Following the Grace: A Baltic Dialogue

The admiration of Alvar Aalto for the architecture of Erik Gunnar Asplund is well known and clearly expressed by his own writings, as well as the impact of the Stockholm Exhibition in his architectural experimentation. Likewise, the influence of the Mediterranean travels for the architecture of Alvar Aalto has been deep analyzed by many scholars. But how the Swedish perspective towards the recovery of the classical language - during the first two decades of the 20th century - has influenced the relation of Aalto with the Antique and, from the other side, how the Finnish peculiarity has modify the Swedish attitude towards Modernity? This paper aims to shed light on the “migration” of classical words from the Mediterranean to Finland, passing through the “archaeological gaze” rooted in the Swedish Culture - since the 18th century - without omitting that, at the same time, the seeking of the original matrix of architecture and of pure images of landscape developed by the Swedish Enlightenment found often images of references in Finland. The piece, found in Antique and transported into the Nordic landscape, expands its evocative value and tension toward an ideal universe of reference. This Classicism raises questions and the architecture to which it gives form is tense, restless and enigmatic. Thus, the classical language is not developed as a theme that defines the grammar of the entire building, but represents the dominant character of a single part isolated and independent. This compositional technique is shared by many projects of Nordic Classicism. Inside this experience, there is no intention to re-compose the unity of the antique world. Thanks to the travels toward South, the architects draw on the sediment of their own memory to extract figures to compose in a new architecture: through the project, the past is repositioned inside a new design. This descent to the Origins thus leads to Modernity.