The Pursuit of a Bright Apartment
In Finland, the regulations concerning natural light in dwellings mainly focus on window sizes, which does not actually convey much about natural light in the units – let alone the pleasantness and usability, Jori Uusitalo and Valentin Valotie argue.
Housing researcher: “Natural light affects the perceived spaciousness and adaptability of an apartment”
How does natural light affect the quality of living? Sini Saarimaa wrote a commentary reflecting on the article "The Pursuit of a Bright Apartment".
Critical Thinking Wanted
How do the current, packed everyday life of students and education that focusses on work life skills fit together with the aim to educate critical thinkers? ask Matti Jänkälä, Svenja Lindner, Heljä Nieminen and Hilda Uusitalo, students of architecture at Aalto University.
The Long Life of Regulation
Lauri Jääskeläinen charts the history of land use and building regulations in Finland, in anticipation of the reform of Land Use and Building Act.
Tall, Wooden, Finnish
Finland, like elsewhere, has in recent years built more and more – and higher and higher – in wood. Both Puukuokka in Jyväskylä and Lighthouse in Joensuu are pioneers in Finnish wood building.
Wood Architect on Fire
The British architectural practice Waugh Thistleton Architects wants to drastically increase the use of timber as a primary building material for new projects both in their homeland and abroad.
Radical Rules
In London, architects are seeking to promote ethical standards in the field and demanding more sustainable assignments from clients, outside of traditional labour unions, Lee Marable points out. What should we learn from Londoners in Finland?
Pavilion Restored to Its Former Glory
One of the last works of Le Corbusier was a pavilion designed for a close collaborator Heidi Weber, which was completed two years after the architect's death, in 1967. The pavilion has recently been restored – the published book documents the restoration process and its outcome.
Concrete at Architecture Museums
Estonian Museum of Architecture exhibition Miracles in Concrete is built around August Komendant (1906–1992), the Estonian-American structural engineer, but also brings forth a narrative on collaboration between architects and structural engineers and on the history of modernist concrete architecture.