Studio Aalto

A critical reappraisal of the Aalto portfolio—its legacy, significance, and relevance

“It is not what a building looks like on the opening day that matters but what it is like thirty years later,” noted the Finnish modernist Alvar Aalto (1898–1976). Heeding Aalto’s suggestion, this book appraises the legacy, significance, and relevance of one of the most widely admired twentieth-century design practices today.

Three decades after the closure of Alvar Aalto Architects Ltd., and half a century after the death of its founder, what is the verdict? How does the Aalto portfolio measure up to critical reflections on its value and meaning today? What has been, and is, the afterlife of Aalto?

With access to previously unpublished archival material, Sofia Nivarti interrogates the significance of the portfolio of Alvar, Aino, and Elissa Aalto and their associates in the twenty-first century. The critical reappraisal of an ostensibly subversive modernism is pertinent as modern architecture increasingly becomes heritage and its legacy is simultaneously both vilified and subjected to various forms of revival. This book seeks to show what Aalto projects tell us about twentieth-century modernism, and how they impact our decisions to conserve, restore, or protect them in the twenty-first century.