ABSTRACT
Alvar Aalto dominated Finnish architecture for almost half a century, from 1927 until his death in 1976 at the age of 78. The history of Finnish architecture is not as complex as that of central and southern Europe, but its traditions have clearly identifiable components and it is in the context of these that twentieth-century Finnish architecture must be viewed. The climate in which Finnish architecture emerged into the twentieth century is well demonstrated by the April/May 1903 issue of Finland's new professional journal, Arkitekten which began publication in that year. Lars Sonck's handling of form, mass and detailing at Tampere remains unsurpassed in the evolution of modern Finnish architecture. Thematically, Finnish national romantic architecture expresses a strong historical bent, rooted in medieval imagery with some references also to art nouveau and symbolism; but formally it had little academic interest in the past and its characteristics embrace an almost exotic sense of caprice.
