Museum of Ethnoraphy, Budapest, 20 May 2010. – 1 August 2010.

Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) is recognized today as one of the masters of modern architecture and the most influential Finnish architect worldwide. The exhibition highlights four one-family houses that form a varied and fascinating entity in Aalto’s extensive output. The buildings presented in the exhibition include The Aalto House, Villa Mairea, Muuratsalo Experimental House and Maison Luis Carré. Elements typical of Aalto, the human scale and strong connection to nature, can be found in all these buildings. At the same time, they reflect the changes that took place in Aalto’s production in general.

“There is a hidden motive, too, in architecture, which is always peeping out from around the corner, the idea of creating a paradise. It is the only purpose of our buildings. If we do not carry this idea with us the whole time, all our buildings would be simpler, more trivial and life would become – well, would life amount to anything at all? Every building, every work of architecture, is a symbol which has the aspiration to show that we want to build a paradise on earth for ordinary mortals.”

Alvar Aalto, 1958

Exhibition is organized by
Finnagora;
Alvar Aalto Museum;
Museum of Ethnography, Budapest;
Kölcsey Convention Centre, Debrecen
and the Cities of Debrecen and Jyväskylä.

Alvar Aalto Houses Architecture Seminar
Lectures of Severi Blomstedt and Heikki Lonka.
Thursday May 20th 2010