Alvar Aalto

Lore & Background

Alvar Aalto was born on 3 February 1898 in Kuortane, Finland. He studied architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology, with his studies interrupted by the Finnish Civil War, in which he fought on the side of the White Army. After graduating in 1921, he opened an architectural office in Jyväskylä in 1923. He married architect Aino Marsio in 1924, and their honeymoon in Italy influenced his early work, such as the Jyväskylä Worker's Club. The couple later moved their office to Turku and then to Helsinki, designing a joint house-office in Munkkiniemi. Aino Aalto died in 1949; Aalto married architect Elissa Mäkiniemi in 1952. He died on 11 May 1976 in Helsinki.

Reader's Guide

Aalto's career reflected the rapid economic growth and industrialization of Finland in the early 20th century. His work evolved from Nordic Classicism to International Style Modernism and later to a more organic modernist style. He is noted for his concern with design as a total work of art, designing not only buildings but also interiors, furniture, lamps, and glassware. His furniture designs, considered Scandinavian Modern, featured elegant simplification and technical innovations, including patents for bent wood manufacturing. The Museum of Modern Art notes his 'remarkable synthesis of romantic and pragmatic ideas' and his desire to humanize architecture through an unorthodox handling of form and materials. His bent plywood furniture influenced designers such as Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson. The Alvar Aalto Museum, designed by Aalto himself, is located in Jyväskylä.

Did You Know?

• Aalto fought in the Finnish Civil War on the side of the White Army.
• He wrote articles for a newspaper under the pseudonym Remus.
• His first independent building is generally considered to be the Jyväskylä Worker's Club (1924–1925) or other small projects completed after graduation, not a student-built house for his parents.
• He received patents for various manufacturing processes, including those used to produce bent wood.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer, as well as a sculptor and painter. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware." — Alvar Aalto "Building art is a synthesis of life in materialised form. We should try to bring in under the same hat not a splintered way of thinking, but all in harmony together." — Alvar Aalto