Architecture of Finland
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The architecture of Finland has a history spanning over 800 years, and while up until the modern era the architecture was strongly influenced by currents from Finland's two respective neighbouring ruling nations Sweden and Russia, from the early 19th century onwards influences came directly from further afield: first when itinerant foreign architects took up positions in the country and then when the Finnish architect profession became established. Furthermore, Finnish architecture in turn has contributed significantly to several styles internationally, such as Jugendstil (or Art Nouveau),
Nordic Classicism Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries ( Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930. Until a resurgence of interest for the period during the 1980s (marked by several scholarl ...
and Functionalism. In particular, the works of the country's most noted early modernist architect
Eliel Saarinen Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1873 – July 1, 1950) was a Finnish-American architect known for his work with art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. He was also the father of famed architect Eero Saarinen. Lif ...
have had significant worldwide influence. Even more renowned than Saarinen has been modernist architect Alvar Aalto, who is regarded as one of the major figures in the world history of modern architecture. In an article from 1922 titled "Motifs from past ages", Aalto discussed national and international influences in Finland, and as he saw it: In a 2000 review article of twentieth century Finnish architecture, Frédéric Edelmann, arts critic of the French newspaper ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', suggested that Finland has more great architects of the status of Alvar Aalto in proportion to the population than any other country in the world. Finland's most significant architectural achievements are related to modern architecture, mostly because the current building stock has less than 20% that dates back to before 1955, which relates significantly to the reconstruction following
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and the process of urbanisation which only gathered pace after the war. 1249 is the date normally given for the beginning of Swedish rule over the land now known as Finland (in Finnish, ''Suomi''), and this rule continued until 1809, after which it was ceded to Russia. However, under Russian rule it had a significant degree of autonomy as the
Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...
. Finland declared independence from Russia in 1917, at the time of the Russian Revolution. These historical factors have had a significant bearing on the history of architecture in Finland, along with the founding of towns and the building of castles and fortresses (in the numerous wars between Sweden and Russia fought in Finland), as well as the availability of building materials and craftsmanship and, later on, government policy on issues such as housing and public buildings. As an essentially forested region, timber has been the natural building material, while the hardness of the local stone (predominantly granite) initially made it difficult to work, and the manufacture of brick was rare before the mid-19th century.Riitta Nikula, ''Architecture and Landscape - The Building of Finland'', Otava, Helsinki, 1993. The use of concrete took on a particular prominence with the rise of the welfare state in the 1960s, in particular in state-sanctioned housing with the dominance of prefabricated concrete elements.Jouni Kaipia (ed.), ''Tehdään betonista - Concrete in Finnish Architecture'', Museum of Finnish Architecture, Helsinki, 1993. However, with recent concerns regarding sustainability in building construction there has been a gradual increase in the use of wood, and not merely as a finishing material but also for the main structure.


From early architecture to 1809 (including the Swedish colonial period)


The dominance of wood construction

The vernacular architecture of Finland is generally characterised by the predominant use of wooden construction. The oldest known dwelling structure is the so-called ''kota'', a goahti, hut or tent with a covering in fabric, peat, moss, or timber. The building type remained in use throughout Finland until the 19th century, and is still in use among the Sami people in Lapland. The
sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
is also a traditional building type in Finland: the oldest known saunas in Finland were made from pits dug into a slope in the ground and primarily used as dwellings in the wintertime. The first Finnish saunas are what nowadays are called "smoke saunas". These differed from modern saunas in that they had no windows and were heated by heating up a pile of rocks (called ''kiuas'') by burning large amounts of wood for about 6–8 hours, and then letting the smoke out through a hatch before entering to enjoy the sauna heat (called ''löyly'').Harri Hautajärvi, "Suuntana Lappi", ''Sankaruus ja Arki - Suomen 50-luvun miljöö''. Suomen rakennustaiteen Museo, Helsinki, 1994. The tradition of wood construction - beyond the ''kota'' hut - has been common throughout the entire northern boreal coniferous zone since prehistoric times.Lars Pettersson, ''Finnish Wooden Church'', Helsinki: Museum of Finnish Architecture, 1992. The central structural factor in its success was the corner joining - or "corner-timbering" - technique, whereby logs are laid horizontally in succession and notched at the ends to form tightly secure joints. The origins of the technique are uncertain; though it was used by the Romans in northern Europe in the first century BC, other possible older sources are said to be areas of present-day Russia, but also it is said to have been common among the
Indo-Aryan peoples Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse collection of Indo-European peoples speaking Indo-Aryan languages in the Indian subcontinent. Historically, Aryan were the Indo-European pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia into South Asia and int ...
of Eastern Europe, the Near East, Iran and India. Crucial in the development of the "corner-timbering" technique were the necessary tools, primarily an axe rather than a saw. The resulting building type, a rectangular plan, originally comprising a single interior space and with a low-pitched saddle-back roof, is of the same origin as the
megaron The megaron (; grc, μέγαρον, ), plural ''megara'' , was the great hall in very early Mycenean and ancient Greek palace complexes. Architecturally, it was a rectangular hall that was surrounded by four columns, fronted by an open, two ...
, the early Greek dwelling house. Its first use in Finland may have been as a storehouse, and later a sauna and then domestic house. The first examples of the "corner-timbering" technique would have used round logs, but a more developed form soon emerged, shaping logs with an axe to a square shape for a surer fit and better insulation. Hewing with an axe was seen as preferable to sawing because the axe-cut surfaces were better in abating water penetration. According to historians, though the principles of wooden construction may have arrived in Finland from elsewhere, one particular innovation in wooden construction seems to be unique to Finland, the so-called block-pillar church (tukipilarikirkko). Though ostensibly looking like a normal wooden church, the novelty involved the construction of hollow pillars from logs built into the exterior walls, making the walls themselves structurally unnecessary. The pillars are tied internally across the nave by large joists. Usually there were two, but occasionally three pillars on each longitudinal wall. The largest preserved block-pillar church is at Tornio (1686). Other examples are the churches of Vörå (1627) and Tervola (1687). In later developments, most particularly in urban contexts, the log frame was then further covered in a layer of wooden planks. It is hypothesised that it was only from the 16th century onwards that wooden houses were painted in the familiar red-ochre or ''punamulta'', containing up to 95% iron oxide, often mixed with tar. The balloon framing technique for timber construction popularized throughout North America only came to Finland in the 20th century. Finnish master builders had travelled to the US to see how the industrialisation of the timber-framing technique had developed and wrote about it positively in trade journals on their return. Some experiments were made in using the wooden frame, but initially it was not popular. One reason was the thin construction's poor climatic performance (improved in the 1930s with the addition of insulation): also significant was the relatively low price of both timber and labour in Finland. However, by the outbreak of the First World War, the industrialised timber construction system had become more widespread. Also a comparatively recent "import" to Finland is the use of wooden shingles for roofs, dating only from the early 19th century. Previous to that, the traditional system had been a so-called birch-bark roof (in Finnish, ''malkakatto''), comprising a wooden slat base, overlaid with several layers of birch-bark and finished off with a layer of long timber poles by weighed down in places by the occasional boulder. Traditionally, the whole structure was unpainted. The coating of shingles with
tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...
was the modern appropriation of a material first produced in the Nordic countries during the
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
, a major export product, especially in sealing wooden boats. The traditional timber house in Finland was generally of two types: i. Eastern Finland, influenced by Russian traditions. For example, in the Pertinotsa house (now in the
Seurasaari Seurasaari ( sv, Fölisön) is an island and a district in Helsinki, Finland, known mostly as the location of the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, which consists of old, mainly wooden buildings transplanted from elsewhere in Finland and placed in the de ...
Open Air Museum in Helsinki) the family's dwelling rooms are on the upper floors while the animal barns and storerooms are on the ground floor, with hay lofts above them; ii. Western Finland, influenced by Swedish traditions. For example, in the Antti farmstead, originally from the village of
Säkylä Säkylä is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Satakunta region, southeast of the city of Pori. The municipality has a population of () and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water (). The population density is ...
(nowadays also in Seurasaari), the farmstead consisted of a group of individual log buildings placed around a central farmyard. Traditionally, the first building to be constructed in such a farmstead was the
sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
, followed by the first or main room ("tupa") of the main house, where the family would cook, eat and sleep. In summertime they would cook outdoors, and some family members would even choose to sleep in the barns. The development of wood construction to a more refined level occurred, however, in the construction of churches. The earliest examples were not designed by architects but rather by master builders, who also were responsible for their construction. One of the oldest known wooden church is that of Santamala, in
Nousiainen Nousiainen (; sv, Nousis) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region, from Turku along Highway 8 ( E8). The Finnish-speaking municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The p ...
(only archaeological remains existing), dating from the 12th century, with a simple rectangular ground plan of 11,5 x 15 metres. The oldest preserved wooden churches in Finland date back to the 17th century (e.g. Sodankylä old church, Lapland, 1689); none of the medieval churches are remaining as, like all wooden buildings, they were susceptible to fire. Indeed, only 16 wooden churches from the 17th century still exist - though it was not uncommon to demolish a wooden church to make way for a larger stone one. The designs of the wooden churches were clearly influenced by the church architecture from central and southern Europe as well as Russia, with cruciform plans and Gothic, Romanesque and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
features and detailing. These influences most often, however, came via Sweden. The development of the wooden church in Finland is marked by greater complexity in the plan, the increased size and the refinement of details. The "Lapp church" of
Sodankylä Sodankylä (; sme, Soađegilli ; smn, Suáđigil; sms, Suäʹđjel) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the region of Lapland, and lies at the northern end of Highway 5 ( E63) and along Highway 4 ( E75). The Kitinen River flows nea ...
(c. 1689), Finland's best-preserved and least changed wooden church, is a simple, unpainted rectangular saddle-back-roofed block, measuring 13 x 8,5 metres with the walls rising to 3,85 metres, and resembling a peasant dwelling. By contrast, Petäjävesi church (planned and built by master builder Jaakko Klemetinpoika Leppänen, 1765) plus the additional sacristy and belfry (Erkki Leppänen, 1821) (a
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
), though also unpainted on the exterior, has a refined cross plan with even-sized arms, 18 x 18 metres, with a 13-metre-tall interior wooden vault. The atmosphere of the interior of Petäjävesi church is regarded as unique; the large windows, unusual for log construction, give it a soft light. Even at the time of the building of Petäjävesi church, with its "cross plan", more complex ground plans had already existed in Finland, but in later years the ground plans would become even more complex. The first so-called "double cross plan" in Finland was probably the Ulrika Eleonora church in Hamina (1731, burnt down 1742), built under the direction of master builder Henrik Schultz. It was then replaced by a somewhat similar church, the Church of Elisabet in Hamina (1748–51, destroyed 1821), built under the direction of Arvi Junkkarinen. The double cruciform plan entailed a cross with extensions at the inner corners. This became a model for later churches, for example, Mikkeli church (1754, destroyed 1806) and Lappee church (Juhana Salonen, 1794), the latter incorporating yet a further development, where the transepts of the cross plan are tapered and even chamfered at the corners, as one sees in the plan of the Ruovesi church (1776). Historian Lars Pettersson has suggested that the
Katarina Church Katarina kyrka (''Church of Catherine'') is one of the major churches in central Stockholm, Sweden. The original building was constructed 1656–1695. It has been rebuilt twice after being destroyed by fires, the second time during the 1990s. ...
(1724) in Stockholm, by the French-born architect
Jean de la Vallée Jean de la Vallée (ca 1620 – 12 March 1696) was a Swedish architect. Biography Born in France, he was the son of architect Simon de la Vallée (ca 1595–1642). He made early trips in France and Italy where he studied the new baroque form ...
was the model for the plan of Hamina church and hence the development that followed. During the Middle Ages there were only 6 towns in Finland (
Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
,
Porvoo Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...
,
Naantali Naantali (; sv, Nådendal) is a town in southwestern Finland, and, as a resort town during the summer, an important tourist centre of the country. The municipality has a population of (), and is located in the region of Southwest Finland, west ...
, Rauma,
Ulvila Ulvila (; sv, Ulvsby) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is one of the six medieval cities of Finland, as well as the third oldest city in the country. Ulvila was granted charter as a town by King Albert of Sweden on 7 February 1365. How ...
and
Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...
), with wooden buildings growing organically around a stone church and/or castle. Historian Henrik Lilius has pointed out that Finnish wooden towns were on average destroyed by fire every 30–40 years. They were never rebuilt exactly as they had existed before, and the fire damage offered the opportunity to create new urban structures in accordance with any reigning ideals: for example, completely new grid plans, straightening and widening streets, codes for constructing buildings in stone (in practice often ignored) and the introduction of "fire breaks" in the form of green areas between properties. As a consequence of fires, the greatest part of the wooden towns which have been preserved date from the nineteenth century. For example, the town of Oulu was founded in 1605 by Charles IX beside a medieval castle and, typical for its time, grew organically. In 1651 Claes Claesson drew up a new plan comprising a regular street grid, his proposal outlined on top of the existing "medieval" situation, but still retaining the position of the existing church. Over the following years, there more fires (significantly in 1822 and 1824) and yet more exacting regulations in new town plans regarding wider streets and fire breaks. Of Finland's 6 medieval towns, only Porvoo has retained its medieval town plan.


