Stories

In Depth

Research — 1.4.2021

The Rise of Solo Living

Almost half of Finnish households have only one member, and the same development can be seen in other Western countries. In her PhD dissertation, architect Anne Tervo found out that spatial needs of solo dwellers are rarely met in apartments typical in contemporary Finnish housing. One solution could be sharing.

Phenomena — 1.4.2021

Would Joint Building Ventures Save the Quality of Housing Production?

Contrary to what is often thought, joint building ventures have a long history in Finland. If things had turned out differently in the 1960s, joint building ventures could still be mainstream.

Phenomena — 1.4.2021

Design Work Begins without Drawing a Single Line

In Vienna, joint building ventures and co-housing often go hand in hand. One of the recent projects is Gleis 21, a residential block of flats.

Essay — 1.4.2021

Essay: The Call of Home

In her essay, Iris Andersson chases for the definition and feeling of home.

Phenomena — 1.4.2021

Residencies as Spatial Practice

While residencies are an integral part of the culture and infrastructure of the visual arts, they are as yet less well-established in architecture. What does their role and future potential in architecture research and education look like from the point of view of residency programme organisers?

Phenomena — 1.3.2021

Models Take and Make Space

Although digitalisation has diminished the importance of scale of models in architectural design, they may provide more space for the imagination than other design tools.

Phenomena — 1.3.2021

The Visible and the Unseen

The Lutheran Church has held centre stage in the history of Finnish ecclesiastical architecture, leaving other trajectories in its shadow.

Case Study — 1.3.2021

Sacred Heart of the Brandenburg Airport

The room of silence at Berlin’s new airport is a combination of illusion and strong materiality.

Phenomena — 1.3.2021

Does the Ecclesiastical Architectural Heritage Have a Future?

Declining tax revenues and high repair costs have put the future of many ecclesiastical buildings at stake. We asked three experts for their views on the situation.

Phenomena — 1.3.2021

Discourses on Dogma – Alvar Aalto and the Church

Alvar Aalto saw a parallel between his own architectural project and the Finnish national Lutheran Church’s adaptation to the twentieth century. In religion, as in modern architecture, tolerance bore more fruit than dogmatism.

Phenomena — 1.3.2021

Money or Your Life? The Church of the Three Crosses awaits salvation

Alvar Aalto’s Church of the Three Crosses in Vuoksenniska, Imatra, has been closed since last autumn because it has suffered persistent moisture damage and would require urgent and extensive repairs.

Article Collection — 27.2.2021

Archives: Raili Pietilä

Raili Pietilä and her husband Reima Pietilä designed several of the most original buildings in Finnish modern architecture.

Case Study — 1.2.2021

Revisit: Rajamäki School and Rajakaari Multipurpose Hall

Rajamäki School and Rajakaari Multipurpose Hall were built in the 1960s as a shared effort by the locals. Now the Municipality of Nurmijärvi is planning to demolish the buildings.

Research — 1.2.2021

Zero Arctic

What are the lessons to be learned from the traditional building methods of indigenous peoples in future sustainable construction? The Arctic Council’s project sought alternative views to current planning and designing practices.

Phenomena — 1.2.2021

Architecture from the Field Side

Contemporary architects can be inspired by something as simple as a modest agricultural building. Barn architecture has become a global trend.