However, deep in a Finnish forest, there is a direct descendant: Alvar Aalto's Villa Mairea.

WSJ: The Finnish Frank Lloyd Wright

The white period is also on display at the nearby Alvar Aalto Museum, which the architect completed a decade later.

BBC: An Alvar Aalto tour of Finland

Why, then, with this assured position, is Alvar Aalto's name so little known to a public that recognizes Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright without difficulty?

WSJ: Ada Louise Huxtable | Her Critical Judgments Were Built to Last

Born in 1898, Alvar Aalto is ranked by many design aficionados as the 20th Century's number one architect -- and not just in the phone book.

BBC: Helsinki��s innovative design scene

This solid, stunning and serious exhibition of the work of the great Finnish architect, "Alvar Aalto: Between Humanism and Materialism" (up through May 26), delivers a clear, timeless and incontrovertible message: These are some of the most original and beautiful buildings of our time.

WSJ: Finnish Master Alvar Aalto | By Ada Louise Huxtable

Anyone who doubts that this has been a century of spectacular architectural achievement as well as radical technological change need only visit the Alvar Aalto show that has just opened at the Museum of Modern Art here for evidence that shatters the myth that modern architecture failed.

WSJ: Finnish Master Alvar Aalto | By Ada Louise Huxtable