Alvar Aalto serving trays

Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto is Finland's greatest ever advocate of modern furniture design and architecture. He was one of the 'giants' who shaped Nordic modernism and has designed many functionalist buildings around the world during his lifetime.

Nevertheless, Aalto is responsible for some of the greatest furniture design icons of our time. Alvar Aalto had a personal interpretation of functionalism with its soft, organic forms and curved lines. To express his creativity, he founded Finland's largest furniture manufacturer, Artek, together with Aino Aalto, Nils-Gustav Hahl and Maire Gullichsen - four talented individuals who were strongly influenced by radical ideologies that are still relevant in furniture design today.

Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was born on 3 February 1898 in Kuortane, Finland. His father, Johan Henrik Aalto, was a Finnish-speaking surveyor and his mother, Selma Matilda Hackstedt, was a Swedish-speaking postal worker. Alvar was one of four children and when he was five years old, the family moved to Alajärvi and then to Jyväskylä in the centre of Finland. During his childhood, young Aalto accompanied his father on his travels as a surveyor, learning the basics of property boundaries, environments and land. He dropped out of primary and secondary school and then chose to take painting classes with a local artist. It was then that young Alvar decided to enrol in the architecture programme at the Helsinki University of Technology.

Even when Aalto was drafted into the Finnish War, he continued his studies when peace came. Already at university, Alvar designed and built his first house in the village of Alajärvi. A house his family and he himself came to live in. In 1921 he earned his degree in architecture. However, he chose to go back to the military and in the summer of 1923 he became a commanding officer. During his years in the military and at university, Alvar travelled in Scandinavia. Mostly he travelled to Stockholm and Gothenburg where he worked under the architect Arvid Bjerke, which led to drawings of semi-detached houses. With his military service over, Alvar was ready to start his first business: an architectural office called "Alvar Aalto: 'Architect and Monumental Artist'" in his hometown of Jyväskylä.