The development of stone construction

The use of stone construction in Finland was initially limited to the few medieval castles and churches in the country. The construction of castles was part of a project by the Swedish crown to construct both defensive and administrative centres throughout Finland. Six castles of national importance were built during the medieval period, from the second half of the 13th century onwards: Kastelholm in
Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...
,
Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
, and
Raseborg Raseborg ( fi, Raasepori) is a town (administrative area) and municipality of Finland. It was created on January 1, 2009, when the municipalities of Ekenäs, Karis and Pohja were consolidated into a single town. Of these, Ekenäs now serves as ...
on the south-west coast,
Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...
on an islet off the south-east coast and
Häme Häme (; Swedish: ''Tavastland'', Latin: ''Tavastia'') is the name of a geographical region in Finland, associated with the Tavastians, or Häme people (''hämäläiset''), a subgroup of the Finnish people. The precise area referred to can vary ...
and
Olavinlinna Olavinlinna (also known as St. Olaf's Castle; sv, Olofsborg; german: Olafsburg; literally ''Olof's Castle'') is a 15th-century three-tower castle located in Savonlinna, Finland. It is built on an island in the Kyrönsalmi strait that connects the ...
further inland. The northernmost castle, and situated even further inland,
Kajaani Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...
, dates from the beginning of the 17th century. Kuusisto, on an island of the same name, and Korsholma on the coast also dates from this later period. The earlier parts of the castle constructions are characterised by heavy granite boulder constructions, but with ever more refined details in later periods. Strategically, the two most important castle were that of Turku and Vyborg. The three high-medieval Finnish "castle fiefs" were ruled until the 1360s from the castles of
Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
,
Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...
and Vyborg. By the beginning of the 14th century, Turku Castle was one of the largest in northern Europe, with over 40 rooms and by the mid-16th century received further changes to withstand cannon fire. Construction of Vyborg castle started in 1293 by order of Torkel Knutsson,
Lord High Constable of Sweden The Lord High Constable ( sv, Riksmarsk or only ''Marsk'') was a prominent and influential office in Sweden, from the 13th century until 1676, excluding periods when the office was out of use. The office holder was a member of the Swedish Privy Cou ...
. The documentation for the construction of Olavinlinna is unusually clear: it was founded precisely in 1475 by a Danish-born knight,
Erik Axelsson Tott Erik Axelsson (Tott) (c. 1419–1481) was a Dano-Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden under the Kalmar Union, jointly with Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna in 1457 and alone from 1466 to 1467. Biography He was born in Scania during the reign of K ...
who worked in the service of the Swedish crown and was also governor of Vyborg castle; the castle's strategic significance, along with Vyborg castle, was to protect the eastern border from the
Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of mod ...
to the east. According to Axelsson's own account, the castle was built by "16 good foreign master masons" - some of them from Tallinn. The castle is built on an island in the Kyrönsalmi strait that connects the lakes Haukivesi and Pihlajavesi; the design was based on the idea of 3 large towers in a line facing north-west and an encircling wall. The castle's present good state of repair is due to a thorough restoration carried out in the 1960s and 70s.
Häme Castle Tavastia Castle or Häme Castle ( fi, Hämeen linna, sv, Tavastehus slott) is a medieval castle in Tavastia Proper, Finland. It is located in Hämeenlinna, the city between Helsinki and Tampere. Originally located on an island, the castle now sit ...
, the oldest parts built in stone, said to originate in the 1260s, was originally built in wood, then rebuilt in stone, but then transformed radically in the 14th century in red brick, unique for Finland, with extra lines of defence also in brick added beyond the central bastion. In the 19th century it was converted into a prison in accordance with a design by architect
Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...
. The Medieval stone building tradition in Finland is also preserved in 73 stone churches and 9 stone sacristies added to otherwise originally wood churches. Probably the oldest stone church is the Church of St. Olaf in Jomala,
Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...
, completed in 1260–1280. The stone churches are characterised by their massive walls, and predominantly with a single interior space. Small details, such as windows would sometimes be decorated with redbrick detailing, in particular in the gables (e.g.
Sipoo Sipoo (; sv, Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The administrative center of the munic ...
Old Church, 1454). An exception among the churches was Turku Cathedral; it was originally built in wood in the late 13th century, but was considerably expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries, mainly in stone but also using brick. The cathedral was badly damaged during the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, and was rebuilt to a great extent afterwards in brick. Already in the mid-16th century there was the odd example of importing refined Renaissance architecture principles to Finland. Duke John of Finland (later King John III of Sweden) (1537–92) built refined Renaissance interiors in the otherwise medieval
Turku Castle Turku Castle ( fi, Turun linna, sv, Åbo slott) is a medieval building in the city of Turku in Finland. Together with Turku Cathedral, the castle is one of the oldest buildings still in use and the largest surviving medieval building in Finland. ...
. However, during the 17th century Sweden became a major political power in Europe, extending its territory into present day
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, Russia and Poland - and this expansiveness was reflected in its architecture over the next century. These architectural ambitions were realised in Finland, too, and markedly in the founding of new towns. Four new towns were founded along the Gulf of Bothnia on the west coast of Finland during the reign of
Gustavus II Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...
: Nystad (
Uusikaupunki Uusikaupunki (; sv, Nystad, ) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region, northwest of Turku and south of Pori. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is inland wate ...
in Finnish) in 1617, and
Nykarleby Nykarleby (; fi, Uusikaarlepyy) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality is bilingual, with the majority speaking Swedish () and the minority Finnish (). The largest employers in the to ...
(Uusikaarlepyy in Finnish), Karleby (
Kokkola Kokkola (; sv, Karleby, ) is a town and municipality of Finland. The town is located in the Central Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipali ...
in Finnish) and Torneå (
Tornio Tornio (; sv, Torneå; sme, Duortnus ; smn, Tuárnus) is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is ...
in Finnish) in 1620. All these are characterised by strict grid street plans, which were filled in with single-storey vernacular-style wooden buildings. Even stricter building and planning regulations came with the appointment of Per Brahe as Governor-General of Finland in 1637 (a position he held intermittently until 1653). Among the new towns founded by Brahe were
Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...
,
Savonlinna Savonlinna (, , ; sv, Nyslott, lit=New Castle) is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region, which is why the city is also nicknamed the "Capital of Saimaa". Together with Mikke ...
,
Kajaani Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...
,
Raahe Raahe (; sv, Brahestad; ) is a town and municipality of Finland. Founded by Swedish statesman and Governor General of Finland Count Per Brahe the Younger in 1649, it is one of 10 historic wooden towns (or town centers) remaining in Finland. Exam ...
and
Kristinestad Kristinestad (, Sweden ; fi, Kristiinankaupunki ; la, Christinea) is a town and a municipality in Finland. It is located in the western part of Finland on the shore of the Bothnian Sea. The population of Kristinestad is () and the municipality ...
as well as shifting the position of Helsinki. The
Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...
(1700–21) and the occupation of Finland by Russia (known as the Great Wrath, 1713–21) led to vast areas of Sweden's territory being lost to Russia, though Finland itself remained part of Sweden. This led to a rethinking of Sweden's defence policies, including the creation of more fortification works in eastern Finland, but in particular the founding of the fortress town of Fredrikshamn ( Hamina), with the first plan by Axel von Löwen in 1723. Von Löwen designed a Baroque octagonal "
Ideal City An ideal city is the concept of a plan for a city that has been conceived in accordance with a particular rational or moral objective. Concept The "ideal" nature of such a city may encompass the moral, spiritual and juridical qualities of ci ...
" plan, modelled on similar fortress towns in central Europe - though in terms of shape and street pattern it was similar to
Palmanova Palmanova ( fur, Palme) is a town and comune in northeast Italy. The town is an example of a star fort of the late Renaissance, built up by the Venetian Republic in 1593. The fortifications were included in UNESCO's World Heritage Site list as ...
in Italy. However, following the so-called Hat's War between Sweden and Russia in 1741–43, which Sweden again lost, a large area of eastern Finland was ceded to Russia, including Hamina and the fortified towns of
Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, and ...
and
Savonlinna Savonlinna (, , ; sv, Nyslott, lit=New Castle) is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region, which is why the city is also nicknamed the "Capital of Saimaa". Together with Mikke ...
. The focus of the country's defences then switched to a small provincial coastal town, Helsinki. However, even during Russia's rule of Hamina, the grandeur of its neoclassical architecture continued to grow; and when the town was "returned" to Finland, as all of Finland became a Grand Duchy of Russia in 1809, the refined architecture was continued further, with several buildings designed by
Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...
designed in the then prevailing neoclassical style. Helsinki had been founded as a trading town by Gustav I in 1550 as the town of Helsingfors, which he intended to be a rival to the
Hanseatic The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...
city of Reval (today known as
Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
), directly south across the Gulf of Finland. The siting proved unfavourable and the town remained small and insignificant, and it was plagued by poverty and diseases. The site was changed in 1640. But even with a new grid town plan the architecture of the town remained modest, mainly single-storey buildings. However, the development in Helsinki's architecture came after 1748 with the construction of the Sveaborg fortress - nowadays a
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
- (first planned by
Augustin Ehrensvärd Field Marshal count Augustin Ehrensvärd (25 September 1710 – 4 October 1772) was a Swedish military officer, military architect, artist, creator of the Suomenlinna (Sveaborg) fortress, Svartholm fortress and the Swedish archipelago fleet. H ...
) on a group of islands just off the coast from Helsinki; the heart of the fortress was a dockyard, but distinct
Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...
as well as an English-style landscape park were placed within the otherwise unsymmetrical fortification system, all built in stone and brick, and many of the "windows" in the classical facade compositions were in fact painted on. The architecture of the buildings was in a restrained
Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
classicism named after the influential Swedish architect
Carl Hårleman Baron Carl Hårleman (27 August 1700 – 9 February 1753) was a Swedish architect. Biography Hårleman was born in Stockholm, son of the garden architect and head of the royal parks and gardens Johan Hårleman, who had been ennobled in 1698. ...
(1700-1753). Hårleman had been responsible for completing the Royal Palace in Stockholm, begun by
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger (May 23, 1654 – April 10, 1728) was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator. The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the midd ...
, but he himself was also responsible for the design of the grand entrance to the Sveaborg fortress, the so-called King's Gate and may well have had an input, too, in the design of other key residential buildings there.Olof af Hällström, ''Sveaborg - The Island Fortress off Helsinki''. Anders Nyborg, Birthe Krüger (DK), 1986. The height of Sweden's political expansion was marked by the instigation by the crown of the publication Erik Dahlbergh's '' Suecia Antiqua et Hodierna'' (Ancient and Modern Sweden), published 1660–1716, containing over 400 carefully prepared engravings illustrating the monuments of the kingdom of Sweden. However, only 9 featured Finland, the towns of Torneå and
Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...
, and a few castles, but mostly coats of arms of the Finnish counties, and depicting them as wilderness areas, or as in the case of the image for "South Finland", a craftsman carving a classical column in a wilderness. By 1721 Sweden's reign as a great power was over, and Russia now dominated the north. The war-weary Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, asserted new powers and reduced the crown to a constitutional monarch, with power held by a civilian government controlled by the Riksdag, albeit by 1772
Gustav III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...
had imposed an absolute monarchy, and by 1788 Sweden and Russia would again be at war in the
Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) The Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 was fought between Sweden and Russia from June 1788 to August 1790. The war was ended by the Treaty of Värälä on 14 August 1790 and took place concomitantly with both the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791 ...
. But before the war, the so-called new "Age of Freedom" (1719-1772) opened, and the Swedish economy was rebuilt. Advances in the natural sciences put culture in a new perspective; for instance, building techniques improved, the use of the wood-burning
cocklestove A masonry heater (also called a masonry stove) is a device for warming an interior space through radiant heating, by capturing the heat from periodic burning of fuel (usually wood), and then radiating the heat at a fairly constant temperature ...
and glass windows became more common. Also the design of fortifications (often combined with ideas about town planning and architectural design) was at the cutting-edge of warfare technology, with fortifications officers travelling to central Europe to follow new precedents. From 1776 onward, the drawings of all public buildings had to be sent for building approval and review in Stockholm, and new statutes were introduced to prevent fires, so typical for wooden towns. Attempts at achieving a uniformity in architecture was furthered by the introduction of standard "model plans". These were first introduced with the restructuring of the army by Charles XI already in 1682, whereby each of the lands of Sweden were to have 1200 soldiers at disposal, at all times, and two farms were to provide accommodations for one soldier. The "model plans" for military quarters, showing detailed facades and a scale, were designed in a classical Hårleman Rococo style or "Palladian" style, and these in turn affected vernacular architecture, in much the same way as the "model drawings" of the 16th century treatise by Palladio, ''
I quattro libri dell'architettura ''I quattro libri dell'architettura'' (''The Four Books of Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture by the architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), written in Italian. It was first published in four volumes in 1570 in Venice, illustrated wi ...
'', influenced the following generations throughout Europe and in the colonies. Among the most influential "pattern books" containing the model drawings were those made up by Swedish fortifications officer Carl Wijnblad (1702-1768), published in 1755, 1756 and 1766, which were spread widely in Finland as well as in Sweden. A particular significant example is the commandant's house in the "castle courtyard" at the heart of the Sveaborg fortress off Helsinki. Compared to the rest of Europe, the manor houses of Finland are extremely modest in size and architectural refinement. Strictly speaking, a manor house was a gift from the Swedish king, and enjoyed tax privileges. Later manors, stemmed from military officer houses and mansions from privately owned ironworks. The oldest surviving stone manor houses date from the Vasa period in the 16th century; good examples are the manors of Kankainen (founded 1410s) and Vuorentaka (late 1400s), both near Turku. Also in south-west Finland, Louhisaari manor house, completed in 1655 (unknown architect, though probably designed by its builder-owner Herman Klasson Fleming) is a rare example in Finland of a Palladian-style country house. The construction of manor houses in Finland raises the name of an early foreign architect in Finland; Prussian-born Christian Friedrich Schröder (1722-1789) was by training a mason and who worked in Stockholm before moving to Turku in 1756 and was appointed city architect in 1756 - which included responsibility for training assistants. Among his works in Turku, was the rebuilding of the tower of Turku Cathedral Designing in the
Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
and French classical styles, albeit in a more modest idiom, Schröder designed the manor houses of Lapila (1763), Paddais (mid 1760s), Nuhjala (1764), Ala-Lemu (1767), Teijo (1770) and Fagervik (1773), as well as the Rauma town hall (1776).


