2.9 The Wizard of the North
I
n January 1933, Giedion asked Aalto for a paper on the hospital for the summer’s
CIAM conference, focusing on the viewpoint of the physiological well-being of the
patient. He was interested in images and drawings of Paimio Sanatorium for the pur-
pose of publishing projects descriptions in Cahier d ’art (The Art Journals) and Bauwelt
(The Building Magazine) magazines.^494 In an undated letter sent prior to the conference,
Giedion repeated his request to Aalto to deliver a paper in Athens on the sanatorium.^495
CIAM’s fourth conference in August 1933 was eventually held on a cruise from Marseilles
to Athens and back, instead of in Moscow, which had been the original plan. The theme of
the event was “Functional City”. Whilst on board the ship, the conference delegates intro-
duced studies on the urban development of their respective countries. Following the same
format, this type of study had already been prepared at the preparatory CIRPAC confer-
ence in Berlin beginning from June 1931.^496 Aalto joined the conference in Athens.^497 He
did not give the paper requested by Giedion at the conference.
The other Finnish delegate at the conference, Nils Gustav Hahl, attended the whole
conference. Göran Schildt has intepreted him as a representative and loyal intermediary
of Aalto.^498 Hahl introduced the urban development of Stockholm on the journey out.^499
This probably happened because no Swedish delegates were present. This is an indication
of the close and confidential relationships between the Swedish and Finnish architects
involved in CIAM. The urban development of Stockholm was topical that year because
of the competition on the planning of Nedre Norrmalm district,^500 in which Aalto was
also participating.^501 Other Nordic delegates on the ship were Poul Hansen and Arno
Sørenson from Denmark and the Norwegians Hermann Munthe-Kaas and Frithjof
Reppen.^502 Gropius did not attend the conference and Aalto, again, missed Le Corbus-
ier’s paper, as this was given during the first part of the cruise.^503 Aalto had by this stage
still never heard a paper given by Le Corbusier or Walter Gropius in person.
As the keynote speaker Le Corbusier stressed the nature of town planning as a
three-dimensional science and tall building height as an essential characteristic. In his
view, people’s lives revolved around a 24-hour rhythm, which had a bearing in the relation
between heights and distances. Town planning was about a choice between expansion
and growing density. The latter led to the use of steel and reinforced steel structures to
494 The letter from Giedion from Aalto discussing matters relating Wohnbedarf and the additional personal message
were dated January 26, 1933. Signums 10844 and 10845, correspondence. AAM.
495 Giedion’s letter to Aalto on July 17, 1933. Signums 10846 and 10849, correspondence. AAM.
496 Le Corbusier 1964a [1933], pp. 187–189.
497 Aalto set out on his journey too late, and stopped on the way in Budapest. Schildt 1985, p. 90 and p. 95.
498 Schildt 1985, pp. 90–91.
499 Mumford 2002, p. 81.
500 See the backgrounds of the international Great Norrmalm Competition held between 1932 and 1933. See Hall 2009,
pp. 117–121.
501 In the Great Norrmalm Competition, Aalto proposed replacing the existing structure with a monotonous open-
block structure based on only a few different building types. Hall 2009, p. 120.
502 Mumford 2002, p. 77.
503 Le Corbusier held his presentation on July 30, 1933. Mumford 2002, p. 79.