Alvar Aalto in Jyväskylä

Also in my current home town Jyväskylä many Aalto buildings can be found. Alvar Aalto moved to Jyväskylä in 1903 at the age of five and graduated from Jyväskylä Lyceum ( High school ) in 1916. After that he went for studies to Helsinki but returned to Jyväskylä in 1923 where he opened his first studio. As mentioned earlier Jyväskylä is also the city which hosts the Alvar Aalto museum. The museum was designed by Alvar Aalto himself.

Site No. 8: The Alvar Aalto Museum in Jyväskylä (1971-73)

Therefore starting my tour through Alvar Aaltos architecture in Jyväskylä at the Aalto Museum itself, the place where I basically got inspired to write this blog, seemed quiet natural. The museum can be found in Alvar Aalto Katu 7, the street named after Aalto, next to the Museum of Central Finland which was as well designed by Alvar Aalto.

The front of the Alvar Aalto Museum which doesn't has any windows let the building in the first moment a little bit look like a storage building or something similar. Well by approaching the front entrance the typical Alvar Aalto door handles appear and beside the door a metal plate indicates that you have found the only existing Alvar Aalto museum.

Inside the museum everything is designed by Alvar Aalto and it seems that nothing has been changed regarding the interior. Again I was totally fascinated to see how much effort Alvar Aalto had been spending into each and every detail of his design. A perfect combination of aesthetic and functionality.

The museum mostly focuses on Aalto's buildings and displays a lot of models and drafts. Beside Aalto's buildings the museum also shows a lot of his interior design, such as lamps, chairs but also the famous Savoy vase in different sizes. Downstairs a museum shop and a small cafeteria can be found as well.

Site No. 9: The Museum of Central Finland in Jyväskylä (1956-61)

As mentioned before the Museum of Central Finland is located next to the Alvar Aalto Museum but was completed about 10 years earlier.

Entering the Museum the charm of the 50s welcomes the visitor. In the entrance hall as well in the stair cases the typical Alvar Aalto elements are appearing, the exhibition itself which tells about Central Finland and Jyväskylä does not contain any of Alvar Aaltos signature. The exhibition seemed to been renewed during the past recent years.

Updates on the Central Finland Museum after its extensive renovation in 2018-2020 can be found here.

Site No. 10: The Jyväskylä Wokers' Club (1924-25)

After visiting the Alvar Aalto Street and its two museums designed by Aalto I headed for the city centre to discover the three buildings which can be found in the centre of Jyväskylä. The first building I visited was the Jyväskylä Workers' Club which was one of the first work Aalto ever did, located in Väinönkatu 7. Apparently I have been in this building several times and haven't ever noticed that it was designed by Alvar Aalto. Well compared to his later works as displayed in former post this building does by far not look that Aalto typical. 

With exception of the "Aalto-Sali" the so called Aalto room the building does not show anything Aalto specific, the bar "O'Malley's" which I have sometimes visited does not have any Aalto typical interior, neither does the "Memphis" at the corner has. The Aalto Sali is normally only opened at some special occasions, maybe some day I will have the luck to gain entrance and will definitely tell more about it on this very blog.

Site No. 11: The Defence Corps Building in Jyväskylä (1926-29)

The Defence Corps Building located not far from the Workers' Club in Kilpisenkatu 8 is as well among Aaltos very early works, built in the late 20s. I passed by this building several times but did not at all realize that it was the one I was searching for. To be honest I was totally disappointed by what I found, the building looked like it wasn't in use anymore for years, well it looked like as it will be removed in the near future. Not really a nice site to look at and I didn't spend much time with it. I think if you see the picture below you understand what I mean.

Site No. 12: The Administrative and Cultural Centre in Jyväskylä (1964-82)

Just on the opposite of the road at Kilpisenkatu 1 the so called Administrative and Cultural Centre of Jyväskylä can be found, designed by Alvar Aalto in the 60s and 70s. This building hosts the Jyväskylä Theatre as well as some administrative offices of the City of Jyväskylä and was also formerly partly used as the Police Headquarters of Jyväskylä.

View of the Jyväskylä Theather roof from the water tower Vesilinna:

The administrative offices of the city can of course not been visited so easily but the Jyväskylä Theater is public and the lobby is open daily during the ticket selling hours. I took the chance to have a closer look at the lobby and the ticket sales offices and was one more time impressed by all the details and the effort Aalto spend into the design of the interior.

During a second visit in September 2011 I got the chance to also see the inside of the theater. The theater had its open doors day and I got access to the lobby, the two theaters and even to back stage. Below some pictures from that special visit.

