Villa Kokkonen (completed 1969) was the home of renowned composer Joonas Kokkonen (1921-1996). The house was designed by his close friend Alvar Aalto (1898-1976). The house is an exceptional work in Aalto’s oeuvre. It is the only studio home he ever created for an artist. It is also a rare example of a private home designed by Aalto late in his career.
The house has many sculptural flourishes, such as the canopy above the entrance. The shapely form of the building is reminiscent of Aalto’s Finlandia Hall (1971), as it fans out towards the inclined backyard, flanked by a sauna, swimming pool and pergola. The house and its interior design bear many characteristics of Aalto’s style. Villa Kokkonen also has several unique lighting fixtures, designed by Aalto himself.
Villa Kokkonen contains perhaps the most successful implementation of acoustic design in all of Aalto’s works. The large studio room has a beautiful auditory quality to it, thanks to its structural design and materials. Villa Kokkonen is predominantly constructed from wood. The studio room was built to maximize the acoustic separation between it and the rest of the house.
Lake Tuusula was the birthplace for an exceptional artistic community at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Many of Finland’s most famous artists settled there. They commissioned homes in the Jugendstil style from leading architects of the day. These include Ainola, home of composer Jean Sibelius (architect Lars Sonck, 1904); Suviranta, home of painter Eero Järnefelt (architect Usko Nyström, 1901) and Halosenniemi, home of painter Pekka Halonen (1902). Also of interest is the Järvenpää Church (architect Erkki Elomaa, 1968), one of Finland’s most famous brutalist structures.
