"The competition project with which Aalto won the competition for this library in 1927 was heavily indebted to [Erik Gunnar Asplund]'s Stockholm Library scheme...During the development of the design, the site was changed from being beside a main road to being within a park, a change which allowed Aalto to open up the building to light on all sides. The walls of the building contain a forced-air ventilation system, which confirms Aalto's concern for technical matters, already established at Paimio."

—David Dunster, ed. Architectural Monographs 4: Alvar Aalto. p33.

Details

Competition 1927. Successive redesigns. Eventually built, 1930 to 1935.

Viipuri was a small city of 90,000 when the library was built. Later this part of Finland was absorbed by the Soviet Union.

Aalto won first prize in the competition of 1927, and the library was built 1930 to 1935.

Thirty-inch thick exterior walls contain ventilation ducts and mechanical piping, and radiant heating is provided with hot-water pipes.

Six-foot diameter round, conical skylightsreflect incoming sunlight to produce a shadow-free, diffuse light. Artificial light was designed to provide the same diffuse, shadowless light.