Alvar Aalto & la Maison Louis Carré

In the mid 1950’s, Louis Carré commissioned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto to build a house in Bazoches-sur-Guyonne (Yvelines), France. The projet was to create  a « Maison Cimaise », a showcase where Carré would live and expose the artworks from his important modern collection. He chose Alvar Aalto, whose reputation was starting to grow internationally. From thereon, a  lifelong friendship began between Carré and Aalto who both had a « universal idea of art ». 

Aalto always saw his architectural projects as total works of art – Gesamtkunstwerk - and the Maison Louis Carré was no exception. In collaboration with his second wife Elissa Aalto, he designed the plans of the house as well as all of the interior fittings, furnitures and light fixtures.  

Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) was a hugely talented architect and an ardent spokesman for the international modernist movement, which he drew on to develop his own unique style. To this day he is considered one of the greatest masters of mid-century design and architecture.

During his long and prolific career, Alvar Aalto’s work embraced virtually all key public institutions – town halls, theatres, churches, libraries and universities – as well as standardized housing and corporate headquarters (for instance, Enso-Gutzeit Headquarters).

Alvar Aalto began designing furniture and lighting as a natural but vital extension of his architectural thought. In 1935 Aalto and his wife Aino Aalto co-founded the Artek furniture company in Helsinki with the objective ‘to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of living by exhibitions and other educational means’. Innovative and radical, Aalto’s style became known as human modernism.

For the Maison Louis Carré, Aalto paid a particular attention to the materials he used. Finnish pine and local stone were subtly associated in this manifesto of modernism that transcended Aalto’s Finnish heritage to create an universal masterpiece. Designed as a showcase for the evolving collection of Louis and Olga Carré, the house was both a living space and a gallery. The Carré couple enjoyed organizing events with friends, artists and collectors.

As a sign of his deep respect for Aalto’s global approach, Louis Carré kept only one piece of furniture from his old home – a small, swivel library – and left Aalto free to use his creative genius in all aspects of the house. From furniture to light fixtures, from exterior fittings to door handles, switches and gutters, Aalto has thought it all out in every detail and has signed a total work of art.  Many furniture and fixtures have been specially designed for the home, the rest is based on models created by Aalto for his company Artek since the 1930s, sometimes with slight adaptations.