In 1937 Alvar Aalto began work on the Villa Mairea which over the years became regarded as a sensual and tactile building by architectural experts. An in depth study of this building was used to develop tools that may be helpful in analyzing the sense of touch in other architectural work either built or un-built. / text

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第22126号 / 工博第4656号 / 新制||工||1726(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科建築学専攻 / (主査)教授 竹山 聖, 教授 神吉 紀世子, 准教授 田路 貴浩, 教授 三浦 研 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

This diploma project aims to explore the importance of details and small gestures in architecture.  Whether its a technical detail, a choice of material or a lighting fixture, these seemingly small gestures all influence how we experience a room. It is my belief that these little details, can make a big difference to how we experience our everyday life and that they communicate care and thoughtfulness. What difference does a minor change in material, division of space or a door handle do to the experience of a room as a whole; which are those small gestures that show care and thoughtfulness?  The project has explored details and small gestures in three categories: Division of space, Materiality & Elements, partially though case studies of renowned buildings from architects such as Alvar Aalto, Josef Frank and Sigurd Lewerentz, as well as though the proposal of a redesign of the courthouse of Katrineholm, into a Municipal Archive. The redesign tested small gestures in relationship the room as a whole, to each other and to its surroundings.  “We should work for simple, good, undecorated things, but things which are in harmony with the human being and organically suited to the little man in the street” - Alvar Aalto / Detta examensarbete ämnar utforska vikten av detaljer och små gester inom arkitekturen. Oavsett om det handlar om en teknisk detalj, ett val av material eller en lampa, har de små gesterna inom arkitekturen inflytande på hur vi upplever rum. Det är min övertygelse att de små detaljerna gör en stor skillnad på hur vi upplever vår vardag och att de uttrycker en omtanke för vår omgivning. Vilka detaljer gör mest skillnad för upplevelsen av ett rum och vilka är då dessa små gester som uttycker omtanke och värdighet? Projektet har undersökt detaljer i tre kategorier: Division of space, Materiality och Elements (Rumsindelning, Materialitet & Objekt), dels genom studier av kända byggnader från arkitekterna Alvar Aalto, Josef Frank och sigurd Lewerentz, och dels genom att rita ett förslag på en ombyggnad av Tingshuset i Katrineholm till kommunarkiv. Ombyggnaden har testat olika små gester, som till exempel bord, stenläggningar och dörrhandtag, deras förhållande till varandra och byggnaden som helhet.  “We should work for simple, good, undecorated things, but things which are in harmony with the human being and organically suited to the little man in the street” - Alvar Aalto

The study aims at the investigation and analysis of power relations connected to the sanatorium as a buildingtypology within the modernist architectural contest. The chosen building is the tuberculosis sanatorium ofPaimio, located in southwest Finland and built by architects Aino (1894-1949) and Alvar Aalto (1898-1976)between 1928 and 1933. The chosen theoretical framework is therefore based on the theories of Michel Foucault(1926-1984) about power, knowledge and discourse. The method used for this essay is inspired by the architecture theoretician Paul Hirst's notion of architecture as a discourse, its subjectification and a means of communication that changes over time, but also the semiotics of Umberto Eco and its conception of architecture as a double meaning tool.The study proceeds to analyze Paimio sanatorium taking into consideration the relationships between the various components of the building, their placement and formal elements as part of a bigger, institutional and medical discourse.The analysis of Paimio sanatorium has shown not only relevant historical and socio economic background butalso a mutual relationship between architecture and medical discourse capable of influencing each other overtime and space.