Collection by Linda Taalman
Refinishing Alvar Aalto's Finnish Pavilion
Alvar Aalto’s Finnish Pavilion for the Venice Biennale, originally designed as a temporary demountable structure, was built in 1956 and stayed solidly in a place for nearly 56 years until last year when a tree fell on the structure. This year, the structure was entirely dismantled, lovingly restored, and reassembled, by Gianni Talamini—a project that has awakened fresh attention to Aalto’s famed structure.
Originally prefabricated in Finland and shipped for assembly to the Giardini—the gardens where the Biennale takes place—the lightweight wood-frame-and-panel structure was a built to capture light from above and bounce it indirectly onto the interior walls. Aalto designed the structure to be dismantled, stored, and reassembled as needed between exhibitions, or on other sites. According to the story, several of the parts were missing upon arrival and therefore the panels were fixed in place during its initial construction. As Aalto’s only building in Italy, this ephemeral structure became permanent and was regarded as a national treasure.
All of the panels that make up the enclosure were removed and painstakingly repaired. At the conclusion of the restoration project, the panels were made from a combination of the original wood from 1956 and new wood from 2012. Together, the materials create a beautiful new texture that reveals the processes of both the original building and its reinvented self. Photo by Gianni Talamini.