Alvar Aalto - Finland
Central Finland Museum
Alvar Allon katu 7, Jyväskylä
1957 - 1961

 In 1956 Alvar Aalto was commissioned to draw the architectural plans for the Museum of Central Finland, and the Museum was opened in May 1961. The Museum of Central Finland is a small museum, built with limited financial means. It is intended for changing exhibitions and contains the collection of Central Finland goods. The interior of the Museum was desined by Alvar Aalto and Artek. In a second stage, the building was extended. This extension, which is situated below the older part, was planned and built only after Alvar Aalto's death. The design for the extension was mde by Elissa Aalto, who was then in charge of Alvar Aalto & Co. The extended museum was reopened in December 1990. After the conversion, the main entrance is located in the new part of the museum, while the former entrance is still visible on the third floor. The original part of the museum covered an area of 2140 square meters, compared with 755 of the addition. The exhibition spaces are distributed on four floors, and the museum also features lecture rooms, an auditorium in the original building, a cafeteria and a small museum shop. The Museum of Central Finland, which is specialized in cultural history, serves both as the Jyväskylä town museum and the provincial museum of central Finland.