Anne-Maija Malmisalo-Lensu

The aim of my multidisciplinary research is to study visitor motives, expectations, and experiences of people visiting Alvar Aalto's architecture. The research was carried out by interviewing visitors at three sites: the Aalto house, the Aalto studio, and the Experimental House. All these houses are house museums today. Aalto and his architecture are approached from the perspective of tourists. The research also discloses, among other things, the background of Aalto tourism since the 1920's, the history of the house museums and how they became international tourist attractions.