What is everywhere and nowhere, except where something is? 'Nothing', the well-known riddle tells us. If we turn to recent research produced hy Aalto scholars in the past decade or so, the answer might instead be 'ElissaAalto'. Longstanding co-director and, ultimately, solo director of one of the twentieth century's most acclaimed architectural practices, Elissa Aalto's (1922-94) oeuvre is both obviously impressive and frustratingly difficult to grasp. Arkkitehti Elissa Aalto/Architect ElissaAalto summarises succinctly the results of long-standing efforts to peer behind the veil of Elissa's mystery. (I will refer to the various Aaltos here by their given names, to avoid confusion.) Archival drawings, photographs, correspondence, meeting minutes, and interviews with Elissa's peers, friends, and colleagues are collected together in the bilingual essay collection edited by Mia Hipeli and published by the Alvar Aalto Foundation. Long overdue, the book is the first publication globally dedicated specifically to Elissa. The crop is modest, but meaningful. Together with an eponymous traveling exhibition, the collection elucidates the extent to which Elissa shaped Studio Aalto's culture and portfolio, as well as the difficulties inherent in trying to pinpoint precisely how and where.
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