AlvarAalto

AlvarAalto“God created paper for the purpose of drawing architecture on it. Everything else is at least for me an abuse of paper.”

Alvar Aalto, Sketches, 1978

Alvar Aalto, whose full name was Hugo Alvar Hendrik Aalto, was not only the most important Finnish architect of the 20th century but also a leading modern furniture designer. His chair “Paimio” (1931), with bentwood elements and his curvilinear vase “Savoy” (1936) have become major design icons that have laid the cornerstone for organic design.

Born in 1898 Kuotane, FinlandDied in 1976, Finland

. studied Architecture between 1916-1921 at the Technical University of Helsinki,. opened his first architectural office in Jyväskylä in 1923, . married the designer, Aino Marsio in 1924, . experimented the bending of wood with Aino Marsio for five years,. established an experimental plywood workshop in Turku in 1929 with Otto Korhonen,. started to produce his innovative plywood chairs in the1930s, and create a new trend in use of plywood,. built Paimio Sanatorium in Turku in 1930s,. designed the Villa Mairea, one of the most admired buildigns of modern architecture with his perception of organic links between people, nature and buildings,. his design philosophy was influenced by nature and organic materials, unlike other furniture of the same period with materials as tubular steel, which were quite modern at the time,. with his innovative designs and natural forms he changed the course of design towards organic Modernism,.

Villa Mairea in NoormarkkuVilla Mairea in Noormarkku

Alvar Aalto as an architect

Villa Mairea in Noormarkku Alvar Aalto Studio, Helsinki

KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art Aalborg, Denmark

House of Culture, Helsinki The Aalto-Theater opera house in Germany

Villa MaireaView from main entrance

Front door, detail

View of second floor window from entrance

Alvar Aalto as a furniture designer

Tea cart (tea trolley)

Savoy vase

Floor lamp

Three-legged stacking Stool Paimio chair

Armchair, zebra fabric

‘‘Our time is so specialised that we have people who know more and more or less and less.’’

“Modern architecture does not mean the use of immature new materials; the main thing is to refine materials in a more human direction.”