The world’s most extensive private Aalto collection opens as a virtual exhibition
The Alvar Aalto Museum’s major hit with the public in spring 2021, the Diverse Design – 30 years of passionate collecting exhibition, has opened in virtual format. The exhibition offers an opportunity to take a peek at selected objects from the private collector Pertti Männistö’s unique Aalto collection of more than a thousand objects. The extensive collection includes not only pieces of furniture, lights and glass objects, but also details of interiors designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto. This is the Alvar Aalto Foundation’s first-ever paid virtual exhibition.

“The exhibition is a representative example of a systematically and comprehensively accumulated private collection, which is also notable in international terms. The expansion of the collection has been driven by the collector’s uncompromising desire for knowledge, which in time has also led to a collaboration with the Alvar Aalto Museum. Now, this virtually visitable exhibition makes it possible for people globally to view the Aaltos’ life’s work, from anywhere in the world,” says Mari Murtoniemi, Chief Curator of the Alvar Aalto Museum.
In this exhibition you can explore units constructed around various themes or opt to focus on individual objects. In the virtual version the original exhibition has been augmented with archive material, such as photographs and furniture drawings that illustrate the design and use history of the furniture designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto. Short video clips give us a glimpse into the collector’s experiences when building up his collection. They introduce us, for instance, to the multi-stage design of the furniture for Paimio Sanatorium and the National Pensions Institute, which took the end-users into account. Also on display are rare variations on model A 331, “Beehive”, and model A 110, “Hand Grenade”, lights, and glass objects designed by the Aaltos.
The whole picture of Aino and Alvar Aalto’s design is completed
The objects brought together in this exhibition represent the very first steps in Aino and Alvar Aalto’s industrial design, from the time before true serial production and the mechanization of furniture manufacture. The different variants on the same model of furniture shed light on the arc of development of a specific object, with each item completing the whole picture of the Aaltos’ design. The interiors assembled using the furniture and lights mark the passage of time, with, for instance, a 1940s living room after the Second World War and a 1960s Artek home. The objects reflect the growing prosperity of Finnish society, which also brought new colours to the materials and upholstery fabrics used in Aalto furniture.
Objects from Pertti Männistö’s Aalto collection have been exhibited in various exhibitions in Finland and abroad. “The exhibition resulting from the collaboration between the Alvar Aalto museum and Pertti Männistö culminates in the shared goal of the private collector and public Museum – to record Alvar and Aino Aalto’s important design heritage and make it better known,” says Chief Curator Murtoniemi.
The exhibition also offers an opportunity to visit the sculptural exhibition space of the Alvar Aalto Museum, which is currently closed for renovation. The renovated Alvar Aalto Museum and its exhibitions will open to the public in spring 2023. You can buy a virtual ticket (€6) direct from the exhibition website and the price of one ticket entitles you to two visits to the exhibition.
The technical realization of this virtual Finnish-language exhibition, which will be open until the end of 2023, is by Kupoli.
Keywords
Contacts
Exhibition contents:
Chief Curator Mari Murtoniemi
+358 40 355 9162
mari.murtoniemi@alvaraalto.fi
Virtual visit to the exhibition:
Antti Nyman, Kupoli
+358 40 594 4004
info@anttinyman.com
Media requests:
Communications Manager Mirkka Vidgrén
+358 40 168 5142
mirkka.vidgren@alvaraalto.fi
Images

Links
About Alvar Aalto -säätiö
Alvar Aalto -säätiö toimii paremman arkiympäristön ja muotoilukulttuurin hyväksi lähtökohtanaan Alvar Aallon ja hänen elämäntyönsä humanistiset ja ekologiset arvot. Alvar Aalto -museo, säätiön osana, pitää yllä ja kartuttaa kokoelmiaan ja arkistojaan sekä tuottaa monipuolisia yleisön- ja asiantuntijapalveluita.
Subscribe to releases from Alvar Aalto -säätiö
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Alvar Aalto -säätiö by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Alvar Aalto -säätiö
Arkkitehti Elissa Aallon 100-vuotisjuhlavuoden kesässä opastettuja teemakierroksia ja uusi tuotesarja22.6.2022 13:30:00 EEST | Tiedote
Alvar Aallon toisen arkkitehtipuolison, Elissa Aallon syntymän 100-vuotisjuhlavuoden vietto jatkuu Alvar Aalto -säätiössä kesällä 2022. Säätiön museokohteissa Helsingissä ja Jyväskylässä voi kesän aikana osallistua Elissa Aallosta kertoville opastetuille teemakierroksille. Juhlavuoden kunniaksi tulee myyntiin myös Elissa Aalto 100 -tuotesarja, joka on kuvitettu arkkitehdin elämään liittyvillä valokuvilla ja luonnoksilla.
Exhibition of Interior Architect Maija Heikinheimo at the Gallery of Säynätsalo Town Hall7.6.2022 10:18:23 EEST | Press release
Interior Architect Maija Heikinheimo (1908–1963) worked almost the whole of her career in the service of Artek, initially as Aino Aalto’s close working partner and, after she passed away, as Chief Designer and Artistic Director. Heikinheimo was an extremely skilled, but modest designer, who worked anonymously.
9. Kansainvälinen Alvar Aalto Design Seminar – BIOSYMBIOSIS keräsi osallistujia 67 maasta eri puolilta maailmaa30.5.2022 16:18:33 EEST | Tiedote
9. Kansainvälinen Alvar Aalto Design Seminar – BIOSYMBIOSIS järjestettiin Jyväskylän yliopiston päärakennuksella 24.-25.5.2022. Tilaisuus keräsi yhteensä yli 1 000 osallistujaa 67 maasta eri puolilta maailmaa.
9th International Alvar Aalto Design Seminar – BIOSYMBIOSIS gathered together participants from 67 countries all over the world30.5.2022 16:06:24 EEST | Press release
9th International Alvar Aalto Design Seminar – BIOSYMBIOSIS took place 24.-25.5.2022 at the Main Building of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. More than 1 000 registered participants from 67 countries all over the world made the event memorable.
Sisustusarkkitehti Maija Heikinheimon elämäntyö esillä Säynätsalon kunnantalon kesänäyttelyssä19.5.2022 12:14:49 EEST | Tiedote
Sisustusarkkitehti Maija Heikinheimo (1908–1963) työskenteli lähes koko työuransa Artekin palveluksessa, ensin Aino Aallon läheisenä työparina ja tämän menehdyttyä pääsuunnittelijana ja taiteellisena johtajana. Hän oli äärimmäisen taitava, mutta vaatimattoman anonyymisti toimiva suunnittelija, jonka elämäntyön täsmällinen kartoittaminen odottaa vielä tekijäänsä. Säynätsalon kunnantalon galleriaan koostettu näyttely "Sisustusarkkitehti Maija Heikinheimo – kiintopisteenä Artek" avaa suunnittelijan työskentelyä Artekissa.
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom