AINO & ALVAR AALTO – The Honeymoon Route in Italy 1924–2024
Florence, Padua, Venice 8–11 October 2024
Italy occupies a privileged space in the lives and careers of Aino and Alvar Aalto. One hundred years ago, in October 1924, they chose Italy for their honeymoon, largely following the itinerary that Aino had taken three years earlier after graduating in architecture. Their mode of travel was innovative, by seaplane from Katajanokka Bay to Tallinn, then by air to Vienna and by train across the Alps to Veneto, and then Tuscany. According to the family’s documents, Aino and Alvar Aalto left Helsinki on 8 October 1924, their Italian journey ended in Venice on 30 October 1924. The main places they visited were Verona, Padua, Florence and Venice, where they spent the most time.
This journey was highly influential, also providing a solid basis for successful networking with Italian avant-garde architects. Back in Jyväskylä, still with few commissions, the couple oriented their proposals for the city with a clear Italian vision: the vertical town and landscape, medieval churches and paintings, and the Florentine Renaissance of Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti. The memory of the Rucellai Sepulchre (Alberti, 1455–1460) was mirrored in their first important work in Jyväskylä, the Workers Club (completed 1925). Alvar published several texts emphasizing the Humanism he discovered in Italy, Aino documented their travels with beautiful photographs.
To mark the centennial of the young couple’s honeymoon, the organizers propose a travelling event taken in their footsteps, with special visits based on their memories, found in diaries, photos and postcards, writings and projects, and inspired by their journey. Supported by many partners in academic institutions and museums, the Honeymoon Route will start off in Florence on 8–9 October, move on to Padua on 10 October, and to Venice on 11 October 2024.
Registration:
To register for the whole programme or part of it, e-mail: aaltoitalia100@gmail.com
Deadline: 25 September, 2024
PROGRAMME
FLORENCE
8 October 2024
16:30 > Special guided tour of Cappella Rucellai/the Rucellai Sepulchre in the church of San Pancrazio (max 40 places in two turns)
9 October 2024
11:00–13:00 > Walking tour (Santa Maria Novella, Chiesa del Carmine, Santo Spirito, piazza Duomo, piazza San Marco, Piazza SS. Annunziata (max 40 places)
16:30–18:30 > Conference at Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, Via Orsanmichele 4 (max 60 places)
PADUA
10 October 2024
11:30–13:30 > Walking tour: central squares, Palazzo della Ragione, Piazza del Duomo Palazzo dell’Università
15:30–17:00 > Special visits with entrance fee to Chiesa degli Eremitani and cappella Ovetari (max 40 places in two turns)
17:00–19:00 > Conference at Sala del Romanino, Museo Eremitani, Piazza Eremitani 8
VENICE
11 October 2024
11:00–13:00 > Walking tour from Piazza San Marco to Giardini della Biennale and Sant’Elena (max 40 places). Public ferry to Santa Marta
16:30-18:30 > Archivio Progetti Università IUAV di Venezia, visit to the archival collections and conference (max 40 places)
Scientific Programme:
Antonello Alici, Università Politecnica delle Marche, a.alici@univpm.it
In cooperation with:
Università Politecnica delle Marche
Fondazione Giovanni Michelucci
Ambasciata di Finlandia Roma
Alvar Aalto Foundation
Alvar Aalto Route – 20th Century Architecture and Design
Allan and Bo Hjelt Art Foundation
Institutum Romanum Finlandia
Accademia delle Arti del Disegno
Dipartimento di Architettura Università di Firenze
Ufficio Firenze Patrimonio Mondiale e rapporti con UNESCO del Comune di Firenze
Museo Marino Marini Firenze
Ufficio Patrimonio Mondiale UNESCO del Comune di Padova
Musei Civici Padova
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Edile Architettura e Dipartimento di Beni Culturali Università di Padova
Archivio Progetti Università IUAV di Venezia
Associazione Italiana di Storia Urbana
Associazione Storia della Città
Ordine e Fondazione Architetti di Firenze