Cinestudio | Aalto: Architecture of Emotions

Cinema Úsmev in cooperation with the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Arts of TUKE presents a series of film screenings dedicated to architecture. The cycle serves as a platform for meeting architects, students or lovers of architecture and film and offers a space for discussion after the screening.

How did Alvar Aalto, one of the most important modern architects, think and create?

A captivating cinematic journey delves into the creative processes of the famous Finn, whose work blends functionalism with organic design inspired by nature. For the first time, the film reveals the intimate love story of Alvar and his wife, architect Aina Aalto, who was an unmissable part of their creative duo. Together with the filmmakers, we visit their iconic buildings spread across the globe - from their native Finland, to Russia, New York, Paris or Venice...

We will visit the most beautiful buildings in Finland, a library in Russia, an MIT student dormitory, a private collector's house near Paris and many other unique places. We'll learn about the history of modernism and along the way meet the Rockefellers, Le Corbusier and László Moholy-Nagy.

The untimely death of Alvaro's wife has affected him immensely. He eventually remarried another architect, Elissa Aalto, and lived through one of his most significant professional periods in the 1950s. The documentary weaves together entertainment and information, contemporary film footage and rare, previously unpublished archival footage. We will hear the protagonists speak intimately through amorous correspondence and see Alvarez's poignant drawings of his wife on her deathbed. The film is based on meticulous data collection, featuring eyewitnesses and respected scholars from around the world.