Alvar Aalto

Finland

Person

Designer

Born 3 February 1898 Kuortane, Finland Died 11 May 1976 Helsinki, Finland Alvar Aalto studied architecture at the Technological University of Finland from 1916 to 1921 and opened his office for architecture and monumental art in Jyväskylä in 1923. In 1924 he began collaborating with Aino Maria Marsio, whom he married the same year. After working in Turku, he developed innovative laminated wood construction methods with Otto Korhonen and designed the Paimio tuberculosis sanitarium (1929–1933), a landmark of modern architecture. In 1935 the Viipuri Library was completed and he co-founded the company Artek in Helsinki with Aino Aalto, Marie Gullichsen, and Nils-Gustav Hahl. Aalto gained international recognition through the exhibition 'Alvar Aalto: Architecture and Furniture' at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1938) and the Finnish Pavilion for the New York World’s Fair (1939). Among his most important buildings are Villa Mairea in Noormarkku, the House of Culture in Helsinki (1956), the headquarters of the Finnish state pension fund in Helsinki (1957), Maison Louis Carré near Paris (1959), and Finlandia Hall in Helsinki (1975). From 1946 to 1948 he served as a guest professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a member of the Academy of Finland from 1955 and its president from 1963 to 1968. His major honours included the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects (1957), the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects (1963), and the Order Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts (1969). After his death, his second wife Elissa Aalto continued to run the office until 1994.