1898–1976
Alvar Henrick Aalto was a twentieth century Finnish architect and furniture designer. Aino Marsio, his wife had helped in his designs for she was a famous furniture designer. In 1921, Aalto graduated from the Helsinki Polytechnic School. Soon after, one of his first famous works was the Piamio Tuberculosis Sanatorium in which he and his wife expressed his functionalist style, especially in the structure of his works.
Aalto did not decorate much. Instead, he left the structure to conjure a decoration for itself. For example, at Piamio balconies were often accompanied with a beautiful view of the landscape and a sunlight effect. Also, he and his wife had also adorned the sanatorium with laminated wood furnishings, for which the two were famous. Later, they founded a company that now produces such furnishings called Artek.
By attending the 1937 Paris
Exposition, his fame had increased internationally with his
laminated wood furniture designs and the Finnish Pavilion, which
he also innovatively designed. He also entered the Finnish Pavilion in the New York World Fair in 1939. Its innovative
aspects are the interior walls made of glass and wood. The picture on the left
is a common "Backless
Chair" - a development of Alvar Aalto.
A year later, Aalto returned to the United States to teach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Within the eight years he spent there, he designed the Serpentine Baker House. It featured a serpentine-like dormitory on the Charles River. From the examples we see, Aalto used the structure of his designs in bold and expressive style.
In 1948, Aalto returned to Finland as the head architect of an office working to rebuild Finland and Europe after World War II. In Helsinki, Finland, Aalto worked with many civic buildings. Also, after reconstruction he continued his work in Finland. The finest is Finladia Hall, completed in 1975. It now remains Helsinki's Waterfront Cultural Center. During reconstruction, In Germany, his work was reflected in the Wolfsburg Cultural Center, while in France he designed the Maison Carré in Paris.