Grand Duchy period, 1809-1917


Early Grand Duchy period: Neoclassicism and Gothic revival

The cornerstone of Finland as a state was laid in 1809 at the
Diet of Porvoo The Diet of Porvoo ( fi, Porvoon maapäivät, or unhistorically ; sv, Borgå lantdag; russian: Боргоский сейм), was the summoned legislative assembly to establish the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 and the heir of the powers of the ...
, where Czar Alexander I proclaimed himself constitutional ruler of the new Grand Duchy of Finland and promised to maintain the faith and laws of the land. The creation of a capital was a clear indication of the Czar's will to make the new Grand Duchy a functioning entity. On April 8, 1812 Alexander I declared Helsinki the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. At that time Helsinki was only a small wooden town of about 4000 inhabitants, albeit with huge island fortress of Sveaborg and its military garrison nearby. The czar appointed the military engineer Johan Albrecht Ehrenström, a former courtier of Sweden's King
Gustavus III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what h ...
, as head of the reconstruction committee, with the task of drawing up a plan for a new stone-built capital. The heart of the scheme was the Senate Square, surrounded by Neoclassical buildings for the state, church and university. In the words of art historian Riitta Nikula, Ehrenström created "the symbolic heart of the Grand Duchy of Finland, where all the main institutions had an exact place dictated by their function in the hierarchy." In fact, even before the ceding of Finland to Russia in 1809, the advent of Neoclassicism in the mid-18th century arrived with French artist-architect
Louis Jean Desprez Louis Jean Desprez (occasionally but incorrectly ''Jean Louis Desprez'') (May 1743–18 March 1804) was a French painter and architect who worked in Sweden during the last twenty years of his life. Biography Desprez, who was born in Auxerr ...
, who was employed by the Swedish state, and who designed Hämeenlinna church in 1799. Charles (Carlo) Bassi was another foreigner, an Italian-born architect also employed by the Swedish state, who worked especially in the design of churches. Bassi immigrated to Finland and became the first formally skilled architect to settle permanently in Finland. In 1810 Bassi was appointed the first head of the National Board of Building (''Rakennushallitus'' - a government post that remained until 1995), based in Turku, a position he held until 1824. Bassi remained in Finland after power over the country was ceded to Russia. In 1824 his official position as head of the National Board of Building was taken by another immigrant architect, German-born
Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...
. With the move of the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki, Engel had been appointed by Czar Alexander I to design the major new public buildings to be fitted into Ehrenström's town plan: these included the major buildings around the Senate Square; the Senate church, Helsinki University buildings - including Engel's finest interior,
Helsinki University Library The Helsinki University Library () is the largest multidisciplinary university library in Finland. It was established on 1 January 2010. The Helsinki University Library is an independent institute of the University of Helsinki and open to all i ...
(1836–45) - and Government buildings. All these buildings were designed following the dominant architectural style of the Russian capital,
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, namely Neoclassicism - making Helsinki what was termed a St. Petersburg in miniature, and indeed Ehrenström's plan had even originally included a canal, mimicking a cityscape feature of the former. In addition to his work in Helsinki, Engel was also appointed "state intendant" with responsibility for the design and supervision of construction of the vast majority of state buildings throughout the country, including tens of church designs, as well as the design and laying out of town plans. Among these works were Helsinki Naval Barracks (1816–38),
Helsinki Old Church sv, Gamla kyrkan , native_name_lang = , image = Helsinki Old Church from Hotel Torni 2011-06-28 1.jpg , coordinates = , location = Helsinki , country = Finland , denominatio ...
(1826), Lapua Church (1827), Kärsämäki Church (1828), Pori Town Hall (1831), Hamina Church (1843), Wiurila manor house (1845).Henrik Lilius (ed.), ''Carl Ludvig Engel'', Helsinki: Opetusministeriö, 1990. Engel had in his possession a copy of
Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of ...
's architectural treatise ''
I quattro libri dell'architettura ''I quattro libri dell'architettura'' (''The Four Books of Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture by the architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), written in Italian. It was first published in four volumes in 1570 in Venice, illustrated wi ...
'', and Engel scholars have often stressed Engels' indebtedness to Palladian theory. But Engel also kept up correspondence with colleagues from Germany and followed trends there. Engel's relationship with key
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n architect
Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassic ...
, three years his senior and both having studied at the Bauakademie in Berlin, has yet to be properly verified. The influences from central Europe would also take on board a more formulaic process, typified by standardisations of design formulas in post-revolutionary France by Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand, for instance by the use of design grids. Some of Engel's later works are also characterised by the turn in central Europe to
Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th cent ...
, with an emphasis on red brick facades typical for central Europe. The German Church (1864) is typical of that period, though designed by another two itinerant architects, the German Harald Julius von Bosse (who had worked much in St. Petersburg) and the Swedish-born Carl Johan von Heideken. In addition to churches, the neo-Gothic style was also dominant for the buildings of the growing industrial manufacturers, including the
Verla Verla at Jaala, Kouvola, Finland, is a well-preserved 19th-century mill village. Situated along the northern Kymi River, the mill, nearby power plants, and residential houses were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996 due to its tes ...
mill in
Jaala Jaala is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality had a population of 1,906 (2003) and covered an area of 563.06 km² of which 129.89 km ...
(1892) - nowadays a
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
- designed by Edward Dippel. The emergence of various revivalist styles throughout Europe - in the search for a new "national style" - was also felt in Finland, but would not flourish until the advent of Jugendstil at the end of the century; an argument is even made for the influence in Finland of the neo-Romanesque or
Rundbogenstil (round-arch style) is a nineteenth-century historic revival style of architecture popular in the German-speaking lands and the German diaspora. It combines elements of Byzantine, Romanesque, and Renaissance architecture with particula ...
from Germany, particularly associated with
Heinrich Hübsch Heinrich Hübsch (9 February 1795 – 3 April 1863) was a German architect. After studies in Heidelberg (1813–15) and at Friedrich Weinbrenner's school of architecture in Karlsruhe (1815–17) he traveled extensively in Greece and Italy ( ...
. For example, certain Rundbogenstil features have been noted in
Kerimäki Church The Kerimäki Church ( fi, Kerimäen kirkko, sv, Kerimäki kyrka) in Kerimäki, Finland, is the largest wooden church in the world. However, St. George's Cathedral, Georgetown St. George's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Georgetown, Guya ...
(1847) - the world's largest wooden church - designed by Adolf Fredrik Granstedt, but with considerable input from the master builders for the project Axel Tolpo and his son Th. J. Tolpo. The eclectic mixtures of neo-Gothic, neo-Romanesque, neo-Classical and
neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...
architecture continued even during the beginning of the 20th century, with architects using different styles for different projects or even combining elements in the same work. The Turku Main Library, by Karl August Wrede, completed in 1903, was designed in a Dutch late Renaissance style imitating the House of Nobility of 1660 designed by French architect Simon De la Vallée. Swedish architect Georg Theodor von Chiewitz had a fairly successful career in his home country before arriving in Finland in 1851, fleeing a prison sentence in Sweden following bankruptcy, and soon established a career for himself, being named county architect for Turku and Pori in 1852. Among his varied works, he designed new baroque-style town plans for the towns of Pori (1852), Mariehamn (
Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...
) (1859) and
Uusikaupunki Uusikaupunki (; sv, Nystad, ) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region, northwest of Turku and south of Pori. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is inland wate ...
(1856), an English-style romantic landscape park for Seinäjoki (1858), neo-gothic churches for Lovisa (1865) and Uusikaupunki (1864),
Rundbogenstil (round-arch style) is a nineteenth-century historic revival style of architecture popular in the German-speaking lands and the German diaspora. It combines elements of Byzantine, Romanesque, and Renaissance architecture with particula ...
-neo-Gothic Lovisa town hall and the House of Nobility in Helsinki (1862), neo-Renaissance Nya Teatern, Helsinki (1853, burnt down 1863) as well as redbrick factory buildings in
Littoinen Littoinen ( Finnish; ''Littois'' in Swedish) is a village in south-western Finland, centred on ''Lake Littoinen'' ( fi, Littoistenjärvi, sv, Littois träsk). The village is shared between the town of Kaarina and the municipality of Lieto, an ...
, Turku,
Forssa Forssa is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located almost in the centre of a triangle defined by the three largest major cities in Finland (Helsinki, Turku and Tampere), in the Tavastia Proper region, and which is crossed by Highway 2 ...
and Tampere and various rustic villas for private clients. A similar eclecticism was continued most successfully by one of Chiewitz's employees, Theodor Höijer (1843-1910), who went on to establish one of the most commercially successful private architecture firms in Helsinki, designing tens of buildings mostly in Helsinki, schools, libraries and several apartment blocks. One of his most famous works, the redbrick Erottaja fire station, Helsinki (1891) is seen as a mixture of neo-Gothic and neo-Renaissance styles modelled on
Giotto's Campanile Giotto's Campanile (, also , ) is a free-standing campanile that is part of the complex of buildings that make up Florence Cathedral on the Piazza del Duomo in Florence, Italy. Standing adjacent to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore and the ...
in Florence and the tower of the medieval Palazzo Vecchio also in Florence. However, the question of "stylistic revival" in Finland has another important cultural-political aspect, the presence of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
through the building of Russian Orthodox churches in the second half of the 19th century - though what is regarded as the initiation of the deliberate politico-cultural policy of the
Russification of Finland The policy of Russification of Finland ( fi, sortokaudet / sortovuodet, lit=times/years of oppression; russian: Русификация Финляндии, translit=Rusyfikatsiya Finlyandii) was a governmental policy of the Russian Empire aimed at ...
didn't take place until the reign of
Czar Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
, from 1899 onward. Initially, just as in the Russian capital,
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, the Russian Orthodox churches were initially designed in the prevailing neoclassical style; however, the latter half of the 19th century also saw the emergence of a
Russian Revival architecture The Russian Revival style (historiographical names are: ''Russian style'', russian: русский стиль, ''Pseudo-Russian style'', russian: псевдорусский стиль, ''Neo-Russian style'', russian: нео-русский стил ...
and
Byzantine Revival architecture Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Or ...
- part of the interest in Russia as in Finland and elsewhere in Europe of exploring nationalism - with distinct "
onion domes An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. It is a ty ...
",
tented roofs A tented roof (also known as a pavilion roof) is a type of polygonal hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak. W. Dean EastmanHometown Handbook: Architecture./ref> Tented roofs, a hallmark of medieval religious architecture, wer ...
and rich decoration. Several such churches were built in Finland, the vast majority in the eastern half of the country, with notable examples in
Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
, Kuopio, Viinijärvi and
Kouvola Kouvola () is a city and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lappeenranta and northeast of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is ...
. An early example, the Suomenlinna church (1854) in the fortress off the coast of Helsinki, was designed by Moscow-based architect Konstantin Thon, the same architect who designed, among other key buildings, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the
Grand Kremlin Palace The Grand Kremlin Palace (russian: Большой Кремлёвский дворец - ) was built from 1837 to 1849 in Moscow, Russia, on the site of the estate of the Grand Princes, which had been established in the 14th century on Borovit ...
and the
Kremlin Armoury The Kremlin Armoury,Officially called the "Armou/ory Chamber" but also known as the cannon yard, the "Armou/ory Palace", the "Moscow Armou/ory", the "Armou/ory Museum", and the "Moscow Armou/ory Museum" but different from the Kremlin Arsenal. ( ...
in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
. The presence of the Orthodox church in the heart of Helsinki was made clear by the placement of the Uspenski Cathedral (1868) on a prominent hill overlooking the city; its architect,
Aleksey Gornostayev Alexey Maksimovich Gornostaev (russian: link=no, Алексей Максимович Горностаев; February 18, 1808 – December 18, 1862) was a Russian architect, notable as a pioneer in Russian Revival, the builder of Valaam Monastery ...
was one of the pioneers of the Russian Revival architecture, credited with the rebirth of traditional tented roof architecture of northern Russia, which is also a prominent feature in the Uspenski Cathedral. This period also marked the establishment of the first architecture courses in Finland, and in 1879 these began at the
Polytechnical Institute An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
in Helsinki, though at first with German or German-educated teachers. Other Finns went abroad for various periods of time to study. In fact, Jacob Rijf (1753-1808) is noted as the first Finn to have studied architecture at the
Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, archite ...
in Stockholm in 1783–84, though he is a rare early exception. He became a notable designer of churches throughout Finland, including
Hyrynsalmi Hyrynsalmi is a municipality in Finland and is part of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish Finnish may refe ...
church (1786) and
Oravais Oravais ( fi, Oravainen) is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality had a population of 2,189 (31 October 2010) and covered a land area of . The p ...
church (1797). One hundred years later it was also still quite rare; e.g. notable revivalist-style architect Karl August Wrede studied architecture in
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
, and Theodor Höijer at the
Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, archite ...
in Stockholm. Also, Gustaf Nyström studied both architecture and town planning in Vienna in 1878–79. His buildings are typical of the eclecticism of the time, designing in both Gothic Revival style and a so-called neo-Renaissance style of classicism, with heavy ornamentation as well as heavy use of colour in interiors but also occasionally in facades, as for instance with his House of the Estates, Helsinki (1891). The semi-circular Rotonda (1902–07), Gustaf Nyström's design for the extension to C.L. Engel's neoclassical
Helsinki University Library The Helsinki University Library () is the largest multidisciplinary university library in Finland. It was established on 1 January 2010. The Helsinki University Library is an independent institute of the University of Helsinki and open to all i ...
(1845), demonstrates both an outwardly stylistic continuity with the original - albeit the pilasters have not classical capitals but reliefs, made by the sculptor Walter Runeberg, personifying the sciences - whilst also employing modern techniques in the Art Nouveau interior: the semicircular 6-storey extension comprises a large light-well surrounded by radially placed bookshelves. Due to the then stringent fire-safety requirements, the extension has a framework of steel and reinforced concrete, with reinforced concrete stairs, an iron construction supporting the large glazed roof and metal windows. After graduating at the Polytechnical Institute, Usko Nyström (no relation) had continued his studies at the
École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...
in Paris in 1890–91; on returning to Finland he initially designed (from 1895 to 1908 in the partnership Usko Nyström-Petrelius-Penttilä)
neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...
architecture - in particular gaining from the growth area of building speculation in middle-class apartment buildings in Helsinki - whilst also developing a more Jugendstil style inspired by National Romanticism, and politically by the pro-independence
Fennoman movement The Fennoman movement or Fennomania was a Finnish nationalist movement in the 19th-century Grand Duchy of Finland, built on the work of the ''fennophile'' interests of the 18th and early-19th centuries. History After the Crimean War, Fennoman ...
. Usko Nyström's chief work, the Grand Hôtel Cascade,
Imatra Imatra is a town and municipality in southeastern Finland. Imatra is dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and the border with Russia. On the other side of the border, away from the centre of Imatra, lies the Russian town of Svetogorsk. ...
(1903) (nowadays called Imatran Valtionhotelli), is a key Jugendstil style building; the "wilderness hotel", built next to the impressive Imatra Rapids (the biggest in Finland), was intended mostly for wealthy tourists from the Russian Imperial capital of
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, while its architectural style was inspired by Finnish National Romanticism, whilst taking its inspiration partly from the medieval and neo-Renaissance French
château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Now ...
x Usko Nyström had seen during his time in France.


