Alvar Aalto & Contemporary Spanish Architecture: free at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki until 10 January 2027

Finlandia Hall is the building Alvar Aalto designed for Helsinki between the Töölö bay and Mannerheimintie, and it is now the place where his influence on another country is being shown. From 7 October 2026 to 10 January 2027 the foyer holds Alvar Aalto & Contemporary Spanish Architecture, free to enter, organised by the Embassy of Spain in Finland with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and curated by the architect Covadonga Blasco.

The occasion is twofold. It is seventy-five years since Aalto travelled through Spain in 1951, and thirteen of his buildings have recently been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The exhibition sets documentation from that journey beside the work of Spanish architects of successive generations who took up his thinking and his way of handling form and space, and it includes projects built in Finland by Spanish architects — the exchange running in both directions.

The King and Queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia, opened the exhibition on 7 October 2026 in the course of their state visit to Finland, with President Alexander Stubb and Suzanne Innes-Stubb at the reception. For a visitor it sits well with the hall’s own permanent exhibition, Visions of Alvar Aalto, which is ticketed separately: between the two, the foyer and the permanent rooms give an unusually full account of what Aalto’s work has meant across Europe.

Practical details

• When: 7 October 2026 to 10 January 2027
• Where: Finlandia Hall, main foyer, Mannerheimintie 13 e, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
• Admission: free; opening hours are those of Finlandia Hall, published on its own pages
• Curated by: Covadonga Blasco
• Organised by: Embassy of Spain in Finland and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, at Finlandia Hall (Finlandia-talo Oy)
• Information: telephone +358 9 40241 (service point), +358 9 402 4400 (sales)

Cultural Heritage Online lists this exhibition for readers who follow twentieth-century architecture and the buildings that have just entered the World Heritage List.