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Villa Mairea and Ahlström’s Noormarkku Works in Pori

Address: Laviantie 14, 29600 Noormarkku, Finland Open Google map

Entrance fee: Upon request

Tours: Visits to Villa Mairea and Ahlström Works can be arranged by online pre-booking or with Magni Mundi

Themes: Aalto homes, Art, Industrial sites, Modernism

Website: Ahlström Works

Ahlström’s Noormarkku Works area is one of the largest and most impressive old engineering works areas in Finland, with the visitors having an opportunity to absorb the atmosphere of bygone industrial times. The area houses a high-standard restaurant and hotel, with elegant accommodation for up to 60 guests. The club restaurant offers local and wild food as well as game hunted under the instruction of the game warden. Guided tours are arranged in the dignified cultural surroundings. In addition to the Sawmill Museum and Ahlström Voyage exhibition, travellers can visit (upon advance reservation) Villa Mairea, probably the highlight of the design career of Alvar and Aino Aalto.

Villa Mairea

Located within the Noormarkku Works area, Villa Mairea was built in 1939 to serve as the home of Maire (née Ahlström) and Harry Gullichsen. The progressive couple were patrons of the arts, and they were interested in the clean-cut expression of modernism. Their good friends, the architects Aino and Alvar Aalto, had an opportunity to apply free and experimental design in the planning of Villa Mairea.

These favourable circumstances gave rise to a unique work of art, which is currently considered an international masterpiece in 20th century architecture. Interior design for Villa Mairea was in the hands of Aino Aalto.

Through the life’s work of Maire Gullichsen, Villa Mairea is linked in many ways to the arts institutions and design sector of Finland, for example to the furniture business Artek and Galerie Artek, Free Art School and Pori Art Museum. She played a decisive role in the establishment of all of these.

Villa Mairea is only open to visitors by advance reservation.

Villa Mairea

A. Ahlström Osakeyhtiö in the hub of Finnish industrial history

A. Ahlström Kiinteistöt Oy has received awards for keeping and maintaining the Noormarkku and Kauttua Works areas, which hold cultural history value.

The award-winning Ahlström Voyage exhibition housed in the old smithery describes Finnish industrial history over the past 160 years. The exhibition presents iconic glass art from the collections of the Iittala, Karhula and Riihimäki glass factories, such as unique specimens of the Savoy vase, an impressive collection of Tapio Wirkkala’s production and Timo Sarpaneva’s Orkidea. There is also information on the friendship and co-operation between the Aalto and Gullichsen families.

The forests and land and water areas owned by Ahlström are in a pristine condition. Guided full-service fishing and canoe safaris as well as hunting events of small and large game for groups are arranged in these areas. The nature trail in the forest adjacent to the Noormarkku Works area is available to everyone, and there are also guided birdwatching trips.

The Koli sauna includes a range of various types of saunas such as chimneyless sauna and wooden sauna as well as an outdoor hot tub beside the River Noormarkunjoki.

Noormarkku works

Pori Art Museum and Jusélius Mausoleum

Pori Art Museum is a museum of contemporary art, built around the collection of Maire Gullichsen in 1981. The museum presents the latest trends in Finnish and international art.

Constructivism, Fluxus and trends in land and conceptual art have paved the way for exploring new phenomena. The collections and archives of the museum that serves as the regional art museum of Satakunta focus on modernism and newer art.

The National Urban Park of Pori houses one of the most famous sights in Pori at the Käppärä cemetery: Jusélius Mausoleum. The building of the mausoleum was commissioned by the industrialist Fritz Arthur Jusélius as the final resting place of her daughter Sigrid, who died of
tuberculosis at the age of 11.

The mausoleum is of the neo-gothic architectural style, and its original frescos painted by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, the foremost representative of the nationalist romanticist style in Finland, were destroyed in the early 20th century. By 1925, the frescos had been replaced by a bronze relief by the sculptor Emil Cedercreutz. The current frescos were painted in 1933 to 1939 by the artist Jorma Gallen-Kallela after sketches drawn up by his father Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

Visit Pori

Pori Art Museum

Villa Mairea is located in the Noormarkku Ironworks area, where it was designed as a home for Aalto’s friends Maire and Harry Gullichsen. Photo: Johanna Kokkola

Villa Mairea in Noormarkku
Villa Mairea in Noormarkku photo Maija Holma Alvar Aalto Foundation
Noormarkku Works field summer
Noormarkku Club in the Ahlström Ironworks. Photo: Johanna Kokkola
Aino Aalto tuolit Noormarkun ruukin ruokasalissa

Sites in Villa Mairea and Ahlström’s Noormarkku Works in Pori

The sun casts shadows over the entrance to Villa Mairea in Noormarkku.

Villa Mairea

Villa Mairea and Ahlström’s Noormarkku Works in Pori / 1939

Located within the Noormarkku Works area, Villa Mairea was built in 1939 to serve as the home of Maire (née Ahlström) and Harry Gullichsen. The progressive couple were patrons of the arts, and they were interested in the clean-cut expression of modernism. Their good friends, the architects Aino and…

Information for visitors

Good to know

Arriving to Noormarkku

Ahlström’s Noormarkku Works area is located in Noormarkku, Pori on Laviantie 14, approximately 260 kilometres away from Helsinki. The best way to reach the area is by a car or by train or bus from Helsinki to Pori. From Pori you can take a local bus 66 or 64 from the Market Place and the distance is approximately 15 km. You can also take a long distance bus from the bus station in Pori. Please see schedules here. You can also order a taxi in Pori from number +358 600 30033.

Visit to Villa Mairea is only possible by confirmed pre-booking; please also note that it is not possible to visit the villa or its courtyard without a confirmed booking. Check more details about the tours on Villa Mairea’s web site. You can also inquire about guided visits in Villa Mairea and Ahlström’s Works area from Magni Mundi. Ahlström Works can also arrange guided tours in the area.

Read more about sights in Pori

Read more about Ahlström’s Noormarkku Works area

Read more about Villa Mairea 

Please note that you can purchase publications Villa Mairea as download architectural drawings from Alvar Aalto web shop! 

Guided tours

Visits to Villa Mairea and Ahlström Works can be arranged by online pre-booking or with Magni Mundi