Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was born on February 3, 1898 in Kuortane, Finland.
He studied architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology from 1916 to 1921 and on graduating returned to Jyväskylä, where he opened his first architectural office in 1923.
Marrying architect Aino Marsio in 1924, his early work consisted of workers housing and student clubs in Jyväskylä, but in 1927 he won the commission for the South western Finland Agricultural Cooperative Building in the ancient capital of Turku.
The buildings he created were humanistic in their design, for example he approached the Paimio Sanatorium (1928-33) from the angle of creating a serene environment - even going to the extent of including specially modified taps that were noiseless so as not to disturb the patients.
Aalto also built all the sanatorium furniture including the 1931-32 Paimio Chair, which was designed to ease the breathing of the tuberculosis patients and inspired by the tubular steel Marcel Breuer chairs in his own home.
In 1934 he and Aino moved to Helsinki and launched a furniture company called Artek to manufacture the wooden chairs and stools they had designed for the Paimio Sanatorium and Viipuri Library.
However the collection of products that Aalto is most famous for is his glassware and none were more prominent than the wavy Aalto Vase (1937), which was launched at the Paris world exhibition.  The vase, also known as the Savoy Vase because it was used for the interior of the Savoy restaurant in Helsinki, is rumoured to be inspired by a young Eskimo girl’s leather breeches.
Aalto remarried in 1952 after the death of Aino in 1949 and continued to design architecture up to his death in 1976.
Other major architectural works include the Finnish Pavilion for the Paris International Exposition, Finnish Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Finland, and the campus of Helsinki University of Technology.