Late Grand Duchy period: Jugend

At the end of the 19th century Finland continued to enjoy greater independence under Russia as a grand duchy; however, this would change with the coming to power of
Czar Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
in 1894, who introduced a greater process of "Russification". The reaction to this among the bourgeois classes was evident, too, in the arts, for instance in the music of
Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
and the artist
Akseli Gallén-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic. His work is considered a very important aspect of the Finnish national ident ...
- but also in architecture. The Finnish Architects Club was founded in 1892 within the Swedish-speaking Engineering Society (Tekniska Föreningen). Originally a loose forum for collaboration and discussion, its voluntary basis meant that it operated informally in cafés and restaurants. In this way it resembled many of the writers’ or artists’ clubs of the time and generally fostered a collegial spirit of some solidarity. It quickly helped to establish the architect as an artist responsible for aesthetic decisions. In 1903, as a supplement to the engineering publication, the Club published the first issue of ''Arkitekten'' (‘The Architect’ in Swedish, the predominant language still in use at the time among professional classes and certainly architects).Roger Connah, ''Finland - Modern Architectures in History'', Reaktion Books, 2005. In 1889 the artist Albert Edelfelt depicted the national awakening in a poster showing Mme Paris receiving Finland, a damsel, who alights with a model of St Nicholas' Church (later Helsinki Cathedral) on her hat; the parcels in the boat are all marked EU (i.e. Exposition Universelle). A distinct symbolic importance was given in 1900 to Finland receiving its own pavilion at the Paris World Expo, designed by young architects Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen in the so-called Jugendstil style (or Art Nouveau) then popular in Central Europe. The Finnish pavilion was well received by the European press and critics, albeit usually tying the building closely with Finland's cultural-political circumstances. For example, the German art historian and critic
Julius Meier-Graefe , ro, Reșița), Resicabánya Dist., Krassó-Szörény Co, Bánság, Royal Hungary, Imperial and Royal Austria(now Romania) , death_date = , death_place = Vevey, VD, Switzerland , nationality = German, Hungarian Ge ...
wrote of the pavilion: "From the peripheries... we would like to mention the extremely effective Finnish pavilion, with its extremely simple and modern design ... the character of the country and the people and the strong conditioning of its artists for the decorative are reflected in the building in the most pleasant way.". The Jugendstil style in Finland is characterised by flowing lines and the incorporation of nationalistic-mythyological symbols - especially those taken from the national epic,
Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and ...
- mostly taken from nature and even
medieval architecture Medieval architecture is architecture common in the Middle Ages, and includes religious, civil, and military buildings. Styles include pre-Romanesque, Romanesque, and Gothic. While most of the surviving medieval architecture is to be seen in ...
, but also contemporary sources elsewhere in Europe and even the USA (e.g. H.H. Richardson and the Shingle Style). The more prominent buildings of this
National Romantic style The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the National Romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often considered to be a form of Art Nouveau. The National Romantic style spread ...
were built in stone, but the discovery in Finland of deposits of
soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...
, an easily carved metamorphic rock, overcame the difficulty of using only hard granite; an example of this is the facade of the Pohjola Insurance Building, Helsinki (1901) by Gesellius, Lindgren, and Saarinen. The Jugendstil style became associated in Finland with the fight for national independence. The importance of nationalism also was made evident in the actual surveying of Finnish vernacular buildings: all architecture students at that time - at Finland's then only school of architecture, in Helsinki - became acquainted with the Finnish building heritage by measuring and drawing it. From the 1910s onwards, in addition to large medieval castles and churches also 17th and 18th century wooden churches and neoclassical wooden towns were surveyed - a practice which continues in the Finnish schools of architecture even today. The Jugendstil style was used by Gesellius, Lindgren, and Saarinen in key state buildings such as the National Museum and
Helsinki Railway Station Helsinki Central Station ( fi, Helsingin päärautatieasema, sv, Helsingfors centralstation) ( HEC) is the main station for commuter rail and long-distance trains departing from Helsinki, Finland. The station is used by approximately 400,000 peo ...
. Other architects employing the same style were
Lars Sonck Lars Eliel Sonck (10 August 1870 – 14 March 1956) was a Finnish architect. He graduated from Helsinki Polytechnic Institute in 1894 and immediately won a major design competition for a church in Turku, St Michael's Church, ahead of many esta ...
and Wivi Lönn, one of the first female architects in Finland. Even at the height of the Jugendstil style, there were opponents who criticised the stagnant tastes and mythological approaches whereby Jugendstil was becoming institutionalised. The most well-known opponents were architect-critics Sigurd Frosterus and Gustaf Strengel. Frosterus had worked briefly in the office of Belgian-born architect
Henry van de Velde Henry Clemens van de Velde (; 3 April 1863 – 15 October 1957) was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium ...
in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
in 1903, and at the same time Strengel worked in London at the office of architect
Charles Harrison Townsend Charles Harrison Townsend (13 May 1851 — 26 December 1928) was an English architect. He was born in Birkenhead, educated at Birkenhead School and articled to the Liverpool architect Walter Scott in 1870. He moved to London with his family in 1880 ...
. Their critique was partly inspired by the results for the 1904 competition to design the Helsinki railway station, won by Eliel Saarinen. In the jury report, the architecture of Frosterus's entry was described as "imported". That same year Frosterus entered the competition for the
Vyborg railway station Vyborg (russian: Вы́борг; fi, Viipurin rautatieasema) is a railway station, located in the town of Vyborg in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. The first wooden station building was built in 1870. The second station building was built in 1913 but ...
, which Saarinen again won. Frosterus was a strict rationalist who wanted to develop architecture towards scientific ideals, instead of the historical approach of Jugendstil. In Frosterus's own words: "We want an iron and brain style for the railway stations and exhibition buildings; we want an iron and brain style for stores, theatres and concert halls." According to him, an architect had to analyse his tasks of construction in order to be able to logically justify his solutions, and he must take advantage of the possibilities of the latest technology. The particular challenge of his time was reinforced concrete. Frosterus considered that the buildings of a modern metropolis should be "constructivist" in expressing their purpose and technology honestly. He designed a number of private residences, but made his major breakthrough in 1916, gaining second prize in the competition for the Stockmann department store in the heart of Helsinki. He was eventually commissioned to realise the building, which was completed after Finland gained independence, in 1930. It would be misleading to see the Jugendstil style as wholly opposed to classicism; Frosterus's own works combined elements of both. Another key example is the Kalevakangas Cemetery Chapel in Tampere, designed by Wäinö Palmqvist and Einar Sjöström; they had won an architectural competition for the project in 1911, and it was completed in 1913. While containing many of the decorative elements familiar from Jugendstil, the overall form borrows from a key classical model, the
Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
in Rome. Another point of debate at that time was that of the merits of
urbanism Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and ...
. Again, of importance here were opposing views from abroad, namely the picturesque theories of town planning proposed by Viennese city planner
Camillo Sitte Camillo Sitte (17 April 1843 – 16 November 1903) was an Austrian architect, painter and urban theorist whose work influenced urban planning and land use regulation. Today, Sitte is best remembered for his 1889 book, ''City Planning According to ...
, as put forward in his influential book ''City Planning According to Artistic Principles'' (1889) and the opposing classical-rational urbanism point of view also proposed in Vienna by
Otto Wagner Otto Koloman Wagner (; 13 July 1841 – 11 April 1918) was an Austrian architect, furniture designer and urban planner. He was a leading member of the Vienna Secession movement of architecture, founded in 1897, and the broader Art Nouveau move ...
, heavily influenced by the Parisian model - under the directorship of
Baron Haussmann Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...
from 1858 to 1870 - of driving wide boulevards through the old labyrinthine city with the intent of modernising traffic and waste management, as well as enabling the greater social control of the population. This debate came to a head in Finland in the first ever town planning design competition in 1898-1900 for the
Töölö Töölö (; sv, Tölö, formerly spelled ''Thölö'') is the collective name for the neighbourhoods Etu-Töölö ( sv, Främre Tölö, lit=Front Töölö, links=no) and Taka-Töölö ( sv, Bortre Tölö, lit=Rear Töölö, links=no) in Helsink ...
district of Helsinki. Three entries were lifted out for recognition; first prize to Gustaf Nyström (together with engineer Herman Norrmén), second prize to Lars Sonck, and third prize to a joint entry by Sonck, Bertil Jung and Valter Thomé. Nyström's scheme represented classicism with wide main streets and imposing public buildings arranged in symmetrical axial compositions, and the other two in the Sittesque style, with the street network adapted to the rocky terrain and with picturesque compositions. A fantastic sketch accompanying Sonck's competition entry gives an indication of the imagery he was aiming for, inspired by his travels in Germany. Historian Pekka Korvenmaa makes the point that leading theme was the creation of the atmosphere of medieval urban environments - and Sonck later designed a similar proposal in 1904 to rearrange the immediate surroundings of St.Michael's Church in Helsinki, with numerous "fantastic" spired buildings. In the Töölö competition, undecided what course of action to take, however, the City Council asked the prize-winners to submit new proposals. When this led to further stalemate Nyström and Sonck were commissioned to work together on the final plan combining Nyström's spacious street network and elements of Sonck's Sittesque details. The final plan (1916) under the direction of Jung, made the scheme more uniform, while the architecture is seen as typical of the Nordic Classicism style. A typical street in the plan is that of Museokatu, with tall lines of buildings in a classical style along a curving street line. A still wider (24 metres) new tree-lined boulevard was that of Helsinginkatu, driven through the working-class district of Kallio, first outlined in 1887 by Sonck, but with further input from Nyström, and completed in around 1923. But even more ambitious than the town plan for Töölö were Eliel Saarinen's two plans also for Helsinki, the Munkkiniemi-Haaga plan of 1910-15 and the Pro-Helsingfors plan of 1918. The former was for a city development of 170 000, which equalled the entire population of central Helsinki at that time. The scheme was equally inspired by the Parisian axiality of Haussman, the intimate residential squares of
Raymond Unwin Sir Raymond Unwin (2 November 1863 – 29 June 1940) was a prominent and influential English engineer, architect and town planner, with an emphasis on improvements in working class housing. Early years Raymond Unwin was born in Rotherham, York ...
in the English garden cities and the large-scale apartment blocks of Otto Wagner in Vienna. Only small fragments of the scheme were ever completed. The later scheme, which originated from private land speculation rather than public planning, involved the expansion of central Helsinki - which even included filling in the Töölö Bay in the centre of the city - as well as the planning of smaller satellite communities - what Saarinen termed 'organic decentralization', again inspired by the British garden city principle - around the edge of the city. No aspects of the latter scheme were ever realised. A major architectural-historical event was the emigration of Eliel Saarinen to the United States in 1923, after he received second prize in the Chicago
Tribune Tower The Tribune Tower is a , 36-floor neo-Gothic skyscraper located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Built between 1923 and 1925, the international design competition for the tower became a historic event in 20th-ce ...
competition of 1922. On moving to the United States, Saarinen designed the campus for the
Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of C ...
(1928) in his same architectural style, while architects in Finland moved on much more quickly into modernism.


