Alvar Aalto Week is to take place in Oulu, European Capital of Culture 2026, on 21–30.8.2026. Its theme, Traces, inspires us to discover and experience the traces, structures and stories that our environment carries within it. The Alvar Aalto Week programme turns our gaze to the built landscape and puts the spotlight on Aalto’s legacy in Oulu, alongside the city’s other architecture. There will be fascinating guided tours, memorable exhibitions, architecture lectures, an architecture-film festival, inspiring drawing workshops, a design fair, and the international Another Gaze seminar.

Alvar Aalto’s designs in Oulu are perhaps less well-known than his other architecture. The imprint of Aalto’s hand on the city can be seen in three different areas, all industrial in character. Aalto and his architect’s office designed Oulu’s Toppila Sulphite Pulp Mill (1930–36), Koskikeskus district (1943), and Typpi Oy Red-Brick Industrial Community (1950–67). The mill buildings and their residential areas complete the picture of Aalto as a modern designer of industrial districts. They include industrial buildings from Aalto’s early career, which display a bold, innovative approach, especially in the modelling of concrete structures. Some of the older industrial edifices are now living through a new incarnation, among them the AaltoSiilo in Meri-Toppila, currently being developed into a cultural meeting place, and the former Kuivaamo drying room, which today serves city residents as a multipurpose sports and exercise facility.

Alvar Aalto was guest of honour at the Oulu Guild of Architecture’s 10th-anniversary celebrations on 21.11.1969, and left his handprint in the concrete commemorative plaque, together with that of architect Otto-Iivari Meurman. The plaque is still at the University of Oulu School of Architecture and inspired the theme of Alvar Aalto Week 2026.

”Aalto’s significance for Oulu is enormous. The Koskikeskus plan was really advanced for its time and it created the estuary landscape much loved by the people of Oulu. Now, with Aalto Week, the lesser-known industrial districts are getting the visibility they deserve,” says Mayor of Oulu Ari Alatossava.

In 2026, Oulu is Chair of the international Network of Alvar Aalto Cities, and its annual Mayors’ Meeting will take place in Oulu on August 27. “The Alvar Aalto Cities Network is a unique forum for cooperation that promotes awareness of Aalto’s legacy and its current relevance in different parts of Finland and the world,” says Nina Heikkonen, Programme Manager at the Alvar Aalto Foundation.

Alvar Aalto Week, to be held in Oulu 21–30.8.2026, is the Network’s main cooperative event. “The Week provides an excellent opportunity for bringing together the Network’s cities, experts and residents to talk about how Aalto’s ideas on architecture, culture and a sustainable living environment still speak to us today,” Heikkonen adds.

Toivoniemi towards the Alakanava bridge. Photo Maija Holma. Alvar Aalto Foundation.

In Oulu the impressive programme for Alvar Aalto Week will be set in landscapes designed by Aalto. The three different Drawing in the Landscapes of Alvar Aalto workshops – in Koskikeskus, Laanila and Meri-Toppila – invite us to make visual notes together with artist Pekka Homanen. On the Alvar Aalto in Oulu – Guided Walking Tour we explore Aalto’s sites in different parts of Oulu. While The Architectural Tour takes us to sites of current architectural interest in the company of architects personally involved in their design.

The exhibitions EUmies Awards 2026 and Women in Waves – Elina Brotherus and the Homes of Alvar Aalto highlight new architecture and offer new perspectives on familiar spaces.

A Day in Meri-Toppila features talks by local and international figures at AaltoSiilo, and hosts the premiere of the Crossroads documentary series. The English-language Another Gaze – Architecture Seminar discusses ways of looking at and presenting architecture in a time marked by a multiplicity of tensions. The seminar brings together talks by architects, artists, curators, researchers, and students. The keynote speakers are Phineas Harper, Meneesha Kellay and Mari Lending.

View the full varied programme here: Alvar Aalto Week in Oulu 21–30.8.2026

Most of the Alvar Aalto Week events are open to all and free of charge, but some require pre-registration. The City of Oulu is organising Alvar Aalto Week together with numerous event organisers and the Alvar Aalto Foundation.

You can also Discover Alvar Aalto in Oulu on the city’s website and explore the region independently at your own pace.

To accompany Alvar Aalto Week the Alvar Aalto Foundation has published a volume of Aalto’s plans for Oulu, Alvar Aalto’s Architecture, No. 29 – Oulu. Some elegant sketchpads have also been produced to commemorate the Week, their covers illustrated with Aalto’s drawings of Oulu sites. The book and sketchpads are on sale at the Oulu Tourist Information Centre in the Market Hall (address: Kauppatori 1, 90100 Oulu).

Alvar Aalto Week is part of Oulu – Capital of Culture 2026.

Press images: press@alvaraalto.fi

Inquiries:
Alvar Aalto Week programme
City of Oulu, City Planning
City Planning Architect Pia Krogius
+358 40 641 6406
pia.krogius@ouka.fi

Business Oulu, Tourist Services
Service Manager Roosa Palomäki
+358 40 537 3943
roosa.palomaki@businessoulu.com

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

Photo: Alvar Aalto leaves his handprints in cement in Oulu 21.11.1969. Photo Risto Rasila. JOKA Journalistinen kuva-arkisto Kaleva. Museovirasto.