{"id":65526,"date":"2026-09-13T14:02:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T14:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/?post_type=event&p=65526"},"modified":"2026-09-13T14:06:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T14:06:27","slug":"embodying-a-building-bodies-in-aalto-buildings","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/event\/embodying-a-building-bodies-in-aalto-buildings\/","title":{"rendered":"Embodying a Building: Bodies in Aalto Buildings\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

This exhibition explores the relationship between the human body and Aalto buildings through the work of contemporary artists Elina Brotherus (FI), Dafna Maimon (FI) and Ilona Sagar (UK). The artists have spent extended periods in the buildings, living in them, talking to the people who worked in them, and incorporating the spaces into their own artistic practice.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Photo by artist Ilona Sagar, Other Actors, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Across these works, the buildings are approached as more than static objects: the body and the building form a symbiotic relationship, each shaping the other and carrying the traces and memories of the other. Through the artists\u2019 own bodies, as well as through real and<\/span> imagined characters, the works move between observation and fiction, the analytical and the absurd, in their encounters with the buildings.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Together, the artworks offer a deeper and broader perspective on the Aaltos\u2019 architecture, one that moves beyond traditional forms of analysis.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The building as a body.<\/span><\/b>
\nThe body as a building.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Aaltos are known for their humanistic architecture, which focuses on the human body through organic forms, warm materials, and a strong design language inspired by nature. The idea of a Gesamtkunstwerk, or \u201ctotal work of art\u201d, in which different forms of design come together as a unified whole, was central to this approach. They worked across architecture, urban planning, design, and art, developing their organic design language through close dialogue with important modernist artists.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The plural \u201cAaltos\u201d acknowledges the collaborative practice behind this work, referring not only to Alvar Aalto but also to Aino Marsio-Aalto, Elissa Aalto, and the wider Aalto studio, whose contributions were part of the practice and its development.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Artists: Elina Brotherus (FI), Dafna Maimon (FI) och Ilona Sagar (UK).
\n<\/span>Curator: Sabina Westerholm<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read about accessibility in The Nordic House. <\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/a>
\nCover photo: Watering Plants <\/em>by artist Elina Brotherus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This exhibition explores the relationship between the human body and Aalto buildings through the work of contemporary artists Elina Brotherus (FI), Dafna Maimon (FI) and Ilona Sagar (UK). The artists have spent extended periods in the buildings, living in them, talking to the people who worked in them, and incorporating the spaces into their own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":65518,"template":"","event-categories":[56],"class_list":["post-65526","event","type-event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","event-categories-exhibitions","no-banner-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/65526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/event"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"event-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event-categories?post=65526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}