Editing Alvar Aalto (section)

==Biography==
===Life===
[[File:VIPlibrary.jpg|thumb|Auditorium of the [[Vyborg Library|Viipuri Municipal Library]] in the 1930s]]
[[File:Aalto studio.JPG|thumb|right|Alvar Aalto Studio, Helsinki (1954–56)]]
[[File:Studio Aalto.jpg|thumb|right|Alvar Aalto Studio, Helsinki (1954–55)]]
[[File:University of Jyväskylä main Building.jpg|thumb|right|Main Building of the [[Jyväskylä]] University (1955)]]
[[File:Heilig Geist Kirche Wolfsburg Alvar Aalto 1958 62 photo by Christian Gänshirt.JPG|thumb|[[Church of the Holy Spirit, Wolfsburg]] (1958–62)<ref name="heilig">[http://www.kirche-wolfsburg.de/gemeinde/gemeindedetails.php?ID=21 Heilig-Geist-Kirchengemeinde bei kirche-wolfsburg.de], retrieved 27 February 2018.</ref>]]

Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was born in [[Kuortane]], Finland.<ref>{{harvnb|Thorne|1984|p=1}}</ref> His father, Johan Henrik Aalto, was a Finnish-speaking land-surveyor and his mother, Selma Matilda "Selly" (née Hackstedt) was a Swedish-speaking postmistress. When Aalto was 5 years old, the family moved to [[Alajärvi]],<ref name="seura">{{cite web|url=https://seura.fi/asiat/ajankohtaista/tiedatko-milta-nayttaa-alvar-aallon-ensimmainen-rakennus/|title=Tiedätkö miltä näyttää Alvar Aallon ensimmäinen rakennus? Alajärven pikkukaupunki on täynnä Aallon arkkitehtuuria|first=Jukka|last=Vuorio|work=[[Seura]]|date=23 August 2024|access-date=30 August 2024|language=fi}}</ref> and from there to [[Jyväskylä]] in [[Central Finland]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Alvar Aalto|url=http://www.architecture-history.org/architects/architects/aalto/bio.html|access-date=14 February 2021|website=www.architecture-history.org}}</ref>

He studied at the Jyväskylä Lyceum school, where he completed his basic education in 1916, and took drawing lessons from local artist [[Jonas Heiska]]. In 1916, he then enrolled to study architecture at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]. His studies were interrupted by the [[Finnish Civil War]], in which he fought. He fought on the side of the ''[[White Guard (Finland)|White Army]]'' and fought at the [[Battle of Länkipohja]] and the [[Battle of Tampere]].<ref name=Pelkonen>{{harvnb|Pelkonen|2009|p=201}}</ref>

He built his first piece of architecture while a student; a house for his parents at [[Alajärvi]].<ref name=Labo1>{{harvnb|Labò|1968|p=1}}</ref><ref name="seura"/> Later, he continued his education, graduating in 1921. In the summer of 1922 he began military service, finishing at Hamina reserve officer training school, and was promoted to reserve second lieutenant in June 1923.<ref name="Heporauta 1999 10">{{harvnb|Heporauta|1999|p=10}}</ref>

In 1920, while a student, Aalto made his first trip abroad, travelling via [[Stockholm]] to [[Gothenburg]], where he briefly found work with architect Arvid Bjerke.<ref>{{harvnb|Weston|1997|p=20}}</ref> In 1922, he accomplished his first independent piece at the Industrial Exposition in [[Tampere]].<ref name=Labo1/> In 1923, he returned to [[Jyväskylä]], where he opened an architectural office under the name 'Alvar Aalto, Architect and Monumental Artist'. At that time he wrote articles for the Jyväskylä newspaper ''Sisä-Suomi'' under the pseudonym Remus.<ref name="Heporauta 1999 10"/> During this time, he designed a number of small single-family houses in Jyväskylä, and the office's workload steadily increased.<ref name=":1" />

On 6 October 1924, Aalto married architect [[Aino Aalto|Aino Marsio]]. Their honeymoon in Italy was Aalto's first trip there, though Aino had previously made a study trip there.<ref name=SK>{{harvnb|Suominen-Kokkonen|2007|p=18}}</ref> The latter trip together sealed an intellectual bond with the culture of the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]] region that remained important to Aalto for life.

On their return they continued with several local projects, notably the Jyväskylä Worker's Club, which incorporated a number of motifs which they had studied during their trip, most notably the decorations of the Festival hall modelled on the [[Rucellai Sepulchre]] in Florence by [[Leon Battista Alberti]]. After winning the architecture competition for the Southwest Finland Agricultural Cooperative building in 1927, the Aaltos moved their office to [[Turku]]. They had made contact with the city's most progressive architect, [[Erik Bryggman]] before moving. They began collaborating with him, most notably on the Turku Fair of 1928–29. Aalto's biographer, Göran Schildt, claimed that Bryggman was the only architect with whom Aalto cooperated as an equal.<ref>{{harvnb|Schildt|1994|p=54}}</ref> With an increasing quantity of work in the Finnish capital, the Aaltos' office moved again in 1933 to Helsinki.<ref>{{harvnb|Heporauta|1999|p=24}}</ref>

The Aaltos designed and built a [[Villa Aalto|joint house-office]] (1935–36) for themselves in [[Munkkiniemi]], Helsinki, but later (1954–56) had a [[Studio Aalto|purpose-built office]] erected in the same neighbourhood – now the former is a "home museum" and the latter the premises of the Alvar Aalto Academy. In 1926, the young Aaltos designed and had built for themselves a summer cottage in [[Alajärvi]], Villa Flora.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="seura"/>

Aino and Alvar had two children, a daughter, Johanna "Hanni" (married surname Alanen; born 1925), and a son, Hamilkar Aalto (born 1928). Aino Aalto died of cancer in 1949.

In 1952, Aalto married architect [[Elissa Mäkiniemi]] (died 1994). In 1952, he designed and built a summer cottage, the [[Alvar Aalto Museum#The Muuratsalo Experiental House|so-called Experimental House]], for himself and his second wife, now [[Elissa Aalto]], in [[Muuratsalo]] in Central Finland.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guimaraes |first1=M. |title=A precedent in sustainable architecture: Alvar Aalto's summer house |journal=Journal of Green Building |date=2012 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=64–73|doi=10.3992/jgb.7.2.64 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Alvar Aalto died on 11 May 1976, in [[Helsinki]], and is buried in the [[Hietaniemi cemetery]] in Helsinki. [[Elissa Aalto]] became the director of the practice, running the office from 1976 to 1994. In 1978, the [[Museum of Finnish Architecture]] in Helsinki arranged a major exhibition of Aalto's works.