Finland was the first country to admit women to university studies and grant them the right to vote. Most probably, the first woman to graduate in architecture in Europe was Finnish — Signe Hornborg, in 1890. In search of their own space, the women architects of Finland founded their own association called Tumstocken in 1919, which became Architecta  in 1942.

The lecture examines the figure of Aino Marsio (1894-1949), the first wife of Alvar Aalto (1898-1972), from the years of her education at the Helsinki University of Technology up to her premature death in January 1949. What role did Aino play in the dynamic cultural and professional context of early 20th-century Finland? And what was her relationship with Alvar and within the Aalto studio? 

Antonello Alici, architect, PhD, is Associate Professor in Architectural History at Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, and Member of the Doctoral School in Engineering Sciences, where he teaches courses on “Cultural Heritage and Landscapes”. He is Chair of Do.co.mo.mo Italia, Board member of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums (ICAM), of the Italian Society of Architectural History (Aistarch), and of the Vitruvian Study Center in Fano, Marche, and Research Fellow in Architecture at the British School at Rome. He is appointed Beaufort Visiting Fellow at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, (2025/2026).

His research deals with the history of landscape, city and architecture as well as conservation theory and cultural heritage. He has lectured and published on 19th and 20th century city and architecture, with a special focus on the Nordic Countries, Great Britain and Italy. 

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