Alvar Aalto
Finnish architect and designer (1898–1976)
Alvar Aalto: from Nordic classicism to human-centred modernism
Training and first practice
After completing his architecture degree in Helsinki in 1921, Aalto opened his first office in Jyväskylä. His early buildings followed Nordic classicism. Travels around the turn of the 1930s exposed him and his architect wife Aino to international modernism, setting up a decisive change in their work.
Paimio and the design of everyday life
The Paimio Sanatorium, built between 1929 and 1933, became a landmark of Aalto’s functionalist period. Its concern with the needs of patients also reached the furnishings: Artek records that he designed modern furniture for the sanatorium in 1929. Architecture and objects were increasingly conceived together.
Furniture, glass and public buildings
Aalto co-founded Artek in 1935 to bring furniture, lighting and textiles to wider markets. His winning entry in a 1936 glass-design competition led to the Savoy vase. From the 1950s, his office undertook major civic projects, including Säynätsalo Town Hall and the Jyväskylä college that became a university.