Alvar Aalto in Helsinki

Hi there!

Finally I am back, sorry my studies kept me really busy but therefore I have a lot of new pictures to show. Actually I have been really active during this week, on Monday I visited already 7 sites in Helsinki and today I had a look on the Alvar Aalto buildings here in downtown Jyväskylä. 

Site No. 1: The Stora Enso Head Offices in Helsinki (1959-62)

Returning from a cruise to Stockholm, I entered Helsinki via the ferry terminal at Helsinki's south harbour on Monday morning. On my way from the terminal to the city centre I passed by my first site the Stora Enso Head Offices located at Kanavaranta 1 right between the famous big red orthodox church and the market square at the south harbour.

The building itself isn't public so you can only view it from outside. The outside view is really impressive and the building can hardly been overseen when you are standing at the market square. Especially its white color and its big windows but also the structure gives the building a bit of futuristic touch. It is almost unbelievable that this building was designed and build in the late 50s. 

By walking around the building I also realized how well it fits into its environment, even if there is a huge stylistic difference between the orthodox church and the building itself, according to my opinion they are fitting very well to each other.  

Site No. 2: The Former Nordic Union Bank in Helsinki (1960-65)

Before heading for lunch at the Helsinki Universities main building I shortly visited the nearby Former Nordic Union Bank located at Fabiankatu 29. This building seemed a bit hidden to me and it took me a while to find it because it is basically located in a side street of Alexanderinkatu. The building itself is not anymore in use as a bank but serves now as a furniture store. Inside the store I couldn't find any Aalto typical interior. 

Site No. 3: The Academic Bookstore in Helsinki (1961-69)

After lunch I approached the Academic Bookstore owned by Stockmann located at Pohjoisesplanadi 39. I have been visiting this store many times but this was actually the first time that I really payed attention to the building itself. Its style is quiet similar to the Former Nordic Union Bank building presented above.

After having a look on the building outside I entered the building and took also some pictures from inside. The black outside but the white marble used inside are building up a very interesting contrast. Beside that the white marble used inside gives this buildings interior also a very luxurious touch. Also mentionable are the two big windows in the roof seen on the picture below, which are not only very stylish but are also providing the big hall with additional daylight. This is a typical example of Alvar Aalto's perfect way to match design and punctuality.

Site No. 4: The Emergency Shelter Entrance in Helsinki (1951-52)

The Emergency Shelter Entrance better known as the Erottaja Pavilion, named after the district of Erottaja, where this former shelter is located, can be found in Erottajankatu. This entrance "building" is basically located between the two big lanes of Erotajankatu and was indeed not easy to find. After passing by the building the second time I noticed the Alvar Aalto typical door handle and realized that I had found what I had been looking for. Unfortunately it was not possible to enter this building which obviously is nowadays used as a entrance to a underground parking garage.

Site No. 5: The Finnish Engineers' Association Building in Helsinki (1948-52)

The Finnish Engineers' Association Building located in Ratakatu 9 is a quiet inconsiderable building. It doesn't actually look so Alvar Aalto typical and appeared quiet modern compared to the other buildings surrounding it. Also this building seems to be used in a other way than it was originally designed for hosting nowadays a night club which was still closed during the time of my visit.

Site No. 6: The Rautatalo Office in Helsinki (1951-55)

After consulting the map I realized that I already had passed by the Rautatalo Office building that day. The building is basically located next to the Academic Bookstore in Keskukatu 3. Returning back to that spot I also easily could recognize the similar style of this two buildings.

The Rautatalo Office building is from a similar time period than the Academic Bookstore as well as the Former Nordic Union Bank but also contains some red brick elements on its sidewall.

Site No. 7: The Office Building of the Helsinki City Electricity Company (1965-76)

The last site I visited in Helsinki that day was the Office Building of Helsinki's City Electricity Company Helsinki Energia located at Kampikuja 2. As I couldn't that easily find Kampikuja on the map, it is indeed a very short street, I thought according to the name it must be in the district of Kamppi. So I went to the Kamppi bus terminal, crossed it and left it on the other side and basically run into the building. Once again the style very similar to Stockmanns Akademic Bookstore as well as the Rautatalo Office Building I easily could identify it as Alvar Aaltos work. 

The ground floor of the building is nowadays used by shops and is since 2007 connected via a tunnel with the Kamppi center which was completed the same year. Below finally also pictures from the interior as taken during a second visit in summer 2014.