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Muurame church

Alvar Aalto designed several church plans in 1920’s and Muurame church is the only one that was realised. Muurame church is considered to be a interphase in Aalto’s career. After Muurame church, Aalto gradually moved on from classism to functionalism.

The village of Muurame lies a few miles south of Jyväskylä, the town where Aalto opened his first architectural practice in 1923. It was only natural for the parish council to commission its new church from the closest qualified architect. Alvar Aalto had made his first trip to Italy in 1924, and his travel impressions are much in evidence in the church of Muurame.

Muurame church represents Nordic Classicism. Muurame church is located on a ridge and it is an important part of the cultural heritage in the area. The church is a single-aisle basilica with a tall campanile on one side of the rounded chancel. The interior has a barrel vault over a system of joists, the parish hall opens as a side chapel to the right of the chancel. A staircase leads down from this room to an exit with a loggia, which in Aalto´s original plan is surrounded by a rose garden.

Aino and Alvar Aalto designed the furnishings for the church together. The furnishings, designed fairly late in the project, took on elements of Aalto´s conversion to Modernism, and Aalto used Poul Henningsen lamps for interior lighting.

The interior of the Muurame church has undergone several changes over the years. Last time the interiors and exteriors of the Muurame church were renovated in 2016. The aim of the renovation was to restore the church to its original appearance. During the renovation, also Poul Hennigsen’s light fixtures were returned to the church. The latest renovation is considered to be successful.

William Lönnberg was commissioned to paint the altarpiece in 1929.

Church of the Three Crosses (Vuoksenniska Church)

The Church of the Three Crosses in Vuoksenniska is one of Imatra’s parish churches. After the Second World War, Alvar Aalto was commissioned to create a master plan for Imatra, which merged three of the rural municipality’s widely separated old villages: Imatrankoski, Vuoksenniska and Tainionkoski. The industrial community also required church amenities, and thus Aalto was commissioned in 1955 to design a new church. Aalto designed the church for the Vuoksenniska industrial community so as to combine sacral and social activities. The church was completed in 1958 on the high, pine-forested ridge that divides Lake Saimaa from Lake Immala.

Alvar Aalto, together with his office collaborators, designed the church interior, complete with its lamps, church collection baskets and candle holders, in the spirit of a total work of art, or “Gesamtkunstwerk”. The basic design of the sculptural white church consists of a series of consecutive sections. The main church space can be subdivided into three spaces using movable partition walls; the most sacred of which is the altar end and its pews, and the organ and choir balcony. Opposite this, at the southern end of the building, one could play volleyball or badminton without disturbing the other activities, the architectural complex or the sacral nature of the church. For the everyday parish activities, a kitchen and meeting room were built in the basement.

The church complex also comprises a 34-metre high sculptural concrete campanile, as well as a vicarage that encloses the southern courtyard.

Aalto worked on the design of sacral buildings throughout his career, but several of his church designs never went beyond competition proposals. Of his realised churches, the Church of the Three Crosses completed in 1958 in Vuoksenniska is unique. The small sculptural parish church, rising up amidst pine heath, embodies the free and imaginative aspect of Aalto’s architecture. The church can be said to be Aalto’s response to the development of modern church architecture in central Europe.

The complex exterior architecture of Vuoksenniska Church conceals the tracks of the heavy sliding walls that affect the design of the building at all levels. According to Aalto:

“The author has simultaneously sought two solutions to the problems, one of which lies almost exclusively within the psychological realm (the acoustic tone of the sermon) and the other purely within the technical realm (the effective separation of the church spaces from each other).” (Arkkitehti 12/1959)

When presenting his design for the Vuoksenniska Church in the journal Arkkitehti, Aalto criticized contemporary church design:

“The ecclesiastical activities of the industrial community must, of course, be resolved with an emphasis on the church’s social activities. Though in the world there exist several different combinations of such church activities, it is unfortunate, however, that many institutions of a social nature have often removed from church buildings their character as a public building. Very often these are kinds of intermediate forms between settlement-movement hostels, youth and parish clubs, parish halls and the actual modest church space connected to these.” (Arkkitehti, 12/1959)

Reindeer antler city plan

Alvar Aalto had strong ties to Lapland throughout his life. Aalto’s operations in Rovaniemi started from the ruins of the town destroyed in the Lapland War. The Second World War ended in Lapland with almost complete destruction. In Rovaniemi, 90 percent of the buildings were destroyed, and a huge reconstruction project was ahead. Alvar Aalto led the reconstruction office of the Finnish Architects’ Association.

