Walk in Alvar Aalto´s footsteps

The world-renowned architect and designer Alvar Aalto has left his mark on Satakunta. Alvar Aalto’s work is featured at various destinations and as part of many tours and events.

Alvar Aalto in Satakunta

The world-renowned architect and designer Alvar Aalto has left his mark on Satakunta. Alvar Aalto’s work is featured at various destinations and as part of many tours and events.

Alvar Aalto in Satakunta

Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) was an internationally renowned architect and designer. He is one of the most significant architects Finland has ever produced. While his early work represented the Nordic classicist style that was in vogue at the time, his many trips abroad shaped the style of Aalto and his architect wife, Aino Aalto, more towards the latest international modernist trends.
For more information on the Aaltos, visit www.alvaraalto.fi.

Villa Mairea is one of the most architecturally interesting destinations in the Pori region. It was originally designed as a home for the chief executive of A. Ahlström Oy and his wife. Alvar and Aino Aalto designed Villa Mairea as a home for their friends Maire and Harry Gullichsen in the Noormarkku Works area. The building was completed in August 1939. Maire Gullichsen was a collector and a patron of the arts. Her collection of foreign art is on display in Villa Mairea. 
For more information on Villa Mairea, visit www.villamairea.fi.

You can find more Aalto-themed destinations in Satakunta at the Kauttua Works. Here, you can learn how people lived at the Kauttua Works in buildings designed by Alvar Aalto. Located in the Kauttua Works area in Eura, the Terraced House is a residential building in the functionalist style. It is considered to be one of Alvar Aalto’s most significant works. Completed in 1938, the Terraced House was designed for the senior clerical employees of A. Ahlström Oy’s production plants in Kauttua. One of the residences is now used as an exhibition space that features old Artek furniture and lighting fixtures. The Terraced House residence hosts changing exhibitions and the furniture in the sales exhibition is also rotated from time to time. 
For more information on the Kauttua area, visit www.kauttuanruukki.fi.

Alvar Aalto in Pori

Walk in Alvar Aalto’s footsteps

Take a journey through Alvar Aalto’s architecture and enchanting nature! Villa Mairea in Pori’s Noormarkku district is one of the stops on the national Alvar Aalto Route. The Alvar Aalto Route covers a wide range of fascinating sites and experiences across Finland. In addition to architectural experiences, it includes beautiful nature, delicious food, saunas and boat trips. Take a look at our programme proposals and contact our travel agency partner to book your trip. You can visit the sites along the Alvar Aalto Route at your own pace. 
For more information on the Alvar Aalto Route, visit visit.alvaraalto.fi.

Villa Mairea in Pori’s Noormarkku district – part of the Alvar Aalto Route

“Homes and habitats by Alvar Aalto” is a tour of idyllic ironworks villages and masterpieces of modern architecture in Southwest Finland. Villa Mairea in Pori’s Noormarkku district, the Terraced House in Kauttua and the Paimio Sanatorium are buildings that combine breathtaking architecture with iconic design furniture and the well-being one can derive from pine forests and riverside saunas. This tour of Alvar Aalto-themed destinations in Southwest Finland takes two days to complete. 
For more information on the route, visit visit.alvaraalto.fi.

Guided tours of Villa Mairea

Guided public tours

Guided public tours are available at Villa Mairea all year round. The price is €30 per person (students €20, pensioners €25).
For more detailed schedules and additional information, visit villamairea.fi/vierailu.

Group tours

Guided group tours are available at Villa Mairea by advance reservation. The tours are available in Finnish, Swedish and English. The duration of the tour is approximately one hour. The maximum number of people is 15 persons per tour. Groups larger than 15 persons are divided into smaller groups and the tours will be conducted one after the other. While the visitors wait for their turn, they can take in the building’s architecture from the outside.
For price information, further details and reservations, visit villamairea.fi/vierailu.

More information is available on the Villa Mairea website.

Alvar Aalto group tours of the Noormarkku Works by advance reservation

Following in the footsteps of Alvar and Aino Aalto in Noormarkku – the collaboration between Aalto and Ahlström from the 1930s to the 1950s

On this guided cultural tour, visitors learn more about the long-term collaboration between Alvar Aalto and Ahlström, which began from the friendship between Maire and Harry Gullichsen and Aino and Alvar Aalto. The tour covers the results of the collaboration between Aalto and Ahlström at several of Ahlström’s industrial locations, as well as fascinating unrealised plans at the Noormarkku Works and the Kauttua Works. On this tour, Villa Mairea is only seen from the outside. Visitors also get to take in the magnificent ironworks area as a whole. 
Pricing information and other additional details are available here.

Ahlström Voyage exhibition at the Noormarkku Works  

The Ahlström Voyage exhibition in the ironworks’ old workshop sheds light on the story of the Ahlström companies from 1851 to the present day. The exhibition includes art glass from the company’s Iittala, Karhula and Riihimäki glass factories, including several unique Savoy vases designed by Alvar Aalto, along with pieces designed by Tapio Wirkkala, and the Orkidea vase by Timo Sarpaneva.  In the downstairs area, you can see a model of the Noormarkku Works created by Taina Pailos. It illustrates the size of the ironworks and the relationships between the various buildings. The exhibition provides a unique look into the story of the Ahlström family and Finnish upper class life in the 1800s and 1900s.
Pricing information and other additional details are available here.

Architecture, art and life at the Noormarkku Ironworks 

The Noormarkku Ironworks was established by the nobleman Carl de Carnall in 1806. It began to truly thrive after it was acquired by the Ahlström family in 1870. The area of the ironworks was significantly expanded and developed, and the family also built homes for three generations in the area. The exceptionally large private area, complete with attractive parks and buildings, is well worth seeing. The cultural tour of the ironworks includes Villa Mairea, an artistic home designed by Alvar Aalto, and the Ahlström Voyage exhibition. The exhibition space is located in the upstairs area of an old workshop. During the tour, visitors have the opportunity to visit the magnificent old ironworks area.  A meal at the Noormarkku Club is included in the cultural tour. The tour is not suitable for persons with reduced mobility. 
Pricing information and other additional details are available here.

Find more information and reserve a tour for your group at ahlstrominruukki.fi.