“In the design process, the agreements arranged between architects and users are translated into spatial solutions capable of admitting more or less specialised functions.”
The buildings presented in the Home issue made Fernando Nieto think about the design process of a house. Read more → (Photo: Anders Portman. Avanto Architects, House Pokrinniemi, 2022.)
4/2022Home
What do we mean by good quality housing? Who benefits of the housing crisis? What are the qualities of a private villa in 2022?
Housing as a Solution
In cities worldwide, people are suffering the effects of a prolonged housing crisis. Housing as a Service has been presented as a solution, but who does it really benefit?
Column: Ecocatastrophe Requires Negative Ideas
Architects should get rid of the idealistic view that our task would be to find a solution to any problem, writes Julius Jääskeläinen.
What Makes a Sustainable Living Environment? – Researchers Compiled a Checklist
Several new trends in housing production are worrying experts, as these trends are compromising dwellers’ health and well-being as well as the longevity of the apartments. Researchers at the Tampere University School of Architecture compiled different aspects of housing design quality into a checklist.
Revisit: Lehtovuori House
Architect Olli Lehtovuori’s own house has for already half a century served as a laboratory for residential architecture. Its flexible floorplan based on a traditional two-room farmhouse would be applicable even today.
Which are the Criteria for an Ideal Home? – Housing Designers Share Their Insights
We asked four architects who work with housing design to send us an image of an ideal home or a good dwelling.
Gustaf Estlander, Romanticist and Businessman of Residential Architecture
Just over a hundred years ago, one particular architect in Helsinki had notable financial success with his exuberantly romantic apartment buildings.
3/2022Nature
How does architecture form a sustainable relationship between the humankind and nature? How can architecture support the wellbeing of the whole biosphere? What kind of new concepts are needed when overhauling the architectural practice?
Form Follows Fuel – Building Our Way into (and out of?) Climate Emergency
Historian of architecture Barnabas Calder traces the architectural history and future from the point of view of energy.
An Oasis Along the Rapids
The re-designed riverside of Tikkurilankoski in Vantaa intertwines the cultural landscape with nature.
On the Drawing Board: Alusta – A platform for Environmental Discourse
The pavilion, designed by Maiju Suomi and Elina Koivisto, offers a place for encounters between humans and other species, to observe the environment and discuss it.
The Spaces In-Between
Diverse and flexible cities not only require clearly defined and designed places, but also undefined, so-called-interstitial spaces in-between to help them in, for example, adjusting to changes.
Three Perspectives on the Posthumanist Living Environment
How could the design professionals be better involved in resolving increasing environmental crises and reducing the negative impact of construction on the environment? The concept of posthumanism offers new viewpoints for the organisation of the field.
2/2022Overlooked
Who will we remember as part of the history of architecture, who will we allow to slip into oblivion? Who defines good architecture? What is taboo in Finnish architecture?
The Rare, the Outstanding and the Everyday Grey
Uniqueness or rarity most often determines what kind of buildings are highlighted in architecture and what is, in the end, protected. What will happen to those commonplace environments that do not fulfil either of the criteria?
Essay: In Search of a Hero – Stories of Aino Aalto
Ulla Engman examines the stories told of Aino Aalto.
When Minorities Talk about Architecture, Does Anyone Listen?
Arvind Ramachandran interviewed members of different minorities on their experiences on the discussion around Finnish architecture and how it could be made more inclusive.
What Is Taboo in Finnish Architecture?
What are the points of view, themes and questions that have not received enough attention in architectural discussions? What are the unspoken taboos of Finnish architecture? We asked seven architects and architecture researchers to answer this question.
Sanatoria in the Shadow of Paimio
During the twentieth century, Finland had 80–85 institutions of care specialised in the treatment of tuberculosis. Paimio’s iconic figure has shadowed the rest of Finnish sanatorium architecture, argue Heini Hakosalo and Emilia Rönkkö.