Google's satellite imaging allows us to virtually tour remote or inaccessible locales the world over, and with recently improved resolutions and initiatives from the Google Cultural Institute, our gaze can go farther and more intimately into places we may never physically visit. Google's interest in maintaining this visual resource has implications as far-reaching as its imagery, but it's also a boon for architecture education, where access to imagery and certain spaces can be highly exclusive, and retaining a global (and historical) perspective is exceedingly important.

To this end, Google's Cultural Institute has partnered with the Alvar Aalto Foundation in order to make the famous Finnish architect's spaces (and of course his famous stool no. 60) available online in 360-degree panoramas, detailing every surface. The partnership's collection focuses on eight sites, including Aalto's studio, Säynätsalo Town Hall, and the House Kantola, as well as an exhibition at the Aalto Museum in Jyväskylä, Finland on the restoration of his Vyborg Library. Google also has a personal interest in the architect's works, as one of its data centers is located in a former cellulose factory that Aalto designed, in Hamina, Finland.

You can view the full extent of the Google-Aalto partnership on the Google Cultural Institute, which includes a look into the Hamina data center.