Bonnie Burnham, President of World Monuments Fund (WMF), announced today that the project to restore Alvar Aalto's seminal Viipuri Library in Vyborg, Russia, which took two challenging decades to complete, has been awarded the 2014 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize. The award will be made to the Finnish Committee for the Restoration of Viipuri Library with the Central City Alvar Aalto Library, Vyborg, the Russian Federation.
Designed by Alvar Aalto and constructed between 1927 and 1935 in what was then the
Finnish city of Viipuri, the library reflects the emergence of Aalto’s distinctive combination of
organic form and materials with the principles of clear functionalist expression that was to
become the hallmark of his architecture.

Despite early and widespread acclaim for the building, its survival was never assured. War, unstable political relations, and shifting international borders ultimately resulted in Viipuri
becoming Vyborg, part of the expanded territory of the USSR. The library soon faced threats
including, but not limited to, abandonment, inappropriate renovations, and unclear stewardship.
During Soviet times, access to the library was limited, leaving the preservation state of the
building uncertain. Until fairly recently, it essentially disappeared from worldview.

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 presented the opportunity to restore the library. The Finnish Committee for the Restoration of Viipuri Library, established in 1992, has led the
restoration efforts and has carried out the project with the Central City Alvar Aalto Library,
Vyborg. The committee members are Chairman Eric Adlercreutz, Tapani Mustonen, Maija
Kairamo, Leif Englund, Maren Nielsen, Olli Helasvuo, Eero Pekkari, Heikki Pekonen, BenRoger
Lindberg, Aki Schadewitz, and Mariel Pohlman. The library is represented by Tatiana Svetelnikova, Helen Rogozina, and Alexander Batalin.

Completed in 2013, the restoration project reflects cooperation between Finnish and
Russian national and regional governments, and the support of conservation professionals and
international funding. The project also reflects the highest standards of scholarship, authenticity, architecture, materials conservation, functionality, social impact, stewardship, and technica limagination. 

The biennial award will be presented at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City on December 1, 2014, by Ms. Burnham; Barry Bergdoll, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University, Curator of Architecture & Design at MoMA, and chairman of the prize jury; and Andrew B. Cogan, CEO of Knoll, Inc. This will be followed by a free public lecture by the members of the prize-winning team. The prize consistsof a cash honorarium of $10,000 and a limited edition Barcelona Chair from Knoll.  

Ms. Burnham stated: “Viipuri Library is an iconic modern structure and we are delighted to witness its successful restoration through an international network of funders and professionals. It speaks to the fundamental mission of WMF, which was founded on the belief that international cooperation can play a catalytic role in saving important historic sites aroundthe globe. Viipuri Library was listed on the World Monuments Watch in 2000 and 2002 andWMF made a grant of $300,000 from its Robert W. Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our Heritageto restore the 58 signature skylights over the reading room and lending library.”

Despite a growing appreciation for twentieth-century architecture in recent years, great works continue to be lost to neglect, deterioration, and demolition only decades after their designand construction.  World Monuments Fund began preserving modern sites in the 1980s, when it helped restore seminal modern murals in and around Mexico City following a devastating earthquake. Later, it led the restoration of Brancusi’s Endless Column ensemble, in Romania, and the successful battle to save Edward Durell Stone’s A. Conger Goodyear House, on Long Island, in the United States.

In 1996, WMF launched its World Monuments Watch program, which over the years has brought attention and resources to more than 20 endangered modern buildings. Among these, in addition to Viipuri Library, have been the Rusakov Club, Moscow, Russia (Konstantin Melnikov); Villa Tugendhat, Brno, the Czech Republic (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe); the International Fairground, Tripoli, Lebanon (Oscar Niemeyer); Taliesin and Taliesin West, Spring Green, Wisconsin, and Scottsdale, Arizona, respectively (Frank Lloyd Wright); Kings Road House, West Hollywood, California (Rudolf Michael Schindler); Grosse Pointe Memorial Library, Michigan (Marcel Breuer); the Orange County Government Center, Goshen, New York (Paul Rudolph); and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri (Eero Saarinen). 

In 2006, responding to growing threats to modern architecture, WMF launched its Modernism at Risk initiative with Knoll as founding sponsor. The initiative provides a framework for addressing the issues that endanger modern landmarks and supports architectural design advocacy, conservation, and public education.