Maison Louis Carre

 Our final stop of the day was the Maison Louis Carré, done by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Aalto is such a prime figure in architecture that he is always listed first! This was Ira's first visit to the house.

It was guided by an enthusiastic French architecture student and he had a wealth of detail about the house. I tried both to catch everything and relay the gist to Ira without being irritating. Aalto was a person of detail and he had a rich art dealer for a client, so the specs for the house were daunting. It had to be imposing but blend into the landscape. (The sloped roof is at the same angle as the hill flowing down from the living room.) It had to seem small on the outside and big inside.

Aalto included a lot of finicky details. Metal door knobs, but wrapped in leather so they would feel comfortable to the touch. On the other hand, metal posts wrapped in wood for a warmer look.







The red in the window here was part of an art installation. You might see other objects as well.)















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