Exhibition: 13 Stories about Humane Design

The Alvar Aalto Museum’s summer exhibition in the Aalto2 Museum Centre’s Gallery tells 13 stories about Alvar Aalto’s design and human-centred thinking.

13 Stories about Humane Design explores some of Alvar Aalto’s best-known buildings from various angles, some of them surprising. What did the Social Insurance Institution Main Office do with its clients’ gloves? Why does the University of Jyväskylä’s Main Building have such small toilets? The exhibition also takes a look at Sunila, and considers how Finland’s first forest suburb has gone from being a setting for the everyday lives of industrial workers to an internationally sought-after holiday-home destination. These and ten other Aalto sites form the Aalto Works series, which Finland is currently proposing be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO is expected to announce its decision on this in summer 2026.

13 Stories about Humane Design sets up a dialogue between the architect’s intentions and users’ experiences. What face does a building show to its residents, clients, or patients? What kind of everyday environment did this architecture that was soon to become world-famous offer people at the time of its construction – and what is it like today?