The publicity generated by the pavilion lead, in part, to a 1940-9 professorship in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aalto designed a dormitory there during his tenure. Other significant projects include the Viipuri Library, his own house in Helsinki, and an exhibition pavilion celebrating the 700th anniversary of the town of Turku.

Aalto was widely honored for his work. He received an honorary doctorate from Princeton University in 1947, and the Royal Gold Medal of Architecture from the British Government. He was also appointed to the Academie der kunste, Berlin, the academy of Finland, and was made a Royal Honorary Designer for Industry in England.

Aino Aalto achieved fame as a designer in her own right. The Bölgeblick line of glassware (1932), probably her most famous design, has been widely imitated.