Markku Lahti, the first Director of the Alvar Aalto Museum and Foundation, died on September 14, 2021.

Markku Lahti (b. 1947) did his life’s work as Director of the Alvar Aalto Museum and Foundation, piloting the Museum from 1973 onwards and taking over the running of the Foundation in 1998. He retired in 2011, having spent 38 years working to foster Aalto’s architecture and design heritage and making it better known.

Lahti took a visionary approach to developing the work of both the Museum and Foundation. During his time, they grew into an international Alvar Aalto information centre known, for instance, for its extensive Aalto collections, for its exhibitions shown in Finland and abroad, and for various international events. The Alvar Aalto Symposium held for the first time in 1979 and the Alvar Aalto Design Seminar held since 1995 brought architecture and design lovers and professionals from all around the world to join in congenial gatherings in Jyväskylä.