The Aalto Works series, consisting of thirteen sites in Finland designed by Alvar, Aino and Elissa Aalto, has been nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The sites are: Paimio Sanatorium; the Sunila Pulp Mill residential area in Kotka; the Muuratsalo Experimental House; Säynätsalo Town Hall and the Aalto Campus, University of Jyväskylä, both in Jyväskylä; Seinäjoki Civic Centre; the Church of Three Crosses in Imatra; the National Pensions Institute (KELA), House of Culture, Studio Aalto, the Aalto House and Finlandia Hall in Helsinki; and Villa Mairea in Pori. The buildings are pivotal to the construction of the Finnish welfare state in the 1920s–1970s, and are recognised as having had an impact on the development of modern architecture internationally.

The Aalto Works proposal is unique from both a national and an international perspective. The sites are the first body of modern architecture from Finland to be proposed for the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Aalto’s modern architecture is characterised by a humane approach, in which buildings are settings for human life and activities. The design of the buildings puts the viewpoint of their users – residents, employees, and different communities – at the centre. The sites represent modernism, which aimed to use architecture to promote the egalitarian development of society, regardless of people’s social status.

Aalto’s holistic design includes the buildings’ furniture and interior design, right down to the smallest detail. In the world of international modernism, the freeform design language and material choices in Aalto’s architecture are also tied to a special relationship with nature, which is manifest in the carefully thought-out solutions that connect people, buildings and the environment.

World Heritage Sites represent outstanding universal values that make their protection and preservation globally important. The World Heritage List currently includes seven sites in Finland: Old Rauma; Suomenlinna; Petäjävesi Old Church; Verla Groundwood and Board Mill; Sammallahdenmäki Bronze Age Burial Site; Struve Geodetic Arc; and the Kvarken Archipelago.

The sites in the Aalto Works proposal were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2021. The Finnish Heritage Agency took charge of drafting the proposal on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Culture, in cooperation with the Alvar Aalto Foundation, ICOMOS Finland, and the owners of the Aalto sites. The proposal was submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee on 1.2.2025. The decision on inclusion in the World Heritage List will be made at the meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea, on 19–29.7.2026.