Two bookends of modernism
Paige McLachlan
Two libraries by two architects on two sides of the globe and at two ends of the modern era both found the common goal of human-centric modernist design. Viipuri Library, designed by Alvar Aalto and completed between 1927–1935 in the then Finnish province of Viipuri, emerged as an early statement of organic, modernist design. Aalto created a space that harmonised with the surrounding environment while serving as a communal hub. The Exeter Library, designed by Louis Kahn and completed in 1972, was to become the intellectual heart of Phillips Exeter Academy, an elite university preparatory school in the United States. Kahn’s approach emphasised not only academic excellence, but also the creation of a community-oriented and elegant learning environment. Both architects sought comfort within the individual and community. Both libraries share a story of profound connection between a building, its users, and the surrounding community. While distinct in their historical and cultural contexts, both libraries exemplify a humanistic approach that transcends the typical boundaries set by modernism.
Libraries are public buildings built to serve a community without a monetary fee. They are repositories of information holding books, journals, and multimedia materials. They also serve as community meeting areas and offer programmes and events, which build relationships. Libraries facilitate the sharing of knowledge among individuals, contributing to learning, research, and intellectual development. Both Viipuri Library and Exeter Library espouse these communal values. Their built fabrics further this espousing.
Viipuri Library once stood in the Finnish province of Viipuri. However, after the Winter War in 1940, the Soviet Union claimed Viipuri as Vyborg. The short-lived war saw Viipuri fall to rubble. Many buildings were lost. Viipuri Library, although it survived, was abandoned and allowed to fall into disrepair. The Western world presumed the library was destroyed and forgotten about it. Restoration by the Soviet Union was first attempted in 1950, with the final refurbishment occurring between 1994–2013.
With Louis Kahn’s strong belief in the value and importance of architecture as a societal structure, a library was the ideal building type to communicate this. The Exeter Library was not only designed as a centre for academic excellence but also as a comfortable and community-centred learning experience. The library served as a laboratory for research and experimentation, a quiet retreat for study, reading, and reflection, and the intellectual centre of the community. A large-scale library for a school, Kahn sought to connect the students to their learning and their environment, offering a choice of approximately 450 different seating types, distributed around different rooms.
Soviet authorities attempted to restore Viipuri Library in the 1950s. Due to their lack of knowledge of modernist building techniques, the building was left seemingly more Socialist Realist than as Aalto had left it. During his visit in 1965 Aalto commented, “The building exists but the architecture has gone.” The historical impact of the Winter War and the international relations between Finland and Russia had led to the architectural downfall of one of Aalto’s most impactful works. Once a bustling and accessible communal centre had been boiled to a shell of a building, not adequately reflecting the surrounding environment. Due to disputes and documentation issues, it took the cooperation of both Finland and Russia 20 years to restore Viipuri Library to its former glory, almost identical to its original 1935 design. The complete design of the ViipurI Library still reflects the landscapes and societal habits of the Finnish Viipuri, despite now in Russian Vyborg. Though the library now restored, the stark, white building seems to have a nostalgic longing, a yearning for a now lost time and place.
Similarly, Kahn designed the Exeter Library specifically to continue the story of the surrounding Georgian buildings, while utilising new-age modernist design principles. The Exeter Library used a new type of support system to realise Kahn’s outside-in design of a box within a box. Kahn felt a deep connection with books and library culture, hence the Exeter Library was wholeheartedly designed anticipating how students would encounter and relate to the building. Kahn described his own experience designing a library as, “You plan a library as though no library ever existed.” Wanting to focus on the accessibility of the library, Kahn created nuanced individual and communal experiences within the floor of the library. However, Kahn’s design would have to sit within the Phillip Exeter Academy’s requirements. To blend in among the academy’s existing old red-brick Georgian buildings, while creating a functional, modernist structure was made simpler using innovative structural systems. An unassuming exterior façade, with an intimate and inviting interior, takes modern innovation and Georgian inspiration to create a timeless environment.
Viipuri Library had as a goal to spread education within Viipuri, as well as connect the community through one common building. The building included spaces for reading, studying, and attending lectures and events, creating a hub for civic life. The library was envisioned as a space accessible to all citizens, regardless of social or economic status, supporting the ideal of equal access to information and education. Though the complexities of the architectural restoration could not completely close the gap between past and present. The societal context of Aalto’s original design was no longer present, but a new audience emerged, an audience of captive tourists who may not understand the complexities of Aalto’s design thinking.
