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2. AHO COMMERCIAL AND
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
Koskikatu 18, 1958–1959
Koskikatu 20, 1960–1962
Jaakonkatu 3, 1962–1963
Aalto designed three four-storey commercial and residential
buildings for Aarne Aho who was a local businessman and
commercial counselor. Built individually in the same quarter,
these red brick buildings form a homogenous complex.
The ground floors of the buildings provide shop premises
while the upper floors were originally residential apartments
but were subsequently converted into offices. The simplicity
of the façades is nevertheless enlivened by a few elements that
show Aalto’s concern for simple form but also for detail.
The solid blind wall of the Koskikatu 20 building
eventually featured a bronze sculpture realised according
to Aalto’s scale model by the sculptor Heikki Häiväoja. It
represents the Northern Lights and includes a leaping salmon
in the lower portion, alluding to Aarne Aho’s interest in
fishing. The buildings have undergone changes over the years,
with many details removed from the façade.
3. MAISON AHO
Pohjolankatu 32, 1964–1965
In addition to the commercial and residential building Aalto
designed also a private house to Aho family. In the long series
of private houses designed by Aalto, Maison Aho shares with
the famous Villa Mairea and Maison Carré the distinction
of being designed for a family with a private art collection.
The house stands in a spacious garden-like milieu in the
centre of Rovaniemi. Like many other Aalto houses, only
the main entrance and a window can be seen from the street.
The house faces the garden and is concealed from onlookers
by a red brick wall.
The floor plan is slightly fan-shaped, opening out
into a living room with a large corner window. A curving
gallery wall, lit by a skylight that provides indirect natural
illumination for the artworks, features as a dominant and
central structural element of the house.