Comparative approaches on urban planning: Alvar Aalto’s assistant from Italy – an interview with Vezio Nava

The interview with Vezio Nava was made in Helsinki on 24 June 2019. This interview is linked to a research on urban planning titled “Comparative Approaches on Urban Planning: Research and Learning on Public Spaces, Brazil and Finland” that involves the Aalto University (Finland) and the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (Brazil). The research work takes into account a continuity of previous studies with Helena Teräväinen (Aalto University) and includes a comparative analysis on cities in Brazil and Finland. From this interview, the Riola church’s project in Italy and an overview on the urban proposals developed by Alvar Aalto were presented alongside the everyday life in the Aalto Studio. Vezio Nava was born in Rome, Italy, in 1936. He commenced his architectural studies in Rome but graduated from the Helsinki University of Technology in 1964. After moving to Finland in 1960 he worked in Alvar Aalto’s Bureau for more than 20 years: when Aalto died in 1976 he continued with Elissa Aalto. He participated in several projects, with a leading role in the Riola Church project in Italy. The interview was prepared by Fabio Jose Martins de Lima, Jussi Rautsi, Helena Marja Teräväinen

Acknowledgements to Alvar Aalto Foundation, Aalto University, CAPES, CNPq and FAPEMIG