Exeter Library was formed from the consideration of human activities in the library. With each room came a perception of individuality, achieved through a keen sense of unique structure and light. It is not uncommon for a student to become unfocused in their learning, Kahn embraced this reality, creating different types of workplaces, so that students would be indulged in their education and their reading. Places to sit by a window, large, shared tables, soft armchairs, fireplaces, and even benches outside the building were made an essential part of the building’s function as a library. With the library’s central campus location, entry points were from all around the building, welcoming anyone in from the surrounds. The social integration of the Exeter Library within the campus location was central to Kahn’s human forward thinking.
Alvar Aalto strived to create purposeful buildings that intertwined people with their environment; Viipuri Library is a prime example of this effort. Never quite abiding by the strict rules of modernism, Viipuri Library was able to set its own legacy for modernity. A feeling of the outside was always present, whether through large glass windows, circular skylights, or the wavy, organically shaped ceilings. Aalto forever found a way to incorporate the outside with the inside. Open floor plans were often prevalent in modern architecture, particularly with the endorsement of Frank Lloyd Wright. Aalto, however, solidified the use of slight division within open areas. Using different levels, lighting, and organic shapes, Viipuri Library introduced a new type of spatial continuity, one that could divide open areas without closing off anything. The library sought ornamentation in functional designs, setting a new standard within the typical melancholic minimalism that modernism often fell victim to. The skylights not only provided the room with shadowless natural light, ideal for reading, but also with a satisfying continuous pattern on the ceiling. The rippled natural wooden ceiling in the conference room also upheld this non-modernist modernist design approach, where the ceiling absorbed echo while reflecting the natural Finnish landscape. Other than the importance of the intricate design features, Viipuri Library taught modernism a lesson in the inclusion of society and environment within a building. Viipuri Library demonstrated that a building cannot be considered architecture without the thoughtful consideration of its users.
Kahn experimented with a range of modern design techniques, both technical and philosophical, leaving a significant contribution to modernism through his work at Exeter Library. The library’s design was based primarily on a functional architectural order. The perimeter houses book stacks and private study areas, while the centre is dedicated to combined community and individual reading space. This functional and dedicated design approach supported the building’s main function as a library while allowing Kahn to control the prevalent light flow through a central atrium. Kahn's execution introduced a more humane and experiential dimension to ‘less is more’ modernism. The building was first influenced by the behaviours of Phillips Exeter Academy students, second by the surrounding existing buildings, and last by simple and natural materials. The library featured three constituents: red brick to match that of the existing Georgian buildings, natural wood to connect the warm interior to the earth’s natural elements, and untouched concrete to support the building. Kahn placed great importance on materials and the way they mimicked or blended in with the environment. The layout followed a similar principle to that of Viipuri Library, where the open spaces were simply divided but never separated. Exeter Library is particularly aligned with Viipuri Library in its ability to balance openness and intimacy and in how it facilitates a sense of community and individual reflection. The human forward thinking throughout the entire design created a more thoughtful and poetic approach, where structural elements also enhance the user experience. The simplicity that Kahn sought within the complexity of a library cemented Exeter Library’s modernist legacy. Both buildings saw either end of the modernist era on either side of the world. However, they found themselves falling to and turning away from very similar modern principles. Viipuri Library and Exeter Library espouse an empathy towards their users akin to that of a hospital. While Aalto must consider how a town might use a library for community engagement, Kahn must consider how a student will use a library to engage with their academics.
Both Viipuri Library and Exeter Library reveal individualism and community through not only architectural elements but in the relation between human, environment, and architecture. Libraries are designed in part for creating comfort and appropriate interiors congenial to aspects of the intellectual life of the individual and the community. Viipuri Library and Exeter Library each demonstrate that modern architecture, at best, enriches the human experience through creating spaces that resonate with the natural environment and the people who inhabit them. Aalto and Kahn, each through their respective design, compel modernist thoughts towards user comfort utilising structural and architectural innovation. Great architecture is dependent on a thoughtful balance between innovation and community, with Viipuri Library and Exeter Library embodying this wholly through modernist principles and the human quest for knowledge and connection.