Aino Aalto,
Willow chair,
the house in Helsinki

Aino Aalto, a willow chair, the house in Helsinki.
That is her! That is you, Aino.

You are rocking in a hammock. You are rocking between the darkness and the glitter of your eyes.
Between the eternity and the presence, touching the edge of life.
Yes, that was you who had always  known what you wanted.
Inscrutable, unruly and strong, with the inseparable glitter from your childhood. You come and you go away...
That is you – faithful. Your chair is near the piano, it is simple.
You have thought it up beautifully. I can see your eyes, your enthusiasm and strength.
Is it possible that you know something more about death?
Play for the guests.

Among the pines in Helsinki there is a house with a beautiful living room, in which next to the piano, there is an inconspicuous willow chair.
The house is very famous, designed by a worldwide known architect  Alvaro Alto.

And this inconspicuous chair was designed by his wife Aino.

Alvar liked filming his family.
Aino's face appears in the frame of an immovable camera at rhythmic, short intervals. She is rocking in a hammock, and her face and eyes –  like waves – are ebbing and flowing again to the lens. She does not know that in a few years she will die. Alvar Aalto holds the camera without moving it. He does not know that either.
She sometimes sits down on a chair at the piano and plays for the guests.

The thoughts and strength of this beautiful woman remained in her husband's architecture.

 

A living room of a house at Riihitie in Helsinki