In 1945, Aalto drew the famous reindeer antler city plan for Rovaniemi, the basic idea of ​​which was both a strong commitment to nature and flexibility. The plan emphasizes Rovaniemi’s position as a traffic hub in Northern Finland. The plan gets its name from the figure drawn on the map. The roads leading to the north, west and south with parks around them, form the reindeer’s antlers and at the same time together with the Ounasjoki and Kemijoki rivers delimit the city center, which forms the reindeer’s head. The sports field in the center is the eye of the reindeer. Aalto’s original reindeer antler plan was not realized as such, but the figure of the reindeer is still recognizable.

Aalto’s main work in Rovaniemi is the administrative and cultural center – Aalto center – formed by the city library, the congress center Lappia Hall and the City Hall which was already founded in the reindeer antler plan. Aalto also designed residential and commercial buildings for Rovaniemi. The park-like residential area of ​​Korkalorinne is called the Tapiola of Rovaniemi. In the center of Rovaniemi, Aalto designed several buildings for Aho’s businessman family, both for business and residential use.

Wood, Water & Workshop in Kouvola

Experience the industrial Tehtaanmäki and create your own mindscape. The tour takes you to the Ankkapurha Cultural Park, besides the foams of the River Kymijoki and the Tehtaanmäki residential area. At the Art Centre Antares in the countryside sceneries of Sippola the tour culminates into a workshop and exhibition. On this tour, you can be inspired by the layers of history and create something new of your experiences.

The tour takes you to the industrial community at Tehtaanmäki and presents you the residential area designed by Alvar Aalto. The region is filled with history of the woodworking industry from the 1870s onwards. Tehtaanmäki contains the traditional and the modern – Aalto was hired in the 1930s to design the Anjala Paper Mill and homes for the mill workers. A new type of working-class world was created: verdant and communal area built near the river, providing a setting for housing, school, interests and work.

You will be guided through the residential area, where the houses are still used for their original purpose. The Anjala Paper Mill Aalto designed is also in operation. After the tour we take a boat trip along the River Kymijoki and have a cup of coffee served beside campfire. Accommodation takes place on the grounds of an old manor. In the evening you can relax in sauna by the river.

On the second day, it is your turn! You will be taken to an art workshop at the local Art Center Antares nearby. Interpretate all what you have seen and experienced, in your way and personal style.

Espoo and Otaniemi Campus Area

Espoo, located west of Helsinki, is part of the Finnish capital region. Alvar Aalto’s most famous work in Espoo is the Otaniemi campus, now known as Aalto University. Originally known as Helsinki University of Technology, the campus was inspired by American college campuses and realised as their Finnish counterpart by Aalto. The region is under constant expansion, being close to Helsinki, but Aalto’s works remain in their original use.

The center of Otaniemi, Espoo holds a park campus constructed originally in the 1950s, with layout by Alvar Aalto and several buildings designed by him and other famous finnish architects, including Reima & Raili Pietilä and Heikki & Kaija Sirén. Otaniemi Campus is part of Aalto University, named in honor of the architect.

Otaniemi and nearby Harjuviita contain several types of buildings designed by Aalto’s office: from power plant to water tower, and mall to residences. Aalto also made unrealised plans for Espoo residential areas’ layouts.

Helsinki University of Technology main building 1949/1953-65

Alvar Aalto won the design competition for the Helsinki University of Technology in Otaniemi, Espoo, in 1949. In addition to the main campus building Aalto’s office designed several others. The main building was designed in 1953–55. The University of Technology is now part of Aalto University and the building is known as Undergraduate Centre.

Building work was begun in 1964 and the main building was inaugurated in 1966. It was built on the site of the old Otnäs manor. The main building’s stepped auditorium rising above the campus became its main focal point. The amphitheatre is a recurrent theme in Aalto’s architecture.

The main building is divided into several building units, with sheltered courtyards in between. The façade is clad in specially made dark-red brick, black granite and copper.

