Esko

Esko is less worldly than Eliel was, more driven and passionate; his architectural style is more modernistic, more like the other great Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto.

An Interview with Richard Rayner about Cloud Sketcher 2010

Miserably, impossibly in love with the beautiful daughter of a Russian aristocrat, Esko is at the brink of despair when, in the magical light of the aurora borealis, he has a vision of an impossibly tall building rising gracefully from the frozen lake and disappearing into the clouds above him.

Cloud Sketcher: Summary and book reviews of Cloud Sketcher by Richard Rayner. 2001

Then, as the Russian Revolution spills over into Finland with horrific results, Esko is swept along on this great tide of history into a fateful encounter with Katerina Malysheva, the exquisitely lovely child of a Russian aristocrat.

Cloud Sketcher by Richard Rayner: Questions 2001

When Esko is designing Katerina's penthouse, he begins with a coffeepot.

Cloud Sketcher by Richard Rayner: Questions 2001

In order to get what he wants Esko dirties, bloodies, his hands in the waters any real architect must swim in.

An Interview with Richard Rayner about Cloud Sketcher 2010

I made Esko a Finn; I made him obsessed by tall buildings and had him come to America; but there the resemblance to Saarinen ceases.

An Interview with Richard Rayner about Cloud Sketcher 2010

Does any of Esko - his values, personality, choices, worldview - relate to his

An Interview with Richard Rayner about Cloud Sketcher 2010

Sketcher (I don't know whether I succeeded) was to describe the experience of architecture in this emotional way, and to consider what it might be like to be a man - my hero, Esko Vaananen - whose life's dream is to sculpt joy out of stone and air.

An Interview with Richard Rayner about Cloud Sketcher 2010

Esko fights and fights to transcend his origins - and yet remains a Finn, very proud as they tend to be.

An Interview with Richard Rayner about Cloud Sketcher 2010

But reality isn't all eye candy as Finnish photographer Esko M [auml] nnik [ouml] reveals in his C-Print "Sodankyl [auml] 1994," showing the remains of raw salmon torn apart by some unknown bearer of teeth and claw.

Realism Isn't All Eye Candy 2010