Contemporary architecture has been criticized for its sensory poverty and lack of meaning by the public and critics alike. When almost any old building, a ruin or an abandoned house evokes our imagination and invites our emotions, standard buildings of our own time often leave us unmoved. Alvar Aalto's architecture, however, is particularly stimulating because of the masterly play on emotions by his architectural imagery. Beyond evoking imagery in the mind of the observer, Aalto utilized the power and complexity of visual imagery in his own creative process... [+]