The design of the Otaniemi campus was intended to separate pedestrians from motorized traffic. Footpaths connect the various department buildings in a park-like setting. The entrance to the main building is easily reached via both the motorized and pedestrian routes.

The main building was later extended and substantial supplemental building still goes on in the Otaniemi area.

Campus area is open to visitors.

Helsinki University of Technology Library 1964-70

Helsinki University of Technology Library, together with the main building, forms the centre of the Otaniemi campus. The library nowadays goes by the name of the Harald Herlin Learning Centre.

The entrance to the redbrick-clad building is from the park and Otaniementie Road side. The reading room and loan library are on the second floor. The focal point of the space is the large loans counter, from beside which stairs lead down to the entrance floor.

The library interior was designed to make it pleasant to work in. The loan library and reading room get natural light indirectly from the skylights and clerestory windows. Aalto’s design also sought to keep out the noise of traffic on Otaniementie Road.

Open for library use. Campus area is open to visitors.

Otahalli Sports Hall 1949-52

The design of Otaniemi sports hall was begun in 1950 and it was first used for the summer Olympics in Helsinki in 1952. The building is known as the Otahalli.

The building originally had two parts, a small hall clad in white brick and a larger one in wood with an earth floor. The roof truss in the wooden hall spans 45 metres. Aalto planned a spectator stand to go between the halls.

Numerous changes have been made to the building over the years and it is still in its original use.

Open for use as a sports hall.

Power Plant 1960-64

The central-heating power plant on the Otaniemi university campus was built in two stages in 1960–64. The power plant in the middle the university campus is just one example of Aalto’s power-plant architecture.

The building’s façade is clad in red brick. The large windows reduce the building mass of the power station. The interior is visible through the rectangular windows. This is a manifestation of modern architecture’s romanticizing attitude to technology.

Aalto designed several power-station buildings, often in conjunction with industrial plants. The power station at Otaniemi is in a central position and prominently on display. The building has been extended and alterations have been made over the years.

Power Plant is viewable from the outside.

Alvar Aalto – e la natura – Architectural Cruise

Welcome to experience the Alvar Aalto Cruise on Lake Päijänne. The most well-known Finnish architect Alvar Aalto used to spend his time in the beautiful Säynätsalo area where he also used to have his summer house – designed by himself of course.

During this trip you will get to know Alvar Aalto’s history and the Säynätasalo Town Hall which was designed by Aalto. Did you know that Alvar Aalto often travelled to Säynätsalo by the same boat S/S Suomi?

The steamboat s/s Suomi departs from Jyväskylä and arrives to Säynätsalo dock where the guide is waiting for you. Together with the guide you’ll find your way to the Säynätsalo Town Hall where the guide will tell you more about Aalto’s unique design. After the tour you’ll head back to Jyväskylä by local bus nro 16.

Turku and the Office Building for Turun Sanomat Newspaper

Architect Alvar Aalto lived in Turku 1927 – 1933. This period saw the rise of a new era of architecture and furniture design. Aalto co-operated with Erik Bryggman, one of the earliest representatives of Finnish functionalist architecture, who had founded an office in Turku in early 1920s.

The office for the newspaper Turun Sanomat is an Aalto-designed office building located in city centre, constructed in 1928-29. Turku region is also home to furniture factory Korhonen, the traditional manufacturer of Artek furniture.

The Office Building for Turun Sanomat Newspaper, along with Aalto’s other works, Southwestern Finland Agricultural Cooperative Building and the Standard Apartment House, are included in the listing of Built Cultural Environments of National Importance. The international Docomomo organization also includes these sites in its list of iconic 1920s-1970s Finnish modernist sites.

Säynätsalo Town Hall

The invitational competition for Säynätsalo Town Hall was held in 1949. Aalto won the competition with an entry marked ‘Curia’, and was immediately commissioned to prepare working drawings. Completed in 1952, the building is one of Aalto’s most admired designs. The dominant element of the building is the council chamber, which soars tower-like above the complex. The main material used for the exterior as well as for the representative areas of the interior is bare red brick.

The building has a variety of functions. Aalto laid out four two-storey wings around a square courtyard set one storey higher than its surroundings. The raised courtyard provides access to the former municipal administrative offices and the library, which continues to serve as the local library for Säynätsalo. The office spaces now function as art galleries and exhibition areas. The municipal officials’ residences located in the west wing of the building now primarily serve as accommodation. The spaces on the lowest floor still serve their original purpose as rental commercial spaces for local businesses. During the summer, the Town Hall keeps its doors open daily for visitors, and guided tours are conducted in Finnish and English.