Post-independence, 1917-


Nordic classicism and international Functionalism

With Finland's independence achieved in 1917, there was a turn away from the Jugendstil style, which became associated with bourgeois culture, as well as the heavier Neo-Renaissance style. In turn there was a brief return to a lighter classicism, so-called
Nordic Classicism Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries ( Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930. Until a resurgence of interest for the period during the 1980s (marked by several scholarl ...
, influenced to an extent by architect study trips to Italy, but also by key examples from Sweden, in particular the architecture of Gunnar Asplund. Notable Finnish architects from this period include J. S. Sirén and
Gunnar Taucher Jarl Gunnar Taucher (Vaasa, 2 May 1886 — Helsinki, 15 March 1941), was a Finnish architect who first came to prominence in the first decades of the 20th century for his architecture designed in the style of Nordic Classicism, though later he tu ...
, as well as the early work of Alvar Aalto,
Erik Bryggman Erik William Bryggman (7 February 1891 – 21 December 1955) was a Finnish architect. He was born in Turku, the youngest of the five sons of Johan Ulrik Bryggman (1838–1911) and Wendla Gustava Bryggman (née Nordström) (1852–1903). H ...
, Martti Välikangas, Hilding Ekelund and Pauli E. Blomstedt. The most notable large scale building from this period was the Finnish Parliament building (1931) by Sirén. Other key buildings built in this style were the Finnish Language Adult Education Centre in Helsinki (1927) by Taucher (with key assistance from P.E. Blomstedt), Vyborg Art Museum and Drawing School (1930) by Uno Ullberg, "Taidehalli" Art Gallery, Helsinki (1928) and Töölö Church, Helsinki (1930) by Hilding Ekelund, and several buildings by Alvar Aalto, in particular the Workers' Club, Jyväskylä (1925), the South-West Finland Agricultural building, Turku (1928), Muuramäki Church (1929) and the early version of the
Vyborg Library Vyborg Library ( fi, Viipurin kaupunginkirjasto) is a library in Vyborg, Russia, built during the time of Finnish sovereignty (1918 to 1940-44), before the Finnish city of Viipuri was annexed by the former USSR and its Finnish name was changed to ...
(1927–1935) before Aalto greatly modified his design in line with the emerging Functionalist style. But beyond these public buildings designed in the Nordic Classicism style, this same style was also used in timber constructed workers' housing, most famously in the Puu-Käpylä ("Wooden Käpylä") district of Helsinki (1920–1925) by Martti Välikangas. The around 165 houses of Puu-Käpylä, modelled on farmhouses, were built from traditional square log construction clad in vertical boarding, but the construction technique was rationalised with an on-site "factory" with a partly building element technique. The principle of standardization for housing generally would take off during this time. In 1922 the National Board of Social Welfare (Sosiaalihalitus) commissioned architect Elias Paalanen to design different options of farmhouses, which were then published as a brochure, ''Pienasuntojen tyyppipiirustuksia'' (Standard drawings for small houses) republished several times. In 1934 Paalanen was commissioned to design an equivalent urban type-house, and he came up with twelve different options. Alvar Aalto, too, became involved, from 1936, in standard small houses, designing for the Ahlström timber and wood product company, with three types of the so-called AA system: 40 m2 (Type A), 50 m2 (Type B) and 60 m2 (Type C). Though based on traditional farmhouses, there are also clear stylistic elements from Nordic Classicism but also modernism. However, it was with the repercussions of the Second World War that the standard system for house design took on even greater potency, with the advent of the so-called Rintamamiestalo house (literally: War-front soldier's house). These were built throughout the country; a particularly well-preserved example is the district of
Karjasilta Karjasilta is a district in the Höyhtyä area in the city of Oulu, Finland. The district close to the city centre is bordered by the Raksila district to the north, Finnish national road 4 to the east, the Vanhatulli and Limingantulli districts ...
in Oulu. But this same house type also took on a different role in the aftermath of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
as part of the Finnish war reparations to the Soviet Union; among the "goods" delivered from Finland to the Soviet Union were over 500 wooden houses based on the standard Rintamamiestalo house, deliveries taking place between 1944 and 1948. A number of these houses ended up being exported from the Soviet Union to various places in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, where small "Finnish villages" were established; for example, the district of
Szombierki Szombierki (german: Schomberg) is a Bytom#Districts, district of Bytom, Poland, located in the southern part of the city. Szombierki Heat Power Station and Szombierki Coal Mine (KWK Szombierki), both recognized as important historical and indus ...
in Bytom, as well as in Katowice and Sosnowiec. Apart from housing design, the period of Nordic Classicism is regarded as being fairly brief, surpassed by the more "continental" style – especially in banks and other office buildings – typified by Frosterus and Pauli E. Blomstedt (e.g. Liittopankki bank building, Helsinki, 1929). In reality, however, a synthesis of elements from various styles emerged. Nevertheless, but by the late 1920s and early 1930s there was already a significant move towards Functionalism, inspired most significantly by French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier, but also from examples closer to hand, again Sweden, such as the Stockholm Exhibition (1930) by Asplund and
Sigurd Lewerentz Sigurd Lewerentz (29 July 1885 – 29 December 1975) was a Swedish architect. Biography Lewerentz was born at Sandö in the parish of Bjärtrå in Västernorrland County, Sweden. He was the son of Gustaf Adolf Lewerentz and Hedvig Mathild ...
. However, at the time, there were certainly architects who attempted to articulate their dissatisfaction with static styles, just as Sigurd Frosterus and Gustaf Strengel had criticised the National Romanticism. Pauli E. Blomstedt, who had certainly designed significant buildings in the Nordic Classicism style, then became a vehement critic, writing sarcastically in a 1928 essay "Architectural Anemia" about Nordic Classicism's sense of "good taste", at a time when he had already endorsed the white Functionalism: Blomstedt himself died prematurely in 1935, aged 35. The significant vehicle for the development of modernism in Finland was his contemporary, Alvar Aalto, who was a friend of Asplund as well as key Swedish architect
Sven Markelius Sven Gottfrid Markelius (25 October 1889 – 24 February 1972) was a Swedish modernist architect. Markelius played an important role in the post-war urban planning of Stockholm, for example in the creation of the model suburbs of Vällingby (1950 ...
. The latter had invited Aalto to join
Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
(CIAM), ostensibly run by Le Corbusier. Aalto's reputation as a significant contributor to modernism was endorsed by his involvement in CIAM and by the inclusion of his works in significant architectural journals worldwide as well as significant histories of architecture, notably in the second edition (1949) of '' Space, Time and Architecture'' by the secretary-general of CIAM,
Sigfried Giedion Sigfried Giedion (sometimes misspelled Siegfried Giedion; 14 April 1888, Prague – 10 April 1968, Zürich) was a Bohemian-born Swiss historian and critic of architecture. His ideas and books, '' Space, Time and Architecture'', and ''Mech ...
. Aalto's significant buildings from the early period of Modernism, which basically corresponded to the theoretical principles and architectural aesthetic of Le Corbusier and other modernist architects such as Walter Gropius, include the Turku Sanomat newspaper offices, Turku, Paimio tuberculosis sanatorium (1932) (part of a nationwide campaign for tuberculosis sanatorium construction) and Viipuri Library (1927–35). Central to Functionalism was paying close attention to how the building is used. In the case of the Aalto's Paimio tuberculosis sanatorium, the starting point for the design, he himself claimed, was to make the building itself a contributor to the healing process. Aalto liked to call the building a "medical instrument". For instance, particular attention was paid to the design of the patient bedrooms: these generally held two patients, each with his or her own cupboard and washbasin. Aalto designed special non-splash basins, so that the patient would not disturb the other while washing. The patients spent many hours lying down, and thus Aalto placed the lamps in the room out of the patients line of vision and painted the ceiling a relaxing dark green so as to avoid glare. Each patient had their own specially designed cupboard, fixed to the wall and off the floor so as to aid in cleaning beneath it. Another key Finnish modernist architect from that period, who had also gone through Nordic Classicism, and who was briefly in partnership with Aalto – working together on the design of the Turku Fair of 1929 – was
Erik Bryggman Erik William Bryggman (7 February 1891 – 21 December 1955) was a Finnish architect. He was born in Turku, the youngest of the five sons of Johan Ulrik Bryggman (1838–1911) and Wendla Gustava Bryggman (née Nordström) (1852–1903). H ...
, chief among his own works being Resurrection Chapel (1941) in Turku. However, for Giedion the importance of Aalto led in his move away from high modernism, towards an organic architecture – and as Giedion saw it, the impulse for this lay in the natural formations of Finland. Though these "organic elements" were said to be visible already in these first projects, they became more apparent in Aalto's masterpiece house design, Villa Mairea (1937–1939), in
Noormarkku Noormarkku ( sv, Norrmark) is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and was part of the Satakunta region. The municipality had a population of 6,158 (31 December 2009) and covered an area of of which ...
– designed for industrialist Harry Gullichsen and his industrialist-heiress wife Maire Gullichsen – the design for which it is felt took inspiration from
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
's
Fallingwater Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, about southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States. It is built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill R ...
(1936–1939), in Pennsylvania, USA. Though even when designing a luxury villa, Aalto argued that he felt Villa Mairea would provide research for building standardisation for social housing. The shift or transition from
Nordic Classicism Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries ( Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930. Until a resurgence of interest for the period during the 1980s (marked by several scholarl ...
to Functionalism is said sometimes to have been sudden and revolutionary, as with Aalto's Turku Sanomat newspaper offices and Paimio Sanatorium, which employs such distinct modernist features as use of reinforced concrete construction, steel strip windows and flat roofs. The shift in Aalto's design approach from classicism to modernism is epitomised by the Viipuri Library (1927–35), which went through a transformation from an originally classical competition entry proposal (1927) to the completed high-modernist building, following delays in the project, yet still retaining many of the ideals of the original idea. Traces of Nordic Classicism would naturally continue synthesized with Functionalism and a more idiosyncratic individual style, a well-known example being
Erik Bryggman Erik William Bryggman (7 February 1891 – 21 December 1955) was a Finnish architect. He was born in Turku, the youngest of the five sons of Johan Ulrik Bryggman (1838–1911) and Wendla Gustava Bryggman (née Nordström) (1852–1903). H ...
's mature work, the Resurrection Chapel in Turku, dating from as late as 1941. Indeed, in a major study of Finnish architecture during this period, albeit with a particular emphasis on Aalto, Greek historian-theoretician
Demetri Porphyrios Demetri Porphyrios ( el, Δημήτρης Πορφυρίου; born 1949) is a Greek architect and author who practices architecture in London as principal of the firm Porphyrios Associates. In addition to his architectural practice and writing, ...
, in ''Sources of Modern Eclecticism'' (1983), argues that the "organic" ordering of Aalto's mature works makes use of the same "heterotopic" ordering – i.e. the juxtaposition of contrary elements – that is evident in the Nordic National Romantic architecture from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century; for example, the works of Eliel Saarinen.


