Architecture: Aino and Elissa, the two wives of Alvar Aalto

C‘It’s a photo that portrays Alvar Aalto Child, in front of a wall of paintings with which in the paternal house he organized the first art exhibition. To his biographer, his friend and writer Göran Schildt, he will talk about the “big white table”: that of his father surveyor, under which he used to crawl “… until I was grown enough to go up to the upper level, at the great actual table. I think I have learned the philosophy of the pen and paper at the age of four. And all around me, next to the maps, there were fountain pens and tempera colors. My childhood table was great. It is at that table that I made the work of my life ».

Among the most important architects of the twentieth century, born in 1898 and disappeared in 1976Alvar Aalto pursued an organic vision of architecture in which nature was not an element to dominate, but to listen to. Aalto respected the rhythms, needs and emotions of man through the soft curves of furniture, local materials, harmonious integration in the landscape. Improving people’s daily life. He also demonstrated it with the furniture created for Artek, a brand that this year celebrates ninety years, icon of design and modern Finnish art.

Behind the figure of this visionary man there were two women: Aino Marsio-Atel, his first wife, and Elissa Aalto, the second. Both value architects. Not only muse and collaborators, but partners involved in creative and decision -making processes, in the management of the study and in the realization of unforgettable projects.

The genesis of a myth (and a love)

Born in 1894 from a workers’ family, Aino Marsio grew up with parents attentive to the education of children. Graduated in Architecture, in 1924 he landed in the first studio of Alvar Aalto. There are no certain details, the fact is that in 1925 the two married and, the same year, the first daughter was born.

The second child would be born in 1928. “Of course they already knew each other, the school of architecture where they had studied was not great,” says Mari Murtoniemi, Chief Curator of Alvar Aalto Foundation. «Aino collaborated in one of the first major projects, the house of the people of Jyväskylä, when they left for the honeymoon in Italy. In the project the influences of that journey are understood ». A love for Italy also brought in the name of the first daughter: Johanna Flora Maria Annunziata. Over the years they will travel together for public and private projects, where Aino distinguished himself for attention to the functionality of the spaces.

Meanwhile he had designed Villa Flora, a family holiday home. A shared creativity that in 1935 led to the birth of Artek together with two members: combining the words “art” and “technique” and, with them, the link between creativity and industrial production, Artek coordinated the sale and export of their furniture by creating the first modern shop of industrial art in Finland.

Towards world notoriety

The Artek Design Office was also fundamental, of which Aino was responsible, establishing the high quality standards of the company. Expert in carpentry, during the war he guaranteed its quality even with poor supplies, underlines Mari: «Followed by the development and improvement of the Alvar models, taking care of interior design projects. At the Milan Triennale in 1936, Artek represented Finland: Aino designed the entire exhibition, which won the Triennale Grand Prix.

Among the pieces on display, also his “Bölgeblick” glasses, which obtained a gold medal: he had worked all night and in the morning, for the ceremony, he said only “I finished, I’m going to sleep”. He did not look for visibility, this tells a lot about her ».

In 1946 Aino was operated on for a breast cancer. When in 1948 the disease returned, he faced him almost alone: ​​”Her letters in Alvar, who at the time was in America as a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke of anything else, did not want to weigh him down. After a worsening, a message from his daughter asked him to return. “

It was with her when he disappeared in 1949. It was a deep love, well explained by his nephew Heikki Aalto-Lalan in Aino + Alvar Aalto: A Life Together (Phaidon): “In his style, Alvar joked at their wedding saying that” he had to so much paid in unpaid wages that he had not remained another choice than to marry her “. He was in love and he estimated it immensely. This love reaffirmed him in the letters, until his last days of life. It was clear from the beginning that in the relationship work and common objectives played an important role, indeed, perhaps more than anything. But it was a real and profound love ».

A new chapter, a new life

In that 1949, the young Elissa (Elsa-Kaisa Mäkiniemi) entered the studio of Aalto. Born in 1922, beautiful and talented, she brought her contribution to that Casastudio who brought together many collaborators, acquiring more and more responsibilities.

It is not known how the meeting between Alvar and Elissa led to marriage in 1952: «It was certainly difficult to fit into the personal and working life of Alvar, where much had already been developed by Aino. Elissa was aware of it and was always very discreet. If his name appeared in some projects, after the wedding it was difficult to understand which works he took part directly.

Especially in the 1950s, when in post-war reconstruction the study grew rapidly, involved in Finnish and international projects “continues Murtoniemi. Elissa was a modern woman, he even designed printed fabrics. He spoke French and for the home designed by Aalto for the gallery owner and friend Louis Carré, he moved on the spot, following his construction works.

Not directly involved in the development of Artek, now well started, Elissa had another role. If with Aino this universe he had come to life, Elissa supervised many projects, traveling to consolidate the fame of the study, taking care of her husband. “He continued to manage the study with surprising force even after the disappearance of Alvar, in 1976.1. In 1976 he projects projects of buildings built in the 1950s and 60s, making them approved and obtaining new positions, committing himself to create a coherent archive. Carrying on the idea of ​​a foundation as a pedagogical institution, a community desired to promote debates and a high quality of architecture and design. It was the fundamental custodian of his inheritance ».

I woman © RESERVED REPRODUCTION