Aino Aalto

The Remarkable Woman Behind Alvar Aalto

Aino Aalto was a Finnish architect and a pioneer of Scandinavian design. She is known as a co-founder of the design company Artek. Her husband was the well- known Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto. Aino Marsio graduated from architecture school in 1920, starting her career as a draftsperson before joining Aalto’s office in 1924. In the 1920’s, women had a very tough time working independently as an architect, so that’s why she agreed to work in partnership with her husband. They worked closely together on many projects, often making it difficult to separate her work from her husband’s.

They often competed for the same projects, submitted different versions of the same project. Most of her works were labeled “Alvar Aalto.” Although she was less famous than her husband, Alvar, even their close artistic friends said she was more talented as a designer, and more profound in her ideas than her husband. She was a respected interior designer and we believe Aino Aalto is a remarkable, talented woman whose personal story needs to be told. We've attached a best-selling Finnish author, Jari Järvelä, who has written a book about Aino Aalto, to serve as a consultant. Finnish director, Leena Kilpeläinen is attached to direct this episode. Her most recent hybrid documentary, Maija Isola: Master of Colour and Form, was produced by Greenlit Productions and has been theatrically released in Finland, Japan and other markets.