Finnish identity through the works of Aalto

Aino Aalto. (Helsinki, 1894 - 1949) Aino Mandelin-Marsio was one of the first female Finnish architects. She played a key role both in the modern architecture of her country and in the work of her husband, Alvar Aalto, with whom she worked until she died in 1949. In their creations, they combine rationalist thinking with Scandinavian vernacular architecture and the use of natural materials.

Her work highlights her interest in small scale, in the most intimate and day-to-day dimension of design, hence her most relevant contributions belong to the field of interior design and furniture. This is the case of the design of the famous Villa Mairea in Noormarkku (1937-1939) or the "minimal kitchen" of 1930, as well as part of the furniture for the Sanatorio de Paimio (1927-1929) or the minimum housing for workers from various factories of the company Älhstrom.

She graduated as an architect at the Helsinki Institute of Technology in 1920. During her studies, she worked as an apprentice in carpentry and masonry, experiences of great influence in her later work. She began her professional career with the architect Oiva Kallio. In 1924 she began working for the office of Alvar Aalto, with whom she married after about six months.

It is difficult to discern the contributions of Aino in the projects attributed to Alvar Aalto. However, according to Giedion, many of their projects are signed by both, and there are also works signed separately, such as contests of interior design, furniture and utilitarian objects.

According to Erling Bjertnae, assistant to the office of Alvar Aalto, Pöytyä Parish was a complete work of Aino. Among her small-scale projects, the creation in 1926 of their own summer house, Villa Flora in Alajärvi, stands out. Two years later, Alvar Aalto won the first prize in the prototype design contest for a weekend house with an adaptation of this villa, in the "Konsoli" project.

In 1930 the couple presented a newfangled apartment for the Minimum Apartment Exhibition in Helsinki, with a design in line with the emancipation of women in society. Aino introduced here the first modern built-in kitchen, the famous "minimal kitchen", influenced by the Frankfurter Küchen designed by Margarete Schüte-Lihoztky in 1926.

In 1935 she created the company Artek (art + technique) with her husband and the married couple of Marie Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl, with the aim of creating objects for the "domestic industry". She will be its creative director until 1941, when she will become general director.

In 1936, the architect obtained the Gold Medal in Design at the VI Milan Triennale, with the Bölgeblick (wave view) series of glass pieces designed in 1932 for a contest organized by the Finnish factory of Karhula and Iittala. The collection, whose conception is highly linked to mass production methods, became very popular, and it is still being manufactured today. Se also collaborated with Alvar in the conception of the famous Savoy Vase in 1936.

In 1938, the couple presented separately to the contest of the Finland Pavilion for the New York World's Fair. Aino won the third prize, while Alvar won the first two. Finally, the pavilion was built with the ideas of the three proposals.

Elsa-Kaisa Mäkiniemi / Elissa Aalto, (Kemi, 22.11.1922 – Helsinki, 12.4.1994) graduated as an architect in Helsinki in 1949 and commenced work at Alvar Aalto’s architect’s office in that same year. She began using the name Elissa after marrying Alvar Aalto in 1952.

Elissa Aalto worked in Aalto’s office at a time when several competitions and sizeable public commissions were underway. She worked hard as one of the office’s architects and was soon put in charge of a number of major building projects, such as Säynätsalo Town Hall and Maison Louis Carré.

The newly-wed Alvar and Elissa designed the Muuratsalo Experimental House to be their summer residence. As Alvar Aalto grew older, Elissa’s role in the office as the conveyor of Aalto’s ideas was accentuated. After Aalto’s death, Elissa ran the office, carrying to completion several unfinished projects, such as Seinäjoki Civic Centre, the Aalto Theatre in Essen, and Riola Church. Several complementary construction and renovation projects on completed Aalto buildings were also carried out under Elissa’s leadership.

Elissa Aalto also made independent architecture designs: of which we can mention Villa Hauta-aho (1982–83) in Seinäjoki and the SOS Children’s Village in Tapiola, Espoo (1960–70). She also designed textile patterns such as H55, shown at the Helsingborg Exhibition in 1955, which was in Artek’s range.

Implementing Alvar Aalto’s architecture designs and fostering his intellectual heritage formed Elissa Aalto’s major life’s work. She worked actively on behalf of the Vyborg Library restoration project and took part in the discussion about conserving Aalto’s buildings.

Elissa was a long-term resident of the Aalto House on Riihitie road in Helsinki and also continued to spend summers in the Muuratsalo Experimental House right up to the end of her life. In her will, Elissa Aalto left the Experimental House in the care of the Alvar Aalto Museum, under the ownership of the City of Jyväskylä, and as a place for museum audiences to visit. It was on Elissa’s initiative that Studio Aalto was sold to the Alvar Aalto Foundation in 1984.