AALTO design

Maison Carré by Alvar Aalto 

A building whose brief called for a “family house with hanging space for paintings, while avoiding the appearance of an art gallery,” Maison Carré is one of the most important private homes designed by Alvar Aalto, the distinguished Finnish architect and father of Scandinavian modernism. Built in the late1950s, and situated some 40 kilometres southwest of Paris, the residence has now been acquired by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, it has now been opened to the public. The house was commissioned by Louis Carré, a prominent French art dealer and gallery owner. After purchasing a piece of land in 1955, Carré contacted Aalto to ask whether he could design a new home for him. In the summer of 1956, Carré travelled to Italy where the architect was supervising the construction of the Finnish Pavilion for the Venice Biennale.