Regional Functionalism

A major event that enabled Finland to display its modernist architecture credentials was the Helsinki Olympic Games. Key among the buildings was the Olympic Stadium by architects Yrjö Lindegren and Toivo Jäntti, the first version of which was the result of an architectural competition in 1938, intended for the games due to be held in 1940 (cancelled due to the war), but eventually held in an enlarged stadium in 1952. The importance of the Olympic Games for architecture was that it coupled the modern, white Functionalist architecture with modernisation of the nation, giving it public endorsement; indeed the general public could contribute to the funding of the stadium's construction by purchasing various souvenir trinkets. Other channels by which Functionalist architecture developed was by means of various state architecture offices, such as the military, industry, and to a small extent tourism. A strong "white Functionalism" characterised the mature architecture of Erkki Huttunen, head of the building department of the retail cooperative Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta (SOK), as evident in their production works, warehouses, offices and even shops built throughout the country; the first of these was a combined office and warehouse in Rauma (1931), with white-rendered walls, roof terrace with "ship railing" balustrade, large street-level windows and curved access stairs. The Ministry of Defence had its own building-architecture department, and during the 1930s many of the military's buildings were designed in the "white Functionalism" style. Two examples were the Viipuri military hospital and Tilkka military hospital in Helsinki (1936), both designed by Olavi Sortta. Following independence there was a growing tourism industry with an emphasis on experiencing the wilderness of Lapland: the fashionable white Functionalist architecture of the Hotel Pohjanhovi in
Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per ...
by Pauli E. Blomstedt (1936, destroyed in the Lapland War in 1944) catered to the growing middle-class Finnish tourists as well as foreign tourists to Lapland, though at the same time more modest hostels designed in a vernacular rustic style were also being built. Following World War II, Finland ceded 11% of its territory and 30% of its economic assets to the Soviet Union as part of the
Moscow Peace Treaty The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War, upon which Finland ceded border areas to the Soviet Union. The ...
of 1940. Also 12% of Finland's population, including some 422,000 Karelians, were evacuated. The state response to this has become known as the period of reconstruction. Reconstruction started in the rural areas because still at that time two-thirds of the population lived there. But reconstruction involved not only the repair of war damage (e.g., the destruction of the city of Rovaniemi by the retreating German army) but also the beginnings of greater urbanisation, programmes for standardised housing, building programmes for schools, hospitals, universities and other public service buildings, as well as the construction of new industries and power stations. For instance, architect Aarne Ervi was responsible for the design of five power stations along the
Oulujoki Oulujoki is a river in Oulu province, Finland. Its name in Finnish means literally "Oulu River" ( sv, Ule älv), originally in old Northern Ostrobothnian dialect literally "Flood River". Its origin is Oulujärvi and its watershed area covers ...
river in the decade after the war, and Alvar Aalto designed several industrial complexes following the war, though in fact he had been heavily involved in designing projects of various sizes for Finnish industrial enterprises already since the 1930s. However, for all the expansion of public works, the decade following the war was marred by shortages in building materials, except for wood. The Finnish Lutheran Church also became a key figure in architecture in the interim and post-war period by arranging with the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) architectural competitions for the design of new churches and cemeteries/cemetery chapels throughout the country, and significant war-time and post-war examples include: Turku Resurrection Chapel (Erik Bryggman, 1941), Lahti Church (Alvar Aalto, 1950), Vuoksenniska Church (Alvar Aalto, 1952–1957), Vatiala Cemetery Chapel, Tampere (Viljo Rewell, 1960), Hyvinkää Church (Aarno Ruusuvuori, 1960), and Holy Cross Chapel, Turku (Pekka Pitkänen, 1967). Bryggman in particular designed several cemetery chapels but also was the most prolific designer of war graves, designed in conjunction with artists. The 1950s also marked the beginning not only of greater population migration to the cities but also state financed projects for social housing. A key early example is the so-called " Käärmetalo" (literally "Snake house", though usually referred to in English as the "Serpentine house"), (1949–1951) by Yrjö Lindegren; built using traditional building techniques, plastered brick, the building nevertheless has a modern snake-like form that follows the topography of the area whilst also creating small pocket-like yards for the residents. But beyond the matter of form, was the production of mass housing based on systems of standardisation and prefabricated element construction. A leader in the design of social housing was Hilding Ekelund – who had previously been responsible for the design of the athletes' village for the Olympic Games. A challenge to the traditional urbanisation process came, however, with the design of "forest towns", high-rise developments set in forested areas on the outskirts of the major cities, such as the
Pihlajamäki Pihlajamäki (Finnish language, Finnish), Rönnbacka (Swedish language, Swedish) is a northern-central Subdivisions of Helsinki#Neighbourhoods, quarter in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is part of the Malmi, Helsinki, Malmi Subdivisions of ...
suburb of Helsinki (1959–1965), based on a town plan by Olli Kivinen, and building designs by Lauri Silvennoinen, the area comprising white Functionalist-style 9-storey tower blocks and up to 250-metre-long 4–5-storey "lamella" blocks dispersed within a forest setting. Pihlajamäki was also one of the first precast concrete construction projects in Finland. The major example of the goal to set living within nature was
Tapiola Tapiola (; sv, ) is a district of the municipality of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo. It is located in the western part of Greater Helsinki. The name ''Tapiola'' is derived from '' Tapio'', w ...
garden city, located in Espoo, promoted by its founder Heikki von Hertzen to encourage social mobility. The town planning for the garden city was made by Otto-Iivari Meurman, and with the key buildings of the town centre by Aarne Ervi, and other buildings by, among others, Aulis Blomstedt and
Viljo Revell Viljo Gabriel Revell (25 January 1910 – 8 November 1964) was a Finnish architect of the functionalist school. In Finland he is best known for the design of the Lasipalatsi ("Glass Palace") and Palace Hotel, both in Helsinki. Internationally, ...
. In the 1950s and 1960s, as the Finnish economy began to prosper with greater industrialisation, the state began to consolidate a welfare state, building more hospitals, schools, universities and sports facilities (athletics being a sport Finland had proved successful in internationally). Also larger businesses would have architectural policies, notably the dairy company
Valio Valio Ltd ( fi, Valio Oy) is a Finnish manufacturer of dairy products and one of the largest companies in Finland. Valio's products include cheese, powdered ingredients, butter, yogurt and milk. It is Finland's largest milk processor, producing 8 ...
, in constructing rational high-tech factories and later, their headquarters (Helsinki, 1975–1978) by their own architect Matti K. Mäkinen, together with architect Kaarina Löfström. There was, however, a flip side to the urbanization and the expressed concern for the value of nature; traditional towns, even the old medieval ones, such as Porvoo and Rauma, were under threat of being demolished, to be replaced by straightened streets and large urban developments of prefabricated multi-storey blocks. This did indeed happen to an extent in the cities of Turku – where the wholesale redevelopment was described as the "Turku Disease" –, Helsinki and Tampere; however the latter two did not have medieval architecture at all and even Turku had lost the majority of its medieval building entities at the great fire in 1827. Anyway, the "old town" areas of Porvoo and Rauma were saved, the wooden old town of Rauma,
Old Rauma Old Rauma ( fi, Vanha Rauma, sv, Gamla Raumo) is the wooden centre of the town of Rauma, Finland. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991 because of its unique wooden architecture and its well-preserved medieval town layout. It ...
, eventually becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site. There was also at this time more disposable income; one outlet for this was the growth in the number of leisure homes – previously the preserve of the very wealthy – preferably placed alone on one of the numerous isolated lakesides or the coastal waterfront. An essential part of the leisure home (occupied for summer holidays and intermittently during the spring and autumn, but close up for the winter) has been the sauna, usually as a separate building. Indeed, the sauna had traditionally been a rural phenomenon, and its popularity in modern homes was a consequence of its growth as a leisure-time activity rather than as a washing facility. The Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) and commercial companies organised design competitions for standardised models of leisure homes and saunas, preferably built in wood. Architects could also use the summer house type and sauna as an opportunity to experiment, an opportunity that many architects still use today. In terms of size and opulence, Aalto's own summer house, the so-called Experimental House, in Muuratsalo (1952–1953) fell between the traditions of middle-class splendor and modest rusticity, while its accompanying lakeside sauna, built from round logs, was a modern application of rustic construction. The 1960s witnessed more experimental summer house types, designed with the objective of serial production. The most noted of these was Matti Suuronen's
Futuro A Futuro house, or Futuro Pod, is a round, prefabricated house designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, of which fewer than 100 were built during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The shape, reminiscent of a flying saucer, and the structure' ...
House (1968) and Venturo House (1971), of which several were made and sold worldwide. Their success was short-lived, however, as production was hit by the
1970s energy crisis The 1970s energy crisis occurred when the Western world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, faced substantial petroleum shortages as well as elevated prices. The two worst crises of this period wer ...
. The late 1950s and 1960s also witnessed a reaction to the then still dominant position of Alvar Aalto in Finnish architecture, though some, most significantly Heikki and
Kaija Siren Katri (Kaija) Anna-Maija Helena Siren (née Tuominen; October 23, 1920 in Kotka – January 15, 2001) was a Finnish architect. She graduated as an architect from the Helsinki University of Technology in 1948. Siren designed most of her works t ...
(e.g., Otaniemi Chapel, 1956–1957), Keijo Petäjä (e.g., Lauttasaari Church, Helsinki, 1958),
Viljo Revell Viljo Gabriel Revell (25 January 1910 – 8 November 1964) was a Finnish architect of the functionalist school. In Finland he is best known for the design of the Lasipalatsi ("Glass Palace") and Palace Hotel, both in Helsinki. Internationally, ...
(e.g.,
Toronto City Hall The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened i ...
, Canada, 1958–1965), Timo Penttilä (e.g., Helsinki City Theatre, 1967), Marjatta and Martti Jaatinen (e.g., Kannelmäki church, 1962–68), and brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen (e.g., Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki, 1961–1969) developed their own interpretation of a non-rationalist modernist architecture. Taking architecture in an even more idiosyncratic organic line than Aalto was Reima Pietilä, while at the other end of the spectrum was a rationalist line epitomized in the works of Aarne Ervi, Aulis Blomstedt,
Aarno Ruusuvuori Aarno Emil Ruusuvuori (14 January 1925, Kuopio – 22 February 1992, Helsinki) was a Finnish architect, professor and director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture. He studied at Helsinki University of Technology, completing his studies in 1951 ...
, Kirmo Mikkola,
Kristian Gullichsen Kristian Valter Alexander Gullichsen (29 September 1932, in Helsinki – 17 March 2021, in Helsinki) was a Finnish architect. The son of Harry and Maire Gullichsen, he was born into a family of industrialists, designers and artists. His siblings w ...
, Matti K. Mäkinen, Pekka Salminen,
Juhani Pallasmaa Juhani Uolevi Pallasmaa (born 14 September 1936 in Hämeenlinna, Finland) is a Finnish architect and former professor of architecture and dean at the Helsinki University of Technology. Among the many academic and civic positions he has held are ...
and, slightly later, Helin & Siitonen Architects. Aulis Blomstedt was the key figure here, as one of the founding figures of the Museum of Finnish Architecture, professor of architecture theory at
Helsinki University of Technology Helsinki University of Technology (TKK; fi, Teknillinen korkeakoulu; sv, Tekniska högskolan) was a technical university in Finland. It was located in Otaniemi, Espoo in the metropolitan area of Greater Helsinki. The university was founded in ...
, editor of the main Finnish architecture journal ''Arkkitehti'' (Finnish Architecture Review), and as a key founding member in 1953 of PTAH (Progrès Téchnique Architecture Helsinki), that is, the Helsinki/Finnish branch of CIAM, he went on to co-found in 1958 ''Le Carré Bleu'', a journal of architecture theory published originally solely in French (so that it would come to the attention of the key players in CIAM). Already in the PTAH manifesto of 1954, called "Thesis about form", which was sent to the CIAM council in Paris, Blomstedt, as its main author, declared that form and beauty are manifested in proportions and that the doctrine of proportion links mathematics and architecture to a natural whole.Helena Sarjakoski, ''Rationalismi ja runollisuus – Aulis Blomstedt ja suhteiden taide'', Rakennustieto, Helsinki, 2003. Accordingly, the focus of the journal ''Le Carré Bleu'' was on a strict formalism and morphology. Among its articles, the journal featured Blomstedt's own studies in geometric proportion and dimensioning systems, inspired just as much by harmonic systems devised by Swiss mathematician Hans Kayser as Le Corbusier's studies of proportional systems. One of Blomstedt's key works, the extension to the Finnish Language Adult Education Centre, Helsinki (1959) (the main building, from 1927, had been designed by Gunnar Taucher together with Blomstedt's older brother Pauli E. Blomstedt) was an application of this research, with the entire building based on subdivisions of a basic 360 mm module (5×72, 3×120 and 2×180 mm). Indeed, the crux of Blomstedt's approach was the development of a dimensioning and proportional system for architectural design that, he argued, was in harmony with the laws of nature and beauty (human scale and musical harmony) while also providing a standard system for the mass industrialisation of building, which was regarded as central to the efficacy of modernism. One of Blomstedt's proportional experiments, from 1973, even became the logo for the Museum of Finnish Architecture. Reima Pietilä had also been active in the activities of the Museum of Finnish Architecture as well as publishing theoretical articles in ''Le Carré Bleu'' and ''Arkkitehti''. Pietilä even attended a meeting of the
Team X Team 10 – just as often referred to as Team X or Team Ten – was a group of architects and other invited participants who assembled starting in July 1953 at the 9th Congress of the International Congresses of Modern Architecture (CIAM) and c ...
group of architects, held in 1972 at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
in the US, who were very much concerned with questions of structuralism in architecture, that is emphasising the elements of culture, somewhat in reaction to the universalising tendencies of modernism, especially as originally promoted by Team X's instigators, the older generation of CIAM. Pietilä took a diametric viewpoint to that of the rationalist school, and though the works (designed in partnership with his wife Raili Pietilä) had much of the organic idiosyncrasies of Aalto, they were far more abstract and nebulous. In arguing that nature is the apotheosis of plasticity, he demanded a morphological analysis of architectural products, considering Euclidean geometry as an inadequate instrument of analysis. His first major work, the Finnish Pavilion at the 1958
Brussels Expo The Brussels Exhibition Centre (french: Parc des Expositions de Bruxelles, nl, Tentoonstellingspark van Brussel), also known as Brussels Expo, is the most important event complex in Brussels, Belgium. Located on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in L ...
did in fact take a modular approach akin to the theories of Blomstedt; however, the wooden rectangular box-like units as a whole gave a foretaste of Pietilä's later surfaces based entirely on free form; the most notable of these organic works being Kaleva Church, Tampere (1959–1966),
Dipoli Dipoli is the main building of Aalto University, located in the university's Otaniemi campus in Espoo, Finland. It was designed by architects Reima and Raili Pietilä and opened in 1966. Dipoli was initially owned by the Student Union of the Hel ...
student assembly building, Espoo (1961–66), Metso Library, Tampere (1978–1986) and culminating in his final work, the Official Residence of the President of Finland,
Mäntyniemi Mäntyniemi (; ) is one of the three official residences of the President of Finland, besides the Presidential Palace and the summer residence Kultaranta. Mäntyniemi was finished in 1993. Four Finnish presidents have lived there: Mauno Koivist ...
, Helsinki (1983–1993). All these buildings had been the result of open architectural competitions. A more direct connection between Aalto and the somewhat opposing trend of Structuralism can be seen in the work of
Arto Sipinen Arto Sipinen (20 March 1936 – 23 December 2017) was a Finnish architect. He worked in the office of architects Alvar Aalto in 1959–61 and Viljo Revell in 1961–63. He founded his own architect's office in 1965. Sipinen has taught at Hels ...
; he had been an employee of Aalto at the time when the latter was directing the construction of the Seminaarinmäki campus for the
University of Jyväskylä The University of Jyväskylä ( fi, Jyväskylän yliopisto) is a research university in Jyväskylä, Finland. It has its origins in the first Finnish-speaking Teacher Training College (the so-called Teacher Seminary), founded in 1863. Ar ...
(1951–1969). Aalto had resigned from planning of the area in 1969 following disagreements with the clients and consequently a competition was held in 1969–70 for the further planning of the campus, including a new main library. The competition was won by Sipinen. But in contrast to Aalto's vaguely organic or, as he himself termed, an "Athenian acropolis layout" (i.e., individual non-rectangular-shaped buildings set within a park landscape and with long vistas into the distance), Sipinen's scheme involved a Structuralist-inspired layout, part strict rational grid, with distinct rectangular-shaped buildings, and part urban "
Kasbah A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term ''alca ...
", as he himself termed it, with alleyways and courtyards, albeit continuing the use of redbrick which Aalto had also followed from the existing buildings on the site dating from the 19th century. During the following decades, Sipinen would continue the same Structuralist form language in the design of the
Espoo Cultural Centre The Espoo Cultural Centre ( fi, Espoon kulttuurikeskus; sv, Esbo kulturcentrum) is a culture centre in Tapiola, Espoo, Finland. It is most famous for hosting the central library of Tapiola. Near the culture centre is the Tapiola swimming pool an ...
(1989), as well as in the University of Jyväskylä's other campuses at Mattilanniemi and Ylistönrinne, though building the entire new campuses in "white". Both Aalto's and Sipinen's work on the planning of the University of Jyväskylä campus, and so too Aalto's planning of the Helsinki University of Technology campus in Otaniemi, should also be seen within the context of the Finnish state's desire after the war to expand further education throughout the country, with the foundation of several new universities with purpose-built campuses. Another former Aalto employee, Jaakko Kontio (together with Kalle Räike), designed the campus of the
Lappeenranta University of Technology LUT University ('' English:'' Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT) ('' Finnish'': Lappeenrannan-Lahden Teknillinen Yliopisto LUT) is a Finnish public research university which was established in 1969. The university's Lappeenranta cam ...
(1969), partly following the red-brick aesthetic of Aalto as well as the then topical Structuralist-inspired layouts. These Structuralist-inspired layout of Sipinen's or Kontio's works had a more gritty counterpart – in the sense of spurning expensive materials associated with tradition and grandeur – in the
University of Oulu The University of Oulu ( fi, Oulun yliopisto) is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 13,000 students and 2,900 staff. 21 International Master's P ...
campus (1967) designed by Kari Virta; working on the idea of an infinitely extendable "mat building", with the individual parts made from brightly painted prefabricated elements made from cheap materials. If the minimalism of the "rationalist school" could be equally inspired by the works of the modernist masters Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as the machine aesthetic of Russian
Constructivist architecture Constructivist architecture was a constructivist style of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. Abstract and austere, the movement aimed to reflect modern industrial society and urban space, while ...
or the machine futurism of
Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing mo ...
, there were also allusions and references to cultural precedent, equally Finnish peasant dwellings and Japanese vernacular architecture. This attitude could also indeed be seen as falling under the Structuralist outlook of that time, as evident also in Japanese modernist architects such as
Kenzo Tange is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *賢三, "wise, three" *健三, "healthy, three" *謙三, "humble, three" *健想, "healthy, concept" *建造, "bu ...
, and in the parallel architectural phenomenon of
Brutalist architecture Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...
(a reference to the British architectural style from the same period). The main exponent of this style was
Aarno Ruusuvuori Aarno Emil Ruusuvuori (14 January 1925, Kuopio – 22 February 1992, Helsinki) was a Finnish architect, professor and director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture. He studied at Helsinki University of Technology, completing his studies in 1951 ...
, with the heavy use of concrete as an aesthetic; e.g., Huutoniemi Church, Vaasa (1964), Tapiola Church (1965) and the Weilin & Göös Print Works, Espoo (1964–1966; converted into the WeeGee Exhibition Centre, 2006). Other well known examples of the Brutalist concrete style were Holy Cross Chapel, Turku, by Pekka Pitkänen (1967), Järvenpää Church by Erkki Elomaa (1968) and the Sibelius Museum, Turku, by Woldemar Baeckman (1968). The prevailing construction method of prefabricated concrete elements during the 1960s and 1970s was given a different interpretation in the STS Bank building (1973–1976), Tampere, by Kosti Kuronen, where it took on a form language of "building blocks" and "porthole windows" inspired by Japanese Metabolist architecture, suggesting growth and adaptability. The ideas of Mies van der Rohe have had a different interpretation in the buildings of
Juha Leiviskä Juha Ilmari Leiviskä (born 17 March 1936 in Helsinki) is a prominent Finnish architect and designer. He is especially known for his churches and other sacral buildings. Life and career The son of engineer Toivo Ilmari Leiviskä and teacher ...
, equally inspired by
De Stijl ''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body ...
in regard to the unbounded continuity of space as represented by series of parallel walls, but also ideas about the ethereal qualities of natural light from German Baroque churches (e.g., the churches designed by the Asam brothers) as well as lamps in Turkish churches and mosques, including
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
; indeed, Leiviskä made his reputation with competition success in the design of churches; e.g., St.Thomas's Church and Parish Centre, Oulu (1975), Myyrmäki Church, Vantaa (1984), Kirkkonummi Parish Centre, Kirkkonummi (1984), Männistö Church, Kuopio (1992), and Pakila Church, Helsinki (2002). Thus, for instance, in the case of the Myyrmäki church, it is evident already on the exterior that the interior space of the relatively long building is generally comprised from the spaces left between a series of "free-standing" solid walls; that is, there are no rectangular-shaped spaces.