Säynätsalo Town Hall offers guest rooms and apartments for overnight stay and also for longer-term accommodation for researchers and students. The Aalto Residency Programme is an international residency programme focused on architecture and design. The residence is designed mainly for students, researchers, or professionals of architecture and design, however representatives of other arts and sciences are also welcome. The residence apartments are located in the residential wing of the town hall. Read more about the Aalto Residency Programme here.

Paimio Sanatorium

Nestled in a lush pine forest outside the small Finnish town of Paimio, the Paimio Sanatorium by Alvar and Aino Aalto stands serenely as in a world of its own, a cathedral dedicated to healing. This modernist masterpiece from 1933, is considered as one of the most revolutionary buildings of its time.

The building was of key importance to the international career of architects Alvar and Aino Aalto. Together with Vyborg (Viipuri) Library, completed two years later, it gave the Aaltos an international profile. Finnish architecture was no longer merely the receiver of influences from outside.

The building, constructed on the basis of their win in an architectural competition resolved in 1929, was groundbreaking. A tuberculosis sanatorium was particularly suitable for a building which followed the tenets of the new Functionalism, where bold concrete structures and state-of-the-art building services were inseparable elements of architecture and practicality.

Aalto designed the interior colour scheme, including the yellow floors in the main staircase, the colourful walls in the corridors, the dark ceilings in the patients’ rooms and the orange balcony rails, in conjunction with the decorative artist Eino Kauria.

The entire building complex, grouped together in several parts according to use, was constructed in accordance with Aalto’s philosophy, right down to the smallest details of the furniture. As far as the loose furniture was concerned, a good many items designed specifically for the sanatorium were used, as well as standard products which were already available. According to the idea of standardisation, which belonged to the spirit of the times, these items were also planned for use elsewhere – for example, many of the light fittings ended up in the catalogue of the Taito metalworks.

The pieces of furniture became key products for Artek, which was founded in 1935. The bent plywood Paimio chair in particular has become an international design icon. On the other hand, the three-legged stool, which is the same age as the sanatorium, was not included in the first phase of the furniture supplied by the Otto Korhonen furniture works. The furniture in the patients’ rooms was dominated by tubular-steel construction, soon to be spurned by the Aaltos.

Paimio Sanatorium is considered as one of the modernist masterpieces, key site of architecture, furniture design and innovation in Finland. The Sanatorium represents humane architecture of well-being, a philosophy that continues to this day.

The site is open to public on guided tours and through various cultural activities throughout the year, highlight being the annual Spirit of Paimio – design & architecture conference. Some of the original patient rooms have been renovated into Retreat rooms, which enable visitors to stay overnight in the famous main building. This offers unique opportunity to truly experience the architectural details, and play of light, throughout the day. There is a restaurant on site that is open to public within the general opening hours of the sanatorium. Various areas in the building are also available to rent out for private functions.

Finlandia Hall

Finlandia Hall was completed in Helsinki’s city centre in 1971 and the extra wing in 1975. The building was intended for congresses and concerts.

The location of Finlandia Hall is part of the plan for Helsinki’s city centre that Aalto made in the 1960s. The building was intended to be one of a cluster of cultural building around Töölö Bay. In the unrealised plan the main traffic artery into Helsinki was on the opposite side of the Bay. The building’s main façade faces in that direction.

Aalto wanted the interior and exterior marble facings to create a link with the culture of the Mediterranean countries. The details of the furnishings, including the furniture and light fittings, were carefully designed to create an integrated whole.

In 1962 the Helsinki city authorities commissioned Aalto to design a concert and congress building as the first part of his great centre plan. The Finlandia Hall was completed nine years later. Even the earliest plans show the main characteristics of the final solution. One of the most conspicuous alterations involved the chamber music room, originally intended to soar like the main auditorium above the main building mass.

