In connection with his planning assignment for the Stenius company, architects Aino Marsio-Aalto and Alvar Aalto acquired a plot at Riihitie in Munkkiniemi in 1934, and promptly built a house there. Its departures from rigid Rationalism make this an important advance in their series of private houses from the Villa Tammekann to the Villa Mairea.

The slender mass of the office wing is in white-painted, lightly rendered brickwork. There are still clear references to Functionalism in the location of the windows. The cladding material of the residential part is slender, dark-stained timber battens. The building has a flat roof and a large south-facing terrace. Although the streetside elevation of the house is severe and closed-off, it is softened by climbing plants and a slate path leading up to the front door. There are already signs of the ‘new’ Aaltos in the Aalto House, of the Romantic Functionalist. The plentiful use of wood as a finishing material and four open hearts built in brick also point to this.

Combining work spaces and housing demonstrates the Aalto’s joint attitude to the integration of art and everyday life, and gives expression to their view of work as the meaning of life for the harmonious human being. The lower storey forms a spatial continuum of living and working rooms; the bedrooms, children’s room, and sunlit terrace are upstairs. The interiors were elegantly furnished in every detail, but with no trace of straining for effect.

The Aalto House was in residential use until architect Elissa Aalto’s death in 1994, when it came into the custodianship of the Alvar Aalto Foundation. The house was renovated in 2000-2002. Today The Aalto House serves as museum and is a member of The Iconic House organization.

Location

Riihitie 20, Helsinki
60.1967958, 24.8764963

Images

Courtyard façade in 1940s, The Aalto House
Courtyard façade in 1940s, The Aalto House (© Eino Mäkinen, Alvar Aalto Museum)
Site plan, The Aalto House
Site plan, The Aalto House (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
Ground floor plan, The Aalto House
Ground floor plan, The Aalto House (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
1st floor plan, The Aalto House
1st floor plan, The Aalto House (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
Section, The Aalto House
Section, The Aalto House (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
South elevation, The Aalto House
South elevation, The Aalto House (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
North elevation, The Aalto House
North elevation, The Aalto House (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
The Aalto House
The Aalto House (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
Courtyard façade, The Aalto House
Courtyard façade, The Aalto House (© Maija Holma, Alvar Aalto Museum)
From living room to the studio, The Aalto House
From living room to the studio, The Aalto House (© Maija Holma, Alvar Aalto Museum)
From studio to the living room, The Aalto House
From studio to the living room, The Aalto House (© Maija Holma, Alvar Aalto Museum)
In front the studio wing, The Aalto House
In front the studio wing, The Aalto House (© Maija Holma, Alvar Aalto Museum)
Living room and dining room, The Aalto House
Living room and dining room, The Aalto House (© Maija Holma, Alvar Aalto Museum)
Main entrance, The Aalto House
Main entrance, The Aalto House (© Maija Holma, Alvar Aalto Museum)

More projects by authors

Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Koskikeskus Landscape and Urban Plan

  • Oulu
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aalto Pavilion

  • Venice
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Alajärvi Youth Association Building

  • Alajärvi
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Detmerode Church and Parish Centre

  • Wolfsburg
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Church of the Three Crosses

  • Imatra
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Church of the Cross

  • Lahti
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

The Seinäjoki Defence Corps Building

  • Seinäjoki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Riola Church and Parish Centre

  • Riola
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

The Jyväskylä Defence Corps Building

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Nuora Building (alterations)

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Villa Karpio

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

National Pensions Institute Housing

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Villa Skeppet

  • Tammisaari
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Standard Apartment House

  • Turku
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Casa Lauren

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Kantola House

  • Kotka
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Schönbühl Apartment House and Commercial Centre

  • Lucerne, Switzerland
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Rautatalo Office Building (Iron House)

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Paimio Sanatorium

  • Paimio
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Studio Aalto

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aalto-Hochhaus

  • Bremen
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Finlandia Hall

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Villa Mairea

  • Noormarkku
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Säynätsalo Town Hall

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Alvar Aalto Museum

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aalto University Harald Herlin Learning Centre

  • Espoo
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

National Pensions Institute

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aalto University Undergraduate Centre

  • Espoo
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Viipuri Library

  • Vyborg
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Muurame Church

  • Muurame
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Jyväskylä Workers’ Club

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Cross of the Plains Church (Lakeuden risti)

  • Seinäjoki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

University of Jyväskylä, the Aalto’s Campus

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Muuratsalo Experimental House

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Sunila Pulp Mill and Residential Area

  • Kotka
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Hansaviertel Apartment House

  • Berlin
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aira Apartment Building for Railway Workers

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aalto University Student Dormitory

  • Espoo
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Maison Louis Carré

  • Bazoches-sur-Guyonne
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Villa Kokkonen

  • Järvenpää
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Villa Tammekann

  • Tartu, Estonia
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Viitatorni

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Terraced House

  • Eura
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

House of Culture

  • Helsinki

Nearby projects

Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

National Pensions Institute Housing

  • 200 m
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Studio Aalto

  • 400 m
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Munkkiniemi Service Centre

  • 500 m