Have you already registered for the Alvar Aalto Symposium? Step aboard and travel with us to the biggest Alvar Aalto event of the year! The 16th Alvar Aalto Symposium – The Weight of Architecture, takes place on 22.–23.8.2024 in Jyväskylä. The rich programme of side events starts already on Wednesday 21.8.2024 with a boat cruise to the Aalto Experimental House in Muuratsalo. Get to know also other Aalto sites in the Jyväskylä area. Separate, guided bus trips to Aalto sites in western and eastern Finland will leave from the Aalto2 Museum Centre on Saturday 24.8. Book your place for the trip as soon as possible!

You can follow the symposium’s main programme on 22.–23.8.2024 at the University of Jyväskylä’s Assembly Hall either on-site or virtually. Tickets, also for groups, are available here.

Free public events at the Aalto2 Museum Centre and the University of Jyväskylä’s Assembly Hall! On Thursday 22.8. at 9:00-11:00 at Aalto2 will be a debate with the themes of Planetary boundaries, and ecological, social and economic sustainability. The debate will be hosted by Aalto University, Tampere University and the University of Oulu.

On Friday 23.8. at 16:00-17:30 in the University of Jyväskylä’s Assembly Hall will be shown the Finnish premiere of Bêka & Lemoine’s film “The Sense of Tuning” about the 2020 Alvar Aalto Medalist, architect Bijoy Jain and Studio Mumbai. The film will be introduced by architect Tarja Nurmi. There is no pre-registration for the free public events.

The symposium’s main programme begins on the morning of Thursday 22.8. at the University of Jyväskylä’s Assembly Hall. The symposium’s first theme is Environment, with the participation of Pritzker Prize-winning architect Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects, Dublin; architectural historian Barnabas Calder from the University of Liverpool; architects Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki and Samuli Woolston of ALA Architects, Helsinki; and climate scientist and IIASA Director John Schellnhuber of Laxenburg, Vienna. Experts from the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) will discuss issues of money, politics and power. The day will culminate in the 15th Alvar Aalto Medal award ceremony and a relaxed evening party in Aalto2.

The themes of the symposium’s second day, Friday 23.8., are Resources and Architecture – the work of architects in a changing work environment. The Resources theme will be presented by Hilda Rantanen, CEO of Materialisting, Helsinki; David Benjamin, Associate Professor at Columbia University (GSAPP), New York; and Ehab Sayed, Founder of Biohm, London. Weighing in on the importance of architecture will be architect, writer and professor Helena Mattsson of the KTH School of Architecture, Stockholm, and architects Emma Johansson and Willem van Bolderen from Studio Puisto Architects, Helsinki. Participating in the discussion “Exhibiting care and repair”, organized by the Archinfo information centre, are Matti Jänkälä and Ella Kaira, curators of the Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2025; and Kaisa Karvinen, curator at the Design Museum and the Museum of Finnish Architecture, the discussion moderated by Miina Jutila, Communications Manager at Archinfo.

You can still make it! Get your tickets soon for the popular guided tours of Alvar Aalto architecture!

On Wednesday 21.8. there is a boat cruise from Korpilahti to Alvar Aalto’s Experimental House in Muuratsalo (with a bus transfer to the boat from Kiasma in Helsinki). Accompanying attractions include Säynätsalo Town Hall and Aalto’s boat Nemo propheta on patria in Jyväskylä, as well as a sauna and dinner at Restaurant Viilu (KOAN Architecture, 2022). On Saturday 24.8. there will be separate guided bus tours leaving from Aalto2 to Aalto West (Villa Mairea and Paimio Sanatorium, as well as Petäjävesi Old Church) and Aalto East (Vuoksenniska Church and the Sunila residential area, with the possibility to join Sunila Aalto Homes tour). Places on the tours are limited: buy tickets here.

The Alvar Aalto Symposium is an international discussion forum on contemporary architecture held every three years in Jyväskylä and organized by the Alvar Aalto Academy. The Alvar Aalto Academy, which focuses on continuing education in the renovation and preservation of modern architecture as well as seminar events, is part of the Alvar Aalto Foundation. The Alvar Aalto Symposium’s main partner is the City of Jyväskylä. Collaborative partners also include Aalto University and the Cumulus Network, Archinfo, the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Design Museum, the Finnish Architects’ Association SAFA and Habitare Pro.

For more information on the symposium programme and how to buy tickets, click here.

Contacts
Nina Heikkonen,
Programme Manager
Alvar Aalto Foundation
+358 44 500 1257
nina.heikkonen@alvaraalto.fi

Aila Svenskberg
Event Communications, Editor
Alvar Aalto Foundation
+358 40 659 1930
aila.svenskberg@alvaraalto.fi