13 Stories about Humane Design

In April, 13 Stories about Humane Design opens in the Aalto2 Museum Centre Gallery. The exhibition stages an intriguing dialogue between Aalto’s designs and fictional users’ experiences. What does a new home look like through the eyes of a child? What does it sound like when architecture resonates? How does a hospital building boost patients’ sense of community? The exhibition seeks new approaches to architecture – and, above all, it views Alvar Aalto’s buildings from a humane perspective.

The Alvar Aalto Museum has invited writer Sanna Puutonen to empathise with Aalto’s buildings via the experiences of their users: the result is thirteen fictional stories. The stories are snapshots that bring the buildings to life. They add a human layer to the architecture, the main character in and around the built space can be someone settling into a house, sensing its atmospheres or, for instance, watching the play of light on the surfaces of its different materials.