The Finlandia Hall was adapted strictly to Aalto’s centre plan, with its main (eastern) facade turned towards the projected Terrace Square and the car entrance on the bottom level, intended to continue in the form of a tunnel to other cultural buildings along the shore of Töölö Bay. At this level each section’s own access stair can be reached by car. The next storey, or entrance level, with doors opening directly into Hesperia Park, is dominated by the entrance hall, and also contains cloakrooms and other service space.

A broad staircase leads up to the foyers with entrances to the large and small auditorium, the restaurant, etc. Smaller staircases (one of which forms a visible exterior motif in the east facade) lead from the main foyer to the gallery-like balcony foyer and the doors to the main auditorium’s balcony. Principally responsible for the design of the interiors at Finlandia Hall were the interior designer Pirkko Söderman and the architect Elissa Aalto.

The small chamber music room, which has adjustable, shield-shaped acoustic screens attached to the ceiling, seats 350 people; the main auditorium seats 1,750.

The Finlandia Hall was inaugurated in December 1971. Planning of a congress section began even before the main wing was completed; the congress wing was ready for use as early as 1975. The idea was to improve the working conditions for conferences, an important aspect of the building’s use.

The congress wing, linked to the south end of the main building, contains a large foyer in addition to conference rooms and halls of various sizes. The west facade of the wing has large windows and rounded, concave hollows to make space for some of the old trees growing on the site – and to enliven the facade.

Interior and Furnishing of the Savoy Restaurant

Aino and Alvar Aalto designed the interior of Savoy Restaurant, which occupies a commercial building in the centre of Helsinki. The restaurant’s furniture was commissioned from Artek. The Savoy has mostly kept its original appearance and is still a restaurant.

A. Ahlström Osakeyhtiö commissioned the commercial and office building called the Industrial Palace on the South Esplanade in 1937. Aino and Alvar designed the top-floor restaurant and the furnishings for the function rooms on the floor beneath it.

The Savoy Vase

In 1936, Alvar Aalto took part in an invited exhibition held by the Karhula-Iittala glass factory. His series of glass works “Eskimoerindens skinnbuxa” (The Eskimo Woman’s Leather Breeches) won the competition. These winning vases were first displayed to the public at the Paris World Exposition in 1937. One of the models was also chosen to be part of the new Restaurant Savoy’s furnishings. This design of vase came to be known by the name of the restaurant – Savoy.

Helsinki Energy Office Building

Helsinki Energy Office Building was designed for Helsinki Energy, former The Office Building of the Helsinki City Electricity Company. It is located in the the city centre of Helsinki, in Kamppi area. The building’s location is part of Aalto’s city-centre plan from 1961. Together with Finlandia Hall, Helsinki Energy Office Building is the only building realised part of Aalto’s city-centre plan. The designing process started in 1965 and the building finished in 1973.

Aalto designed the new building to form an integrated architectonic whole with the electricity substation already on the site from 1939. The electricity substation was designed by Gunnar Tacher. The buildings are linked by the line of their roofs. Therefore Helsinki Energy Office Building is a good example of the seamlessly combination of a new building with an earlier one. Helsinki Energy Office Building is nowadays a substantial part of the Kamppi cityscape. 

Apart from housing the company’s the head office, the building also has the main electricity and heat-generation control rooms, the electricity substation and the customer-service department. The street level was to be the customer-service floor, while the upper floors were reserved for offices. There were conference rooms on the top floor, plus the staff restaurant. The street-level customer-service hall got natural light from skylights, which resemble the ones that were also used in the National Pensions Institute building in Helsinki earlier.

Helsinki Energy Office Building was also a total work of art for Aalto’s office, therefore all the original interiors were also designed by Aalto. Over the years the interiors have been changed but in some spaces they have restored the furnishings back to the originals. The façades of the building are corrugated sheet copper and the current façade lighting is from the 1990s. Glazed blue and white ceramic tiles designed by Aalto were used for the interior walls of the building. 

Helsinki Energy Office Building is well-preserved in its original state as it has been in the care of its single owner for over 40 years. The building is still used for its original purpose and only a few alterations have been made, so Helsinki Energy Office Building has certainly withstood the passage of time well.

The surrounding areas in Kamppi district have gone through some changes over the years. The latest change being the Kamppi Shopping centre that was built in 2006. Helsinki Energy Office Building is nowadays linked partially to the centre for example with its underground passage. After the renovations, a coffee shop was also opened at the Helsinki Energy Office Building customer-service floor.