Section 04
Paimio
Aalto’s sanatorium at Paimio is where the theory of air stops being a plan and becomes a room: balconies taking the end of the building, a ceiling colour chosen for a person lying on their back, a basin shaped not to splash.
Paimio Sanatorium
Alvar Aalto's 1933 building designed around a patient lying on their back: ceiling colours chosen for that view, heating placed to avoid draughts, and a basin shaped not to splash.
The sun balcony
Rest cure architecture put beds outdoors in cold air, and the balcony became the building's whole south face.
Furniture as prescription
Furniture as prescription: the Paimio chair was designed to open the sitter's chest, a medical claim made in bent plywood at Aalto's sanatorium.