Wolfsburg Cultural Center

Alvar Aalto – Wolfsburg Cultural Center, Germany, 1958–1962

The Wolfsburg Cultural Centre is a multifunctional complex of buildings designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in the second half of the 20th century.
The architectural structure of the multifunctional cultural centre in Wolfsburg comprises a series of multi-storey buildings grouped around the existing Town Hall Square and, despite its relatively small size, it imposes itself on the surrounding building fabric with a remarkable monumentality. The monumental presence of the Centre is most evident in the façade, characterised by an ascending profile that culminates towards the auditorium (which, with its gently rhythmic appearance, refers to the silhouettes of the mountains in the landscape behind) and made of white and grey Carrara marble with alternating bands of Pamir syenite, particularly valuable construction materials that – as Schildt promptly observed – reveal the influence of Siena Cathedral, a building particularly loved by Aalto who had the opportunity to visit it on his honeymoon. Of particular interest is the Centre's elaborate lighting system: Aalto, more than in any other of his projects, studs his work with skylights of the most disparate shapes and configurations, starting from the thin windows of the library to the bright openings of the auditoriums.