Kouvola - The City of Alvar Aalto

Alvar Aalto (1898 - 1976) is known to be one of the most influential architects and designers in the history of Finland. You can find his masterpieces also in Kouvola.
Kouvola’s Tehtaanmäki residential district was designed by Aalto, it’s located along the Kymijoki River, close to Ankkapuha Culture Park. The area was designed and constructed for the workers of Anjala paper mill and Inkeroinen board mill and was completed in the late 1930's. In addition, Aalto designed a school and in the 1950's three apartment buildings.

You can travel to Tehtaanmäki by bus. Bus line 3 from Kouvola's city center will take you near the area and back to the city.

When Tampella Oy founded the Anjala paper mill in Inkeroinen in the late 1930s, architect Alvar Aalto was commissioned to design it. The work began with a plan for the building project in the factory area. It formed the basis for the plans for the paper mill’s factory, warehouse and production buildings.
In addition to numerous factory buildings, Alvar Aalto’s architect firm designed, for example, the Tehtaanmäki school, the teachers’ dormitory, new residential buildings for the factory workers, supervisors and engineers, as well as a building for a medical clinic. Not all the plans were realised and some of the buildings have been pulled down or changed beyond recognition.

Nine different Puutalo Oy house types designed by Alvar Aalto were implemented in Karhunkangas, as well as a shared sauna and laundry building, a cooperative shop and a pumping station. The buildings were manufactured by the factory’s building unit. The apartments were handed over to the factory workers for the price of the materials.

Architectural guide Alvar Aalto in Kouvola

Kouvola Tourist Guides Kouvolan matkailuoppaat ry. organise guided Alvar Aalto tours.
Contact details:  
kouvolanmatkailuoppaat@gmail.com
+358 40 187 0383

Visit unique Alvar Aalto destinations in Finland and Kouvola

In May 2021, the Alvar Aalto Route – 20th Century Architecture and Design cultural route was granted Cultural Route of the Council of Europe Certification. The Cultural Route on Modern Architecture and Design Heritage association set up as part of the project aims to promote tourism to sites designed by Alvar Aalto in Europe and elsewhere. All Aalto sites open to the public and their service providers are welcome to join the route association. 

For  further details, please see visit.alvaraalto website.

Kouvola is part of the official network of Alvar Aalto cities.