Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898 1976) was not only influenced by the
landscape of his native country, but by the political struggle over
Finland's place within European culture. After early neoclassical
buildings, Alvar Aalto turned to ideas based on Functionalism,
subsequently moving toward more organic structures, with brick and wood
replacing plaster and steel. In addition to designing buildings,
furniture, lamps, and glass objects with his wife Aino, he painted and
was an avid traveler. A firm believer that buildings have a crucial role
in shaping society, Aalto once said;The duty of the architect is to
give life a more sensitive structure.
