The Alvar Aalto Library
The Alvar Aalto Library is the central city library of Vyborg, built in 1933-1935 according to the design of the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Modern address: Suvorovsky prospect, 4.
The building is considered a milestone in the history of modern architecture, as it marks Aalto's transition from nationally colored neoclassicism to simplified forms of regional modernism. It was here that the unique feature of his architectural style first manifested itself - a combination of the rigor of functionalism and the gentle smoothness of natural lines. Starting with the Vyborg Library, Aalto's creative style tends to use natural materials, and especially wood. A sensation in the architectural world was caused by the undulating acoustic ceiling of the lecture hall, which collapsed in the post-war years, when the library building was empty. Currently, the ceiling has been restored according to the original drawings.
The reading room contains round windows in the ceiling through which sunlight enters, while the walls of the hall do not contain windows.
The construction of the library began in 1927 with funds bequeathed by the widow of the Vyborg philanthropist Juho Lallukka, a wealthy city dweller Maria Lallukka. On October 13, 1935, its grand opening took place. The library soon became known throughout the world as a reference library building.
In addition to architectural features, the library has a unique book collection: for example, the collection of the department of local history literature, which was formed - and continues to be formed - on the basis of a fund donated by the library of the Finnish city of Lappeenranta. These are books about Vyborg and Karelia in Finnish, Swedish, German and other languages. During the years of restoration of the library building, this collection has been replenished with, perhaps, the most complete collection of books in Russia about the work of Alvar Aalto and about the library building itself. Among them, for example, a three-volume book by the biographer Alvar Aalto Goran Schildt with the autograph of the author
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