Alvar Aallon oma talo ja arkkitehtitoimisto (Alvar Aaltos hem och arkitektbyrå)

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

The Riihitie house in Munkkiniemi, designed by the architect couple Alvar and Aino Aalto for themselves, is an outstanding example of modernism's contribution to Finnish building and interior art, in its entirety, with its furnishings and surroundings. The building, which houses living and working spaces, belongs to the selection of masterpieces of Finnish modern architecture approved by the international DOCOMOMO organisation. In Tiilimäki, Aalto designed work spaces for his expanding architectural office, studio facilities for the creative work of architecture.

The cosy and intimate Riihitie house dates from 1935. The living room, dining area and the office wing immediately adjoining them on the ground floor form the building's central interior ensemble, which opens onto a sheltered and sunny courtyard. On the upper floor are the bedrooms and a terrace. Simple materials were used for the flat-roofed building. The exterior architecture is characterised by alternating dark vertical board surfaces and white slammed brick walls. The house is closed off towards the street. The plot is surrounded by brick and wooden fences.

Alvar Aalto's studio and office building, built in the mid-1950s, is also located in Munkkiniemi, at Tiilimäki 20. In Aalto's own words, a studio is a necessity, because architectural art cannot be created in an office resembling a bureau. Aalto wrote in the magazine Arkkitehti in 1959: "The studio building turns its back on the street almost in an oriental manner and instead opens onto an intimate central garden, which, rising amphitheatrically, also serves as a lecture hall." The courtyard is bounded by the privately used studio with its curved wall and the drawing hall of the office with its straight wall.

History

Alvar and Aino Aalto's Riihitie house was designed and built in 1935-1936 as the home and office of the Aalto family. The house was the permanent home of the Aalto family, where both spouses lived until their deaths, Alvar Aalto for 40 years, until 1976. Aalto's architectural office operated in the building until 1955, when a new office building was completed a short distance away on Tiilimäki. Shortly after Elissa Aalto, Alvar Aalto's second wife, died in 1994, the Riihitie residential house passed into the ownership of Alvar Aalto Säätiö. The house was renovated in 2000-2002 according to the plans of architect Tapani Musto. From 2002 onwards the house has operated as a house museum.

The Tiilimäki architectural office, designed by Alvar Aalto, was built when the office needed more working space because of large commissions in the 1950s. The building was extended into a U-shape in 1962-1963, when a staff dining room and a second-floor office room were built behind the courtyard wall. After Alvar Aalto's death, the architectural office continued in the building under the leadership of Aalto's wife, architect Elissa Aalto, from 1976 to 1994. The building passed into the possession of Alvar Aalto Säätiö in 1984. The building was restored at the beginning of the 21st century. The building houses Alvar Aalto -säätiö, the built heritage department of the Alvar Aalto Museum, and Alvar Aalto Akatemia.