Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) expressed the coarser nature of brick on numerous projects, particularly those in Finland, such as at the Säynätsalo Town Hall (1949-52) (pictured).


At Säynätsalo, Aalto uses brick as a natural element of the landscape
At Säynätsalo, Aalto uses brick as a natural element of the landscape


But also at Baker House, Cambridge, Massachusetts, (1946-49), where he used locally produced, handmade bricks for a rustic effect and even included burnt, mis-shapen bricks that are dotted around the building like currants in a cake.

Aalto once said: “Brick is an important element in the creation of form. I was once in Milwaukee with my old friend Frank Lloyd Wright who was attending a conference there. He began: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, do you know what a brick is? It’s trivial and costs 11 cents; it’s common and valueless but possesses a peculiar characteristic. Give me this brick and it will be worth its weight in gold.’ That was perhaps the only time that I had heard in public, stated clearly and bluntly, what architecture really is. Architecture is the transformation of a worthless brick into something worth its weight in gold.”

Alvar Aalto by architect Nicholas Ray (Yale University Press, £19.99) is due to be published in October. Available from The Building Centre Bookshop, tel 020-7692 4040

Brick Bulletin Summer 2005