Aalto’s Creativity and Finnishness

Por Ramiro Camelo

From Helsinki we receive this post about a show by an artistic couple whose work is as holistic as it gets: an amalgamation of aestheticism and functionality combining art, design, functionality, ecology and even -as it often the case with art- national identity

The Finlandia Exhibition, hosted at Finlandia Talo in Helsinki, offers an inspiring and immersive exploration of Finnish identity through the creative visionary impetus of Alvar and Aino Aalto. This new permanent exhibition also marks a new period for Finlandia Talo after an extensive 2-year refurbishment. It is more than a traditional showcase; it pretends to be a sensory experience that reflects Finland’s profound bond with nature, light and Aalto’s unique holistic vision of craftsmanship. By combining architecture, design, storytelling and history, the exhibition beautifully captures the essence of Finnishness and harmony with the natural world plus the displays also encapsulate that creativity and resilience which sometimes can be described as Sisu or “the word that explains Finland. 

Divided into three main thematic sections, the exhibition provides a rich multi-dimensional journey into the Aaltos’ legacy and their lasting influence on Finnish and international design. The first section, “Power of Light,” invites visitors to pause and experience the transformative role of light—an essential element in Aalto’s architectural ethos. Through innovative lighting displays, this section reveals how Aalto figured out how light shapes emotion, space, and perception. “Light is a phenomenon that humans need constantly”, Aalto stated in 1935. It demonstrates Aalto’s genius in integrating natural light into interior spaces with inventive solutions such as skylights and side windows to create balance, warmth, and vitality in his buildings. A notable example can be seen in Finlandia Hall, where sunlight streaming through large windows pours into both the congress hall and the piazza, creating a striking and purposeful lighting effect. Aalto was also interested in the therapeutic effects of light. In fact, his landmark building, The Paimio Sanatorium in Paimio, Southwest Finland, was based on his theory of healing light and so forth, maximising the patients’ exposure to sunlight. In this section, the concept of ‘Warm Light’ showcases a selection of the Aaltos’ most celebrated pendant lights and wall lighting fixtures, which in the beginning were created for individual architectural projects. These lights were later produced on a larger scale and marketed to the public—an initiative continued today by Artek.

The second theme, “Woodland,” transitions the visitor from the world of illumination to the heart of Finland’s natural landscape. This space celebrates Finland’s enduring relationship with its forests, highlighting the traditions of craftsmanship and ecological respect that define Finnish culture. The result is a meditative and deeply personal encounter with nature’s role in shaping Finland’s identity. According to the exhibition text, Alvar  Aalto wrote, “You must follow Nature, which says: I will let the trees grow this tall and not an inch taller”. 

Aalto championed the value of carefully maintained forests and, perhaps without realising it, helped shape early ecological thinking long before it took on its modern meaning. For him, the vitality of the natural world symbolised constant renewal, inspiring his close examination of Finland’s woodlands and traditional building practices. He stressed that the starting point of architectural planning should begin with a close consideration of the surrounding forest and trees existing in the location where the building and housing developments will be built. By emphasising the wisdom and resilience of the forest, Aalto believed he was supporting a broader vision of forward-looking humanism.

The exhibition design approach for this section is based and denominated heavily from forest-inspired aesthetics, using natural wood grains, textured bark panels, and partition walls crafted from the masterly curved plywood often seen in Aalto’s iconic furniture.

The final section, “Together,” centers on collaboration, community, and kinships built by Alvar, Aino and Elissa Aalto’s during their lifetime. Based on a mix of charisma and creative charm, the Aaltos managed to accumulate an extensive network of friends, relatives, artists, and international partners. It showcases how the couple’s creative alliances and cultural diplomacy helped project Finnish design onto the global stage, embodying a unique form of ‘soft power’. 

One of Alvar and Aino Aalto’s most cherished friendships was with writer and art historian Dr. Göran Schildt. As a gesture of this lifelong bond, Alvar Aalto designed Villa Skeppet in Tammisaari for Göran and Christine Schildt. Among Aalto’s highly regarded peers was Swedish architect Sven Markelius. Although the two never collaborated professionally, they maintained a close personal and professional relationship. Markelius played a major role in shaping Finnish architectural discourse in the late 1920s. When he was invited to the CIAM (Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne) conference in Frankfurt in October 1929, he was asked to recommend other notable Nordic architects—and he put forward the young and rising Alvar Aalto.

During the CIAM Congress, Aalto developed connections with influential figures such as artist and Bauhaus’s teacher László Moholy-Nagy, Bauhaus founder and modernist pioneer Walter Gropius, and Swiss architectural historian Siegfried Giedion. In letters to his wife Aino, Aalto described the pride he felt socialising with the leading voices of the modern architecture movement. Aalto’s growing involvement eventually led to his election to CIAM’s executive committee, securing his place within the inner circle of modernist architectural thought.

Overall, the Finlandia Exhibition is an extraordinary mise-en-scène of creativity, nature, and human connection. It brings the Alvar Aalto legacy to new heights—an elegant fusion of light, landscape, and relationships that redefines how visitors experience Finnish culture and design innovation.

Finlandia Exhibition at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki. For information and tickets visit https://finlandiatalo.fi/en/finlandia-exhibition/

Ramiro Camelo is associated editor of Perro Negro. He is a contemporary art curator trained at The Royal College of Art. He is currently based in Helsinki. Read on other contributions by Ramiro Camelo for Perro Negro: Cyberpunk Rebooted, The Grumpiest Woman in New York, La biblioteca del futuro: escribiendo para lectores que aún no han nacido and The Best Sciencefiction Films of the Last 50 Years (in Spanish)

Photographs: Ramiro Camelo