Villa Mairea

Inside the Villa Mairea. Art, Design and Interior Architecture

Martti Anhava, Kirsi Gullichsen, Kristian Gullichsen, Carolus Enckell

In the autumn of 1936, Finnish art patrons and industrialists Maire and Harry Gullichsen asked their friends, Alvar and Aino Aalto, to design a home for them. The design process turned into a vivid interaction between architects and clients, and the resulting residence, Villa Mairea, became one of the masterpieces of 20th-century Modernist architecture and design. It also became a lifelong project for Maire Gullichsen, the house's namesake. This huge, extensively illustrated book documents the interiors of Villa Mairea, built in 1938-39. This volume focuses on the rich world of works of art, design objects, furniture, light fittings and textiles inside the walls of the house. "It is the inside story of Maire Gullichsen's lifelong effort to create a setting where art and furnishings are in a subtle dialogue with the architectural design of the villa," writes the Gullichsen's son, Kristian, who grew up in the house. As one friend of Aalto's said, "This is not a house, this is a love poem."

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