Experimental House Muurazalo is a villa designed by Alvara Aalto in Muuratsalo , Säynätsalo island, a small industrial community in the city of Jyväskylä . Aalto described the building complex as a combination of a studio calm architect and experimental center, where you can conduct even those experiments that are not yet ripe for experimentation, and where the proximity of nature can give impetus to both forms and structures. Aalto's goal was to realize a kind of laboratory idea that would at the same time unite the game mentality.
The experimental house was built in 1952-1953 on the western bank of Muuratsalo Island. He was inspired by this project when he designed Xainatsalo City Hall in 1949-1952. On the plot of the experimental house there is a summer cottage, a wooden barn and a sauna in black, and a boat designed by him today. The experimental house Muuratsalo served as a summer villa for the Aalto family until 1994. The furniture in the building was designed by Artek and Alvar Aalto. Alvar Aalto Museum takes care of the building and organizes excursions.
The site is located in t. N. On the rock. The area of the plot is 53 650 m². The soil of the area is stony, covered with moss rocks, blueberry and cowberry sparrows. The bay is lush vegetation. The forest is a typical Finnish mixed forest, dominated by birch and pine. In the 1950s, there was no bridge to Muuratsalo Island.
Summer villa, the so-called experimental house, consists of the main building (1952) and the guest wing (1953). The L-shape and wall motifs of the main building frame the inner courtyard, which opens to the south and west; towards Päijänne and the beach, towards the main entrance. The facade of the courtyard is changed and the building, painted white, becomes red brick. The heart of the patio is an open fireplace in the center of the courtyard. The walls of the yard are divided into about 50 fields, the surface of which is covered with bricks and ceramic tiles. The surface of the site in the yard was also treated, tiled with tiles from another brick, unlike the rest of the site, where it is left in its natural state. The wing with guest room and wooden barn are bordered by rocky slope to the east of the building.
The main building has halls with main windows overlooking the yard. The attic-studio railing overlooks the living area, where a large fireplace prevails. Bedrooms in the second wing are located along a closed corridor. From the bedroom of Elissa and Alvar Aalto wooden window overlooking the courtyard. Kitchen and bathroom are located in the corner L. Intermediate space acts as a lobby and leads to the wing with guest rooms. From the intermediate space there are two exits, eastwards into the courtyard and northwards into the plot, a path leading through an apple tree alley to the beach and sauna. The slope near the building is terraced in the same way as in Seynatsalo Town Hall.
The construction team of the experimental house experimented with constantly changing shapes and proportions, the placement of buildings on the site is free and playful. In the courtyard walls, Aalto tested the effectiveness of different ceramic materials, brick joints, bricks of different sizes and surfaces. The technical processing of various sectors, from brick and stone surfaces to the aesthetic strength and durability of ornamental plants and mosses, was tested on the inner wall.
The experiment "brick structures of any shape" was not carried out, as well as the "solar thermal experiment", but "building without foundation" was carried out with support on the wing floor of the guest room.
Aalto himself named the main groups of experiments: 1. experiment on a building without a foundation; 2. experiment on poles of arbitrary shape; 3. brick structures of arbitrary shape; 4. solar thermal experiment.
There was no road to the summer cottage, so Aalto designed a special motorboat to get to the cottage with his family. Aalto used the drawings of the Finnish Maritime Administration as a model. The boat was built by the navigator Lauri Kosola in her own sculpture in Muurazalo. Kosola began professional boat production back in 1945, and over the years he collected hundreds of different types of boats, mainly in the waters of North Päijänne. Aalto Kosola's neighbor Väina Jokinen helped to build the boat, where also Xainatsalo Town Hall, Aalto's summer residence and bathhouse were built. The boat designed by Aalto is 10.5 m long, slightly over 2 m wide, the cabin height is 2.5 m and weighs almost 2000 kg. Originally the boat was equipped with an American 96 hp 6-cylinder marine engine. The beak of the boat was designed in the shape of Velacallio on the shore of the summer cottage to facilitate landing.
It was not easy to build a boat and it had to be built twice. It is known that Aalto did not make so many sketches for any of his projects as for his boat. The boat was easy to leak and sank many times, as it did not hold water until it became wet enough. Aalto's boat was first launched on September 7, 1955. Aalto named the boat Nemo Propheta in Patria.
It was not easy to build a boat and it had to be built twice. It is known that Aalto did not make as many sketches for any of his projects as for his boat. The boat was easy to leak and sank many times, as it did not hold water until it became wet enough. Aalto's boat was first launched on September 7, 1955. Aalto named the boat Nemo Propheta in Patria (no one is a prophet in his country), which is believed to reflect the feelings of the world-famous architect about his position in his country. It is known that the boat was known as Nemo.
