Significant Aalto exhibition opening at the Serralves Museum, Portugal

Photo: Alvar and Elissa Aalto in Maison Louis Carré, France 1959. Photo © Alvar Aalto Foundation.

18 July 2025 – 04 January 2026

Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) is one of the most important figures in architectural history. AALTO exhibition, featured at the Serralves Museum in Porto, Portugal, showcases the extensive body of work he created with his two wives, Aino (1894–1949) and Elissa (1922–1994). The Aaltos revolutionized the humanist aspect of modern architecture by grounding it in an organic connection to nature, producing countless designs in the process.

Between the two world wars, the Aaltos helped to create an identity for the young Finnish nation. They participated in the International Congresses of Modern Architecture and the Paris and New York exhibitions, and designed masterpieces such as the Viipuri Library (now in Russia), Villa Mairea in Finland, Baker House in the United States and Maison Carré in France. Following the introduction of antibiotics, their Paimio Sanatorium set an example to the world by demonstrating how spaces could be made healthier and more accessible, through studies of solar incidence, natural ventilation and silent washbasins. Sanatorium is one of the thirteen Aalto-designed projects currently proposed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Aalto exhibition at the Serralves Museum, Portugal is part of the Alvar Aalto Museum’s new strategy, in taking Aalto widely abroad through collaborations and different initiatives that strengthens Aaltos´ legacies and the humane approach to architecture and design – approach Aaltos´ pioneered.

Aino and Alvar Aalto in New York 1938. Photo Herbert Matter, Courtesy of the Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries.

”The humane approach of the Aaltos´ that put humans and nature in the center of architecture and design is more important now that ever. The exhibition at the Serralves Museum is one start of the new strategy of the Alvar Aalto Museum in taking an active role on contemporary international architecture and design discussion”, states the Alvar Aalto Foundation’s Museum Director Jukka Savolainen.

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Alvar Aalto Museum and Fundação de Serralves. It showcases large amount of pieces of Alvar Aalto museum´s collections – over 150 architectural drawings and scale models, as well as numerous photographs. The exhibition is curated by the Portuguese architect, António Choupina.

AALTO exhibition
18 July 2025 – 04 January 2026
Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal
Fundação de Serralves

Photo: Aino and Alvar Aalto in New York 1938. Photo Herbert Matter, Courtesy of the Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries.