Location: Eura, Pori, Finland
Duration: 1 day
Sites: Kauttua Ruukinpuisto Works at Eura, Villa Mairea and Ahlström’s Noormarkku Works in Pori, Villa Mairea, Riverside sauna at the Kauttua Works, The Terraced House at the Kauttua Works in Eura
Available: All year
Accommodation: Not included
Transportation: Not included
Themes: Aalto homes, Finnish sauna and pools, Industrial sites, River, Terraced houses
From 78 € per person
Get to discover the collaboration between Ahlström Ironworks and Alvar Aalto, which resulted in these architectural masterpieces surrounded by pine forests. These buildings receive visitors from every corner of the world!
Tour highlights:
Get to learn about architecture and lifestyle in the Ahlström’s Works sites designed by Alvar Aalto. In Noormarkku you will get acquainted with the sophisticated Villa Mairea, while in Kauttua you will explore the Terraced House and the Riverside sauna.
Human scale and a healthy lifestyle are an integral part of the architecture of the Kauttua Works area. Here, the visitor is presented with a diverse selection of architectural designs by Aalto. You can start your tour at the famous Terraced House, where you can explore an apartment furnished with Artek interiors. On a guided walking tour, you will also visit the Riverside sauna: the location of the public sauna and laundry for the Ahlström workers, designed jointly by Aino and Alvar Aalto. All around, you will spot several other architectures by Aalto, including the civil servants’ residence and standard housing on the Varkaudenmäki hill.
The visit to the Terraced House also offers the possibility to purchase the vintage Artek pieces on display, while the Riverside sauna also hosts a design shop that features secondhand items as well as new Finnish and Scandinavian design models!
From Kauttua, the tour continues towards Noormarkku Works. The world-famous Villa Mairea is located in Noormarkku, where it stands surrounded by a pine forest. Aino and Alvar Aalto designed Villa Mairea as a home for their friends Maire and Harry Gullichsen; the villa is still partly in private use by the Gullichsen family. On the inside, the beautiful original interiors designed by Aino Aalto are further enrichened by a significant international art collection.
While on the guided tour of the Works, you will also get to explore the Ahlström Voyage -exhibition, and the Makkarakoski sawmill museum.
Kauttua Club is situated in the heart of the Kauttua Ironworks in Eura.
The Terraced House in Kauttua Ironworks is one of Alvar Aalto’s most prominent works also internationally. Photo: Elina Liukkonen, Alvar Aalto Foundation
The Noormarkku Ironworks also offers you the chance of staying overnight at the guesthouse Vainiola which has been renovated according to Alvar Aalto's plans, enjoy local foods, experience a Finnish sauna and venture on nature trips
The tour starts from Kauttua, Eura. The Kauttua Works were planned by Alvar Aalto with concepts of social life and human scale in mind. For this reason, the visitor is able to sense the lifestyle of the residents and the communal character of Ahlström tradition merge into a harmonious community.
We will start the day with a guided visit of the Terraced House in Kauttua, which was originally designed for the senior employees of the Kauttua paper mill. Built on a hillside in the middle of the historic ironworks area, one of the apartments in the Terraced House is furnished with vintage Artek furniture pieces and light fixtures, some of which are also available for purchase. We will get acquainted as well with other buildings in the area designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto, such as the atmospheric Riverside sauna. Part of the sauna building is nowadays a design store, which offers a rich selection of Finnish design items, for you to purchase for your own home.
The trip continues to Ahlström’s Noormarkku Works near Pori.
Ahlström’s Noormarkku Works is one of the largest and most distinctive woodwork areas in Finland, where visitors get a front row seat to experience the original atmosphere. A visit to the Ahlström Voyage -exhibition and a tour of the works area is included in the program. At lunchtime, we will head for the idyllic Ahlström’s club restaurant, where we will get to enjoy local food prepared with fresh ingredients.
Later in the afternoon we will visit Villa Mairea, (take “which was” out) built in 1939 to serve as the home of Maire (née Ahlström) and Harry Gullichsen. Aino and Alvar Aalto, good friends of the Gullichsens, had the opportunity with this project to design the building freely and experimentally.
An overnight stay option at Noormarkku works can be added to the package, as well as a guided tour of the Pori Art Museum and additional sites.
Eura
The Terraced House at the Kauttua Works in Eura is a vivid example of the desire of the architect to integrate the building into the natural environment: the multi-storey residential building adapts to the slope, so the entrance of each apartment is on ground level. Completed in 1938, the Terraced…
Pori
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…
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…
Eura / 1946
Aino and Alvar Aalto designed the riverside sauna and laundry building for the employees of A. Ahlström company in the Kauttua Works area in Eura. The building is situated by the rapids in the beautiful surroundings of the bank of the flowing Eurajoki river. It was completed in 1946, with…
Eura / 1937-38
The Terraced House in Kauttua is one of Alvar Aalto’s most prominent works also internationally. In 1937, Alvar Aalto received a commission from the A. Ahlström company for the town planning and infill building of the Kauttua ironworks area. The assignment also stemmed from Alvar Aalto’s friendship with the company’s…
Please note:
Transportation between sights is not included in the tour. Available upon request.
Available also for smaller groups and individual travelers. Please contacts us for a price offer.
Tour available year-round. Opening times of the sights may, however, affect the availability.
All rights reserved. The tour operator reserves the right to all changes regarding dates, prices and any other detail.
We follow the general terms and conditions for package tours.
Available also for smaller groups and individual travelers. Please contacts us for a price offer.
Tour available year-round. Opening times of the sights may, however, affect the availability.
All rights reserved. The tour operator reserves the right to all changes regarding dates, prices and any other detail.
We follow the general terms and conditions for package tours.
PL 41
20101, Turku
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