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Project Review — 1.4.2024

Spirit of the 1980s

The premises of the Supreme Administrative Court have been updated to meet current needs, but the 1980s atmosphere is also very much present.

Project Review — 1.4.2024

Photo: Tuomas Uusheimo The Kirjailijakortteli city block, located in Helsinki’s Meilahti district, is comprised of three residential buildings that play with colours and materials. Located in the centre of three streets, Mannerheiminite, Topeliuksenkatu and Stenbäckinkatu, there is a wedge-shaped plot.

Project Review — 1.4.2024

A First Step in Housing

Photo: Mika Huisman The student apartments in Korttelikylä are spacious, light-filled and well-functioning. Student housing is often associated with images of ghettos and social problems due to the high concentration of residents and a socioeconomic homogeneity.

Essay — 1.3.2024

Dramaturgy of Building and Ruin

If one examines an office building or shopping centre through the means of performing arts, what do they reveal about themselves, about architecture – and about the act of performing?

Case Study — 1.3.2024

The People’s Theatre

In the 1930s, P.E. Blomstedt designed a theatre in Hakaniemi, Helsinki. Reading between the lines of an illustration drawing reveals the world view behind the design and the designer.

Phenomena — 1.3.2024

Artwashing Demolition

Utilising to-be-demolished buildings for temporary art shows is becoming a formalized urban development practice. However, it disregards the potential of existing urban spaces and ignores the temporary use and artistic agency as vehicles for place-shaping.

Book — 1.3.2024

Parallel Cities

At times, the visions for the future made by urban planners are so enthralling that they continue to coexist as a parallel reality of sorts alongside the real, built city. This is what happened in Hirtshals, a Danish town with a population of some 5,500.

Book — 1.3.2024

The Big Picture of Urban Policies

Global phenomena with long-term effects are often forgotten when talking about the processes of urban transformation.

Book — 1.3.2024

Spaces Made Differently

The book with a special name celebrates Raumlaborberlin, a Berlin-based architect collective, and its 25 years of existence.

Project Review — 1.3.2024

Time Traveling

In the recent renovation of the Finnish National Theatre’s Small Stage there is no appreciable distinction between the materials of different ages or the temporal layers, but rather a theatre visit takes you back to the 1950s.

Project Review — 1.3.2024

A Stadium and a Place

With the new stadium carefully adapted to its surroundings, a quiet corner of Tammela has become a vibrant part of the city district.

Project Review — 1.3.2024

Vision and Form

Kotka’s new events centre is ALA Architects’ latest take on the theme of a sculptural main facade.

Editorial — 1.3.2024

Open the Box!

The Finnish Architectural Review has followed theatre construction since the early years of our publication, writes Kristo Vesikansa. Instead of the generic facilities provided by the black box, many of today’s theatre-makers are intrigued by staging performances in other existing spaces, which then become an integral element of the dramatic piece itself.

Phenomena — 1.3.2024

Arenas of Urban Development

Helsinki, Turku and Oulu are planning to build event arenas in central locations. In Tampere, an arena built above the railway has been in use for a good two years. What kind of cityscape is being constructed along these megaprojects?

Case Study — 1.3.2024

A Key to Modern Architecture

In the 1970s, architect Pentti Piha was involved in developing and bringing to Finland the so-called black box stage, which performing artists are nowadays critical of. Through this critique, we can reevaluate the legacy of modernist architecture even more broadly.

Stories

Spirit of the 1980s

Three Little Coloured Blocks

A First Step in Housing

Dramaturgy of Building and Ruin

The People’s Theatre

Artwashing Demolition

Parallel Cities

The Big Picture of Urban Policies

Spaces Made Differently

Time Traveling

A Stadium and a Place

Vision and Form

Open the Box!

Arenas of Urban Development

A Key to Modern Architecture