p. 25-26, our translation]

Fernando Távora (1923-2005), a decisive figure for the renewal of the Modern Movement in Portugal in the latter half of the 20th century, thus indicated, in a 1986 interview, the boundaries of understanding of Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) in the 1950s at the Porto School of Architecture, where he was a professor. Thirty years later, Távora concluded that Aalto's work was perhaps seen as a fashion – a formal trend – more than as a structured movement. Álvaro Siza Vieira (b. 1933), Távora's professed disciple, was one of the exceptions to Távora’s conclusion on the understanding of Aalto's work.

Távora's observations are reason enough for reflection on the relationship between his own understanding of architecture and the work of Aalto. In the same interview, Távora confirmed that he "discovered that he had certain affinities with him" [1, p. 25, our translation]. While acknowledging Távora's critique of the formalistic approximations to the work of the Finnish architect, it is also worthwhile looking at an approximation to Japan and its culture, an interest in which the two men shared. The importance of Japan for Aalto is well known. The motivation Távora first had for taking an interest in Japan was his general interest in the world, an interest he developed as a student and the same interest that led him to the work of Aalto.