At first glance, buildings at automobiles don’t seem to have much in common. They each serve very different purposes. But automobile manufacturers and architects often approach style in a similar way: combining function and form, design and dynamism.
They set out to create something that makes life more comfortable using a broad palette of materials. Ideally, the result will put a twinkle in the eye of the beholder for a lifetime.
Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) was a trailblazer in Finnish functionalist architecture and one of the most important designers of the modern era. Placed in front of three of his buildings in the Finnish capital of Helsinki, it becomes evident just how technically and stylistically avant-garde the W 21 Cabriolet from 1936, provided by a member of the Finnish Mercedes-Benz Club, was in its day.