Baker House

Alvar Aalto got the commission to design the dormitory building in 1946 while he was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The project was very much a joint effort between him and Aino Aalto. For much of the time, Alvar was in the United States teaching, while Aino stayed in Finland to manage the interior design company Artek, where she was the artistic director.

MIT was looking for innovative, high-quality architecture, but also insisted on a well-functioning building with reasonable budget. The Aaltos worked hard to create a plan that fulfilled all the demands. They considered it psychologically inappropriate to have rooms with a view directly face the busy flow of cars while at the same time, they wished to have as many rooms as possible face the sun and the river. The solution was to give the house a meandering serpentine form, increasing the length of the façade. This arrangement also allowed for more privacy and pleasant views towards south and the adjacent Charles river. The internal traffic became the main feature of the northern façade, with the impressive staircase motif. In order to avoid dark corridors, the student canteen and cafeteria were placed in a low, separate wing facing the river.

The unusual shapes of the rooms called for bespoke furniture. Aino Aalto designed all of the needed special pieces for each room, and they were produced in Artek´s factory in Sweden. In addition Aino used already existing Aalto furniture and designed a textile pattern to complete the interiors. However, Aino's health was already failing and she passed away in early 1949. The MIT project was Aino and Alvar Aalto's last project together.