Celebration and landscape: the 1998 Alvar Aalto centenary and its legacy for architectural discourses of landscape and site

Celebration of the birth centenary of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in 1998 occasioned historical revision of his legacy and relevance, stirring a particular interest in the value of landscape in his architecture. A centennial celebration may inspire re-evaluation of an architect's legacy; the 1987 Le Corbusier centenary, for example, prompted a surge of scholarship . ln 1998 historians added to the understanding of Aalto through notions such as 'Aalto's nature', 'constructed landscapes', 'mythic landscapes', 'fragile architecture', and Aalto 'as a designer of landscapes', demonstrating an increased architectural awareness of landscape. The centenary kindled new interest in Aalto's work, revealed the historical importance of Aalto's approaches to landscape, and provided concepts for a contemporary understanding of landscape in architecture. Leatherbarrow has posited 'topography' as a notion and a theoretical topic to relate architecture and landscape. Selected centennial literature addressing landscape themes in Aalto's architecture is discussed, to demonstrate the value of landscape, particularly its topographic aspects, as an emerging theme of contemporary architectural discourse.