Sometimes referred to as the Father of Modernism, Alvar Aalto, born Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto, was an architect and designer in Finland who made revolutionary contributions in building designs, furniture, textiles and glassware. He was an architecture student at the Helsinki Univeristy of Technology, and in 1923 in Jyvaskyla, opened his first architectural office. In 1933, he settled in Helsinki. A honeymoon trip to Italy in 1924 stirred an ongoing fascination with that country and its culture and was reflected in his work.

Although he was regarded as an innovative architect who moved from Classicism to Modernism, he also circulated with other architects that influenced his work, most especially Gunnar Asplund and Sv...