Postmodernism, Critical Regionalism, Deconstruction, Minimalism, Parametricism

Since the late 1970s Finland has been more open to direct international influences. The continuity from the earlier Functionalism, however, has been evident in a prevailing Minimalism, seen, for example, in the works of
Heikkinen – Komonen Architects Heikkinen – Komonen Architects is a Finnish architectural firm established by Mikko Heikkinen and Markku Komonen in Helsinki in 1974. Their work is characterised as a fusion between minimalism, high-technology and Abstract expressionism, typif ...
(e.g., Heureka Science Centre, Vantaa, 1985–1989) and Olli Pekka Jokela (e.g., Biokeskus 3, Helsinki, 2001) as well as the prolific output of Pekka Helin (e.g., Finnish Parliament Annex, 2004). The irony and playfulness of Postmodern architecture was greeted with disdain in Finland, though it would be incorrect to say it had no influence, especially so if one sees it as part of the dominant "spirit of the times". For example, the works of
Simo Paavilainen Simo Paavilainen (born 14 June 1944 in Vaasa) is a Finnish architect, and former Dean and Professor of Architecture at Helsinki University of Technology Department of Architecture. Paavilainen studied architecture at Helsinki University of Techno ...
(influenced more by his scholarly interest in
Nordic Classicism Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries ( Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930. Until a resurgence of interest for the period during the 1980s (marked by several scholarl ...
and Postmodernism's Italian rationalist interpretation), the more whimsical postmodern collages of Nurmela-Raimoranta-Tasa architects (e.g., BePOP shopping centre, Pori, 1989), and the theoretical musings on place and
phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
by
Juhani Pallasmaa Juhani Uolevi Pallasmaa (born 14 September 1936 in Hämeenlinna, Finland) is a Finnish architect and former professor of architecture and dean at the Helsinki University of Technology. Among the many academic and civic positions he has held are ...
. Aalto's architecture (the early Nordic Classicism and later mature works) was used in defending the positions of both modernist and postmodernist schools of thought. The architects of the so-called "Oulu koulu" (Oulu school), including Heikki Taskinen and Reijo Niskasaari, had been students of Reima Pietilä at the
University of Oulu The University of Oulu ( fi, Oulun yliopisto) is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 13,000 students and 2,900 staff. 21 International Master's P ...
school of architecture, and in attempting to create a regionalist architecture, combined elements of populist postmodernism – for instance, the quotation of classical elements such as pediments – with ideas about
vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...
, organic growth and building morphology. A key example of this was
Oulunsalo Oulunsalo ( sv, Oulunsalo, also formerly ) is former municipality in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. Along with Haukipudas, Kiiminki and Yli-Ii it lost its municipal status and was merged with the city of Oulu on 1 January 2013. ...
town hall (1982) by Arkkitehtitoimisto NVV (architects Kari Niskasaari, Reijo Niskasaari, Kaarlo Viljanen, Ilpo Väisänen and Jorma Öhman). However, the greatest influence from postmodernism in Finland came through urban planning. This was part of an originally southern and central European trend from the late 1970s onwards that reassessed the European city which had been decimated by war but also modernist planning principles. Key architect-theorists in this viewpoint were, the rationalist architects from Italy Aldo Rossi and
Giorgio Grassi Giorgio Grassi (born 1935) is one of Italy's most important modern architects, and part of the so-called Italian rationalist school, also known as ''La Tendenza'', associated most famously with Carlo Aymonino and Aldo Rossi that emerged in Ital ...
, the Swiss architect
Mario Botta Mario Botta (born 1 April 1943) is a Swiss architect. Career Botta designed his first building, a two-family house at Morbio Superiore in Ticino, at age 16. He graduated from the Università Iuav di Venezia (1969). While the arrangements of spa ...
, and the German architect
Oswald Mathias Ungers Oswald Mathias Ungers (12 July 1926 – 30 September 2007) was a German architect and architectural theorist, known for his rationalist designs and the use of cubic forms. Among his notable projects are museums in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Colog ...
, and the more historicist-minded Luxembourg postmodernists
Rob Krier Rob Krier (born 1938 in Grevenmacher) is a Luxembourgian sculptor, architect, urban designer, and theorist. He is former professor of architecture at Vienna University of Technology, Austria. From 1993 to mid-2010 he worked in partnership with arc ...
and
Leon Krier Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
. All of these in different ways were concerned in reviving the idea of typology, that is, precedents in urban form. One of the key "forums" for this "reconstruction of the European city" was the
International Building Exhibition Berlin The International Building Exhibition Berlin (german: link=no, Internationale Bauausstellung Berlin) (IBA Berlin) was an urban renewal project in West Berlin, Germany. Initiated in 1979, it was completed in 1987, matching the 750th anniversary of t ...
(IBA), built in the then West Berlin from 1979 to 1985, and where the above architects had a profound influence. No Finnish architects were present in IBA, yet in Finnish cities this renewed urban attitude became evident in planning practices to the extent that urban planning under the control of the city planning authorities could set very precise demands on urban development; for example, the layouts of traditional street grids, and even the overall appearance of buildings in terms of height, streetscape, roof line, and building materials. Key examples are the planning of the areas of Itä-Pasila (western edge) and Länsi-Pasila and Katajanokka in Helsinki. In terms of architectural form, this often materialised as postmodernist details added to an overall mass. For example, in the Otavamedia (publishers) offices in Länsi-Pasila, Helsinki (1986) by Ilmo Valjakka, postmodern versions of central and southern European details such as corner towers, blind (i.e. unusable) colonnades and scenographic bridges, are added to the overall mass. Also, in the BePOP shopping centre (1989), Pori, by Nurmela-Raimoranta-Tasa architects, for all its idiosyncratic postmodern interior and curved "medieval" street cutting through the building, the overall urban block still fits within strict height parameters for the area. The Kankaanpää public office centre (1994) by architects Sinikka Kouvo and Erkki Partanen applied a "heterotopic" ordering – clashes of different volumes – previously discernible in the mature work of Aalto but with a postmodernist twist of
Mario Botta Mario Botta (born 1 April 1943) is a Swiss architect. Career Botta designed his first building, a two-family house at Morbio Superiore in Ticino, at age 16. He graduated from the Università Iuav di Venezia (1969). While the arrangements of spa ...
-esque "round houses" and striking striped bands of brickwork. The aims at a new understanding of regionalism yet in a modern idiom materialised in the greater use of timber – the building material most associated historically with Finnish architecture. However, there lies a dichotomy in its use: between its inherent positive values and its use as symbolising nostalgia, not to mention exploiting its industrial potential by the pervading timber industry. Already in 1956 Alvar Aalto argued that the use of wood was not a nostalgic return to a traditional material; it was a case of its "biological characteristics, its limited heat conductivity, its kinship with man and living nature, the pleasant sensation to the touch that it gives.". A special unit, the so-called Wood Studio – partly funded by the Finnish wood industry – was founded at
Aalto University Aalto University ( fi, Aalto-yliopisto; sv, Aalto-universitetet) is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the ...
not only to research wood construction but also to build experimental structures in wood, often using computer-based parametric design principles. An early example of this is the Observation Tower at
Helsinki Zoo Korkeasaari Zoo ( fi, Korkeasaaren eläintarha, previously known as ''Helsinki Zoo'') is the largest zoo in Finland, located on the island of Korkeasaari in Helsinki. The zoo was first opened in 1889, originally showcasing common animals from Fin ...
(2002) by Ville Hara and the Wood Studio. Similarly,
Kärsämäki Kärsämäki (; literally meaning " snout hill") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is wat ...
Shingle Church (1999–2004) by Anssi Lassila, was the result of a student competition held by the University of Oulu Department of Architecture, based on the idea of a modern church built using 18th century timber construction techniques, as a reminder of a previous church on the same site. Other notable large-scale wooden constructions since 2000 include the Sibelius Concert Hall, Lahti (1997–2000), by APRT; the east stand roof of the
Helsinki Olympic Stadium The Helsinki Olympic Stadium ( fi, Helsingin Olympiastadion; sv, Helsingfors Olympiastadion), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country, nowadays mainly used ...
(2005) by K2S Architects; and Kilden Performing Arts Centre, Kristiansand, Norway (2012) and Helsinki Main Library Oodi (2018) both by ALA Architects. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw, Poland (2013), by Lahdelma & Mahlamäki is characterised by the principle of "complex objects in a glass box", including parametrically-designed organic forms. If
Deconstructivism Deconstructivism is a movement of postmodern architecture which appeared in the 1980s. It gives the impression of the fragmentation of the constructed building, commonly characterised by an absence of obvious harmony, continuity, or symmetry. ...
can be said to have had an influence on Finnish architecture in the 1990s and 2000s, it was mainly through the global influence of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas; an architecture typified by playful formal disjunctions of forms and the use of the "generic", an anti-architecture with aesthetic value. Prime examples of this have been the work of Kai Wartiainen (e.g., High Tech Centre,
Ruoholahti Ruoholahti (; sv, label=Swedish, Gräsviken; both meaning "Grass Bay") is a quarter in Helsinki, part of the Länsisatama neighbourhood and Kampinmalmi district. It is located in the southwestern part of the central city area of Helsinki, clos ...
, Helsinki, 2001) and ARK-House Architects (e.g., Helsinki City College of Technology, Audio Visual School, 2001). Examples of more biomorphic works, if not always using parametric design principles, are seen in the work of Jyrki Tasa of Arkkitehdit NRT (e.g., Moby Dick House, Espoo, 2008; Into House, Espoo, 1998), and Anttinen Oiva Architects (Kaisa House, University of Helsinki Library, 2012). The whimsy and populism of postmodernism and its concern for playing with architecture as a form of language took a few Finnish architects into the realm of conceptual art or theoretical or "paper" architecture: for example, the works of Casagrande & Rintala were more often installations for art or architecture Biennales. Their work "Land(e)scape" (1999) involved raising old and abandoned log barns onto 10-metre high stilts – a comment on the exodus of the rural population from the Finnish rural areas – the "artwork" culminating with setting the barns on fire.


Neo- and generic urbanism and green building

Late 20th century and early 21st century Finland has witnessed greater consolidation of the greater capital region, Helsinki-Espoo-Vantaa. Helsinki, unable to expand outwards due to being hemmed in to the coastline by the neighbouring cities (formerly rural counties) of
Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
and
Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa is the fourth most populated city in Finland ...
, has adopted planning policies of increased urban densification, also argued for under a policy of sustainable development and "
green building Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planni ...
", but also de-industrialisation, that is, moving industrial concerns away from the shorelines in proximity to the city centre, which are then redeveloped for generally up-market housing. A good example is the shoreline-facing housing development on Katajanokka, Helsinki, by Nurmela-Raimoranta-Tasa architects (2006). Significant earlier planning policies that effected urban growth were the construction of three ring roads as well as the construction of a
Helsinki Metro The Helsinki Metro ( fi, Helsingin metro, sv, Helsingfors metro) is a rapid transit system serving Greater Helsinki, Finland. It is the world's northernmost metro system. It was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of p ...
system, begun in 1982, which in turn had been reactions to a 1968 plan by the American-Finnish firm Smith-Polivinen to drive wide freeways through the centre of Helsinki. The Metro already extends into Eastern Helsinki, and is due (2014–15) to extend into Espoo, with new growth nodes being planned around the new stations. This already occurred within the boundaries of Helsinki in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the prime example being the construction of the
Itäkeskus Itäkeskus ( sv, Östra centrum, literal translation ''East center'') is a '' quarter'' in the neighbourhood of Vartiokylä (as of the 1980s) in Helsinki, Finland. The district's main attraction is the largest covered-in shopping mall in the Nordi ...
(east centre), with the metro station integrated into a shopping centre and adjacent library and swimming hall, the most significant architectural work of the ensemble being the main shopping mall and 82-metre-tall tower (1987) by Erkki Kairamo ( Gullichsen Kairamo Vormala Architects), an architect much influenced by 1920s and 30s Russian
Constructivist architecture Constructivist architecture was a constructivist style of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. Abstract and austere, the movement aimed to reflect modern industrial society and urban space, while ...
. The former industrial, dockyard and shipbuilding areas of Helsinki are being replaced by new housing areas, designed mostly in a minimalist-functionalist style as well as new support services such as kindergartens and schools (which, for the sake of efficiency, are also intended for use as neighbourhood communal facilities; e.g. Opinmäki School and multipurpose centre
016 HV-016 is a former military unit of Norway, that was a part of the Home Guard. It was established after 1985 to "stop terror- or sabotage actions that could weaken or paralyze Norway's ability to mobilize its military and its ability to resist". ...
by Esa Ruskeepää), as well allowing for large-scale shopping malls (e.g. the new districts of
Ruoholahti Ruoholahti (; sv, label=Swedish, Gräsviken; both meaning "Grass Bay") is a quarter in Helsinki, part of the Länsisatama neighbourhood and Kampinmalmi district. It is located in the southwestern part of the central city area of Helsinki, clos ...
,
Arabianranta Arabianranta (; sv, Arabiastranden; literally meaning the "shore of Arabia"), sometimes simply Arabia, is a residential part of Helsinki, Finland. It is bound by Vanhankaupunginlahti bay from east, and connects to neighboring boroughs of Va ...
,
Vuosaari Vuosaari ( sv, Nordsjö) is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki and with its area of is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila ...
, Hernesaari, Hanasaari,
Jätkäsaari Jätkäsaari (; sv, Busholmen) is a peninsula and a quarter in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It is part to the Kampinmalmi district and Länsisatama neighbourhood. It was the location of the main container harbour in Helsinki until late ...
and
Kalasatama Kalasatama ( sv, Fiskehamnen; literally translated "fish port") is a neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland. The area is officially part of the Sörnäinen district; and like Sörnäinen, Kalasatama is located a little more than one kilomet ...
), projects often driven forward by architecture and urban planning competitions. Another major landmark in urban planning and architecture was the creation, on the basis of a 1995 architectural competition, of the eco-district of
Viikki Viikki ( sv, Vik) is a neighbourhood of about 15,000 inhabitants in Helsinki, Finland. It is located at the bottom of ''Vanhankaupunginlahti'' bay, some 7–10 km from the city centre. The district hosts the Viikki Campus with four of the fac ...
(plan by Petri Laaksonen), adjacent to a new campus for the University of Helsinki. Other major cities, in particular
Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...
,
Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
, Oulu and
Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
are adopting similar strategies as the Greater Helsinki region, while also developing more efficient rail and road systems within these networks, while also promoting extensive bicycle path networks.


