Free Admission Day: Worth preserving – shared spaces and practices

We’re celebrating European Heritage Days this August weekend!

A joint event organized by the Alvar Aalto Museum and the Museum of Central Finland invites you to discuss architecture and get a glimpse into life in Central Finland in the past through a workshop. Europe’s largest series of public events, with annually changing themes, highlights different aspects of cultural heritage. The theme for 2026 is “Heritage at Risk”. Let’s raise a toast to that!

Admission to the event is free. Welcome!

Programme:

WORKSHOP: Everyday Life in Historical Central Finland
12 PM – 3 PM

Welcome to a hands-on workshop where you can discover, experience and explore everyday life in Central Finland in days gone by.

How were houses built, and where did people get their food? How was laundry washed and ironed before modern household appliances? How did people travel, and what kinds of toys did children play with? These and many other fascinating aspects of everyday life in the past can be explored in this hands-on workshop.

DISCUSSION EVENT: Are We Building Paradises? A discussion on architecture, society, and literature (In Finnish)
2 PM – 3.30 PM

The exhibition 13 Stories about Humane Design presents 13 architectural works by Alvar Aalto that are currently nominated for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. For the exhibition, writer Sanna Puutonen has written 13 fictional stories from the perspectives of the people who use and experience these buildings.

At the event author Sanna Puutonen and the Director of Urban Planning and Land Use Leena Rossi will discuss architecture and literature: how both art forms create spaces and atmospheres for people to experience. They will reflect on the aims of building design and architecture, and how these buildings by Aalto reflect their own time. The discussion will also explore the kinds of ideas and visions a city may have — even dreams of creating paradises (in Aalto’s words) for people to experience and inhabit.