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Villa Skeppet
Snäcksundsvägen 8, Tammisaari
1969 - 1970
Alvar Aalto designed this house, which is called Villa Skeppet (ship) for his friends the author Göran Schildt and his wife Christine in 1969. The building, which is located on a nearly level and park-like site near the centre of Tammisaari, was realized without delay and could be finished in 1970. The site offers a view across the eastern bay harbour of the idyllic small town Tammisaari towards the old wooden houses on a promontory known as Barckens udde.
The building is developed for the needs of a small family, and serves as a place for living and working. For the lower parts of the villa, Alvar Aalto used white rendered brick. The large, fan-like living room, which rises above the entrance and garage area, is realized as a timber construction. On the exterior this volume is clad with vertical weatherboarding, and somehow remembers the main Finnish pavilion at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris, also designed by Alvar Aalto. This living room opens onto a wedge-shaped balcony, and features large windows opening towards the sea side. This room also contains an open fireplace designed by Alvar Aalto as an abstract sculpture. The living room is spatially integrated into the central hall by means of a common ceiling. The hall also provides access to the other rooms, such as the author's quiet study, the bedroom, and the combined dining room and kitchen. The sauna is located in a separate wooden construction. It is linked to the main building by means of a latticework wall and a baldachin, which are both designed in free form. An amoeba-shaped lily pond is to be found in the centre of the inner yard, and behind it is located a shed with a so-called summer dining room. Severeal screens made of diagonally placed vertical boards shield the garden from views.