Architecture competitions

Of central importance in the development of architecture in Finland for over 100 years has been the development of architectural competitions, mostly under the control of the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA). The first architectural competition was held in 1860, even before the founding of SAFA. Twelve competitions had been held by 1880. It was only after 1893 that the competition system became more systematic, with the setting of rules. Many of the leading works of architecture at the turn of that century were the results of competitions: e.g. Tampere Cathedral (Lars Sonck, 1900), National Museum, Helsinki ( Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen, 1902). Sonck was only 23 years old when he won the competition. Indeed, several well-known architects kick-started their careers while still young by winning an architecture competition. Competitions have been used not only in the design of public buildings and churches, but also for various scales of urban and regional planning. Beside Sonck and Gesellius-Lindgren-Saarinen, among the notable careers that began or were boosted by competition success are: Vyborg Library by Alvar Aalto, the Finnish pavilion at the 1958
Brussels World's Fair Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...
by Reima Pietilä, Myyrmäki Church (1984) by
Juha Leiviskä Juha Ilmari Leiviskä (born 17 March 1936 in Helsinki) is a prominent Finnish architect and designer. He is especially known for his churches and other sacral buildings. Life and career The son of engineer Toivo Ilmari Leiviskä and teacher ...
, the Nokia Corporation Headquarters, Espoo (1983–97) by Helin and Siitonen Architects, the Heureka Science Centre, Vantaa (1989) by
Heikkinen – Komonen Architects Heikkinen – Komonen Architects is a Finnish architectural firm established by Mikko Heikkinen and Markku Komonen in Helsinki in 1974. Their work is characterised as a fusion between minimalism, high-technology and Abstract expressionism, typif ...
, the Lusto Finnish Forest Museum,
Punkaharju Punkaharju is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the town of Savonlinna on January 1, 2013. It was located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality had a population of ...
(1994) by Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects, the new canopy for the
Helsinki Olympic Stadium The Helsinki Olympic Stadium ( fi, Helsingin Olympiastadion; sv, Helsingfors Olympiastadion), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country, nowadays mainly used ...
(2003) by K2S Architects, and the Kilden Performing Arts Centre (2012), Kristiansand, Norway, by ALA Architects. The competition results have been seen to have reflected the international trends of the time, or to have endorsed the critical regionalism, that is, what Aalto had referred to as "being international yet true to themselves".


World Expo pavilion competitions

The individual national pavilions at the Universal Expositions, or World Expos, give each participating nation the opportunity to create a work that is supposed to make a statement or encapsulate an impression about the nation, albeit for the purpose of advertising the country for business purposes as well as cultural purposes. Finland's participation in the expositions can be viewed from economic, political and cultural-national angles; for instance, making a political statement about Finland's independence at the
1900 Paris Exposition The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...
, while still under the rule of Russia, while also making a nationalistic statement about Finland. In terms of architecture, competitions between Finnish architects have been of great importance in making such statements. Finland has attended the majority of World Fairs since 1851,
The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took p ...
in London, albeit on that occasion as part of the Russian pavilion. Finland has had ten pavilions of its own, eight of which were chosen on the basis of an architectural competition: Paris, France, 1889 (pavilion by French architect), Paris, France, 1900 (pavilion by Gesellius-Lindgren-Saarinen after a competition), Antwerp, Belgium, 1930 (pavilion by Erik Bryggman after a competition), Brussels, Belgium, 1935 (pavilion by Aarne Hytönen and Risto-Veikko Luukkonen, without a competition), Paris, France, 1937 (pavilion by Alvar Aalto after a competition), New York, USA, 1939 ("interior pavilion" by Alvar Aalto after a competition), Brussels, Belgium, 1958 (pavilion by Reima Pietilä after a competition), Seville, Spain, 1992 (pavilion by Monark after a competition), Hannover, Germany, 2000 (pavilion by Sarlotta Narjus and Antti-Matti Siikala after a competition), Shanghai, China, 2010 (pavilion by JKMM Architects after a competition). The exhibition pavilions were all demolished after the close of the exposition, with the exception of the Finnish pavilion at
Seville Expo '92 The Seville Expo '92 was a universal exposition that took place from Monday, April 20 to Monday, October 12, 1992, on La Isla de La Cartuja (Charterhouse Island), Seville, Spain. The theme for the expo was "The Age of Discovery", celebrating the ...
in Spain; afterwards, the building was remodelled to house the headquarters of Fundación FIDAS, the Association of Architects of Seville.


Influences abroad

Finnish architects, primarily Alvar Aalto, have had a significant influence outside Finland. In a jointly penned article in 1965, renowned American architecture historians
Henry-Russell Hitchcock Henry-Russell Hitchcock (1903–1987) was an American architectural historian, and for many years a professor at Smith College and New York University. His writings helped to define the characteristics of modernist architecture. Early life He ...
and G. E. Kidder Smith summed up the influence of Finnish architects on the US as follows: "Considering that the population of Finland is roughly half that of greater New York, the extent and the degree to which Finnish architecture has impinged upon the outside world - particularly upon the United States - in the last 40 years is quite extraordinary." More recently, distinguished Portuguese architect
Álvaro Siza Vieira Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira (born 25 June 1933) is a Portuguese architect, and architectural educator. He is internationally known as Álvaro Siza () and in Portugal as Siza Vieira (). Early life and education Siza was born in Matosi ...
, British architect Colin St John Wilson and American architects Richard Meier,
Robert Venturi Robert Charles Venturi Jr. (June 25, 1925 – September 18, 2018) was an American architect, founding principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, and one of the major architectural figures of the twentieth century. Together with h ...
and Steven Holl have each expressed the influence of Aalto on their work. Indeed, Holl has had the opportunity on two occasions to build next to Aalto buildings, with his competition-winning entry for the Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art, named after his entry titled
Kiasma ) , established = (Museum of Contemporary Art) (opening of Kiasma building) , dissolved = , location = Helsinki, Finland , type = Art museum , accreditation = , key_holdings = , co ...
(1993–98), built close to Aalto's
Finlandia Hall The Finlandia Hall is a congress and event venue in the centre of Helsinki on the Töölönlahti Bay, owned by the City of Helsinki. The building, which was designed by architect Alvar Aalto, was completed in 1971. Every detail in the building i ...
, and Simmons Hall at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
(2002) in Cambridge, USA, built opposite Aalto's Baker House (1947–49). But before Aalto, the first significant event in direct influence was Eliel Saarinen emigrating to the United States in 1923 - after having received second prize in the Chicago
Tribune Tower The Tribune Tower is a , 36-floor neo-Gothic skyscraper located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Built between 1923 and 1925, the international design competition for the tower became a historic event in 20th-ce ...
competition of 1922 - where he was responsible for the design of the campus for the
Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of C ...
, Michigan. Often dubbed as the "Architect of the American Century",
Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
(1910–61), although born in Finland, the son of
Eliel Saarinen Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1873 – July 1, 1950) was a Finnish-American architect known for his work with art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. He was also the father of famed architect Eero Saarinen. Lif ...
, was raised and educated mostly in the United States, and created significant pieces of architecture throughout the United States, from the
TWA Flight Center The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal and hotel complex at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The original terminal building, or head house, operated as a terminal ...
at New York's Kennedy Airport to the
Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources consider ...
over St. Louis - the style of each building varying considerably depending on the context and design brief. With his popularity, Saarinen was able to influence the choice of architecture in line with his own, as he did in the selection of Jorn Utzon's entry for the competition for the Sydney Opera House, Australia, as well as in the selection of Finnish architect
Viljo Revell Viljo Gabriel Revell (25 January 1910 – 8 November 1964) was a Finnish architect of the functionalist school. In Finland he is best known for the design of the Lasipalatsi ("Glass Palace") and Palace Hotel, both in Helsinki. Internationally, ...
's entry for the competition for
Toronto City Hall The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened i ...
, Canada (1958–65). Another Finnish architect to find creative success after emigrating was Cyril Mardall (born Cyril Sjöström, son of notable architect Einar Sjöström); he emigrated to England and in 1944 went into partnership with F. R. S. Yorke and Czech emigre Eugene Rosenberg to form the architectural firm
Yorke Rosenberg Mardall Yorke Rosenberg Mardall (Yorke, Rosenberg and Mardall, YRM) was a British architectural firm established by F. R. S. Yorke (1906-1962), Eugene Rosenberg (1907-1990) and Cyril Mardall (Sjöström) (1909-1994) in 1944.Melvin, Jeremy (1997). Obituar ...
, better known as YRM. A specialist in prefabricated timber houses, learnt from Finland, among Mardall's notable works are housing for Stevenage and Harlow
new towns A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
, as well as the Finnish Lutheran Missionary Church in London (1958). In more recent times, of equal significance worldwide as actual buildings designed by Finnish architects has been the architectural theory - and prolific amount of writing published in several different languages - by Finnish architect and theorist
Juhani Pallasmaa Juhani Uolevi Pallasmaa (born 14 September 1936 in Hämeenlinna, Finland) is a Finnish architect and former professor of architecture and dean at the Helsinki University of Technology. Among the many academic and civic positions he has held are ...
, with such books as ''The Eyes of the Skin – Architecture and the Senses'' (2012), ''Understanding Architecture'' (2012) and ''The Thinking Hand'' (2009), and Finnish architecture theorist Kari Jormakka, with such books as ''Eyes That Do Not See'' (2012), ''Heimlich Manoevres - Ritual in Architecture'' (1995) and ''Basic Design Methods'' (2007).


Foreign architects in Finland

The first prominent architects in Finland came from abroad, most notably
Carlo Bassi Carlo Bassi (1807, in Amsterdam – 1856, in Milan) was an Italians, Italian entomologist. He was honorary curator of entomology in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milan from 1841 to his death in 1856. He was a specialist in Coleoptera. Ba ...
from Italy and
Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...
from Prussia in the 19th century, designing in the neoclassical style. But since then there have been relatively few "foreign" architects working in Finland or even of cases of individual buildings designed by foreign architects. Also having a major influence in the mid-to-late 19th century was the Swedish-born Georg Theodor Chiewitz, who designed in both the Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Gothic styles. There are known early cases of the Finnish state inviting foreign architects to offer their expertise on a technical planning issue, as with the invitation to the German hospital architects Carl Schleicher and Schüll Düren in the 1910s to make a proposal for the Women's Clinic in Helsinki, their project designed very much in the classical style of the time. Beginning already in the late 1920s, tens of foreign architects were enticed to seek work in the office of Alvar Aalto, albeit for short durations, most notably the Danish architect
Jørn Utzon Jørn Oberg Utzon, , Hon. FAIA (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. He was most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia, completed in 1973. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon ...
, British architect Patrick Hodgkinson and Swiss architect Bruno Erat. Erat in particular settled in Finland and became renowned as a pioneer of ecological houses, especially in the use
passive solar In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unli ...
heating and in 1978 built the first
low energy building Low-energy buildings, which include zero-energy buildings, passive houses and green buildings, may use any of a large number of techniques to lower energy use. The following are some of the techniques used to achieve low-energy buildings, which e ...
in Finland. With foreign architects being allowed to enter Finnish architecture competitions, a significant number have been won by architects from different countries. American architect Steven Holl became the first foreign architect to win the commission for a major public building in Finland, following a competition, with the design of the
Kiasma ) , established = (Museum of Contemporary Art) (opening of Kiasma building) , dissolved = , location = Helsinki, Finland , type = Art museum , accreditation = , key_holdings = , co ...
Museum of Contemporary Art (1993-1998) in Helsinki. The Swedish architect Erika Wörman of Djurgårdsstaden Arkitekter won the 1988 competition for the design of the extensive
Kartanonkoski Kartanonkoski ( sv, Herrgårdsforsen) is a Finnish housing suburb in the southern part of the City of Vantaa. Kartanonkoski is a part of the Pakkala district and furthermore a part of Aviapolis marketing brand area of Vantaa. The area is locat ...
housing area in Vantaa, with a colourful postmodernist design that was radically different from Finnish housing schemes of the time. The Gösta Serlachius Museum (2014) in Mänttä was designed by the Barcelona architects studio MX_SI. The competition for the Helsinki Guggenheim Museum (2015) was won by French-Japanese architect partnership Moreau Kusunoki Architectes. The Danish architects Schauman Nordgren Architects won three major architecture-town planning competitions within a three-month period in 2016-17 for sites in Pargas, Tampere, and Jyväskylä.http://www.schauman-nordgren.com/category/2017/ Schauman Nordgren SNA wins 3 out of 3 competitions in 3 months! Direct commissions from foreigners are rare, especially of so-called star architects; the British-Swedish architect Ralph Erskine designed a significant public housing area in
Malminkartano Malminkartano (Malmgård in Swedish) is a suburb and a quarter in the western part of Helsinki city, part of the Kaarela Kaarela ( sv, Kårböle) is a subdistrict in a Western major district of Helsinki, Finland. Kaarela is split into four sub ...
in 1978–81, though only mimicking the user-participation method he had used elsewhere. The American architect Daniel Libeskind was commissioned to design the Tampere Central Deck and Arena (2011–). There have also been notable architect partnerships between Finns and foreigners, most notably the UK-based Finn Cyril Mardall of
Yorke Rosenberg Mardall Yorke Rosenberg Mardall (Yorke, Rosenberg and Mardall, YRM) was a British architectural firm established by F. R. S. Yorke (1906-1962), Eugene Rosenberg (1907-1990) and Cyril Mardall (Sjöström) (1909-1994) in 1944.Melvin, Jeremy (1997). Obituar ...
, better known as YRM. More recent notable partnerships are Finnish architect Niklas Sandås with Austrian architect Claudia Auer (e.g. Tuomarila daycare centre, Espoo, 2008), Finnish architect Hennu Kjisik with British architect Trevor Harris (e.g. Jyväskylä travel centre, 2004), and Finnish architect Tiina Parkkinen with Austrian architect Alfred Berger (e.g. Nordic embassy compound, Berlin, 1999).


See also

* Culture of Finland *
Art of Finland Finnish art started to form its individual characteristics in the 19th century, when romantic nationalism began to rise in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. Prehistoric art Marks of human activity in Finland has found in Susiluola, Krist ...
* List of Finnish architects *
List of World Heritage Sites in Finland The UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural heritage, cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, establis ...
* List of medieval stone churches in Finland


References


Further reading

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .


External links


Architecture of Finland website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Architecture Of Finland