Archive collections and catalogues
The archive collections contain Aalto University's and its predecessors' document collections, numerous personal and private archives, student work and diploma work collections and extensive image archives.
Aalto University Archives
Aalto University Archives is an archive service open to all researchers. The mission of the Archives is to preserve and maintain the university's scientific, artistic and administrative cultural heritage and to promote research based on it.
The key tasks of the Archives include collection management work, including description, cataloging and digitising collections and making digital collections available.
In addition, the Archives develops and plans reception channels for digital materials, provides information and research services, and organizes training, exhibitions and study program cooperation related to the Archives´ collections.
The Archives are located at Otaniemi campus. Before visiting, please contact: arkisto@aalto.fi
Visiting address Otakaari 1B, 02150 Espoo
Services and activities
Collection highlights
Explore in closer detail highlights from the archive collections, including student work, photographic materials documenting activities, personal and private archives, which are available for use through Finna or via the archive's customer service.
Workshops and exhibitions
Archive materials can be used in university teaching and it is also used in exhibitions and publications.
News and events
The School of Economics into a School of Peace - Cold War Student Activism
In the 1970s, the Peace Committee of HSE, established under the Finnish Peace Committee, organized lectures, parties, and demonstrations to engage the community of Helsinki School of Economics with on-going conflicts. Members of the association believed that through activism, they could also influence the resolution of these conflicts. Many of the association's views and goals remain relevant in today's increasingly polarized world.
Gustaf Komppa – Master of Organic Syntheses
Gustaf Komppa served as a professor of chemistry at the Helsinki University of Technology from 1908 to 1937. Gustaf Komppa rose from modest circumstances to become one of Finland's most significant and respected chemists. His most famous scientific achievements were the development of the total synthesis of camphor between 1901 and 1903, the development of the total synthesis of pinene in 1937, and the invention of the so-called Komppa method for producing synthetic gasoline from peat and wood raw materials.
Impressive Houses and Quiet Villages - Eastern Karelian Architecture in the Photo Collections of Aalto University Archives
In the summer of 1942, Carolus Lindberg, together with Jouko Hautala, went on an expedition to occupied Eastern Karelia. The purpose was to search for and examine the areas where architecturally significant material remained.
First female students of the founding universities of Aalto University
During the Women's Day Week it is a good moment to look not only to the future but also to the past. What the world looked like from the perspective of women in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in the Grand Duchy of Finland, when the first women went to study technology, industrial arts and business. And how do the collections of the Aalto University Archives reflect these first representatives of their fields.
The success story of Finnish low-temperature physics can be uncovered at Aalto University Archives
The Low Temperature Laboratory (LTL) of Aalto University is a significant success story of Finnish science. The laboratory was founded by the Finnish physicist Olli V. Lounasmaa (1930-2002). The Archives of Aalto University hold archival collections from first few decades of the LTL’s operation, as well as the personal archive of Lounasmaa.
Yki Nummi archive
The Yki Nummi archive is an extensive private archive collection held in the Aalto University Archives. Yki Nummi was one of the most influential post-war designers, whose groundbreaking work elevated Finnish design to its international reputation. Nummi is known above all else for his light fixtures, but his artistic merits also include the designing of other home utility goods, book illustrations and acting as a color and light expert.
