Alvar Aalto (Finnish, 1898-1976) was an architect and designer, sometimes called the "Father of Modernism in the Nordic countries”. His work includes architecture, furniture and glassware. While Aalto is known for expressing and integrating functionalism into his buildings, it was his ability to coordinate the organic relationship between man, nature and buildings that is agreed to be the source of the characteristics of his work. Aalto spoke of his art (he called it building art) as a “synthesis of life in materialized form.” His reputation grew in the US following the critical reception of his design for the Finnish Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair, described by Frank Lloyd Wright as a "work of genius." While Aalto is known for expressing and integrating functionalism into his buildings, it was his ability to coordinate the organic relationship between man, nature and buildings that is agreed to be the source of the characteristics of his work. Aalto spoke of his art (building art he called it) as a “synthesis of life in materialized form.”