Light Houses: On the Nordic Common Ground An Exhibition at the 13TH INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION in LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA

PHILIP TIDWELL / Aalto University, Department of Architecture + PETER B. MACKEITH / Washington University in St. Louis

Philip Tidwell earned his Master of Architecture Degree in Princeton University and teaches Wooden Architecture at the Department of Architecture in Aalto University.

See more at:

http://acsa-arch.org/programs-events/awards/archives/2014-awards-press-release#sthash.wxTN5BGi.dpuf

The ACSA Creative Achievement Award recognizes a specific creative achievement in teaching, design, scholarship, research, or service that advances architectural education.

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture is a nonprofit, membership association founded in 1912 to advance the quality of architectural education in the United States and Canada.

Landscape architect Janne Saario, from Aalto University's Department of Architecture, was awarded the Lappset Group's 2013 stipend for his Steelpark master's thesis project.

Saario's master's thesis is a design for a skatepark in the city of Luleå, Northern Sweden. The work was commissioned by Luleå Exstremsport Förening. The park was built according to plan, with the construction work carried out by the city's streets and parks department.

The fact that the plans have come to fruition speaks volumes about the high standards achieved by the designer. Saario is himself a professional skateboarder and has a unique perspective and knowledge garnered from his time travelling and skateboarding all over the world - his expertise and awareness of the physical and structural requirements of a skatepark site are widely-appreciated.

The finished park is a work of art, with functionality at the very core of its sculptural character. The park references the industrial heritage of the site in an attractive way, by using, among other things, remnants of a steel plant in combination with skilfully moulded concrete structures. The design was realised through interaction with the youngsters who use it.

The planning and construction work are clearly documented in the written report of the master's thesis. This presentation is complemented by a video that provides a particularly effective insight into the architectural dynamism of the project.

The Lappset Group Ltd awards an annual stipend as a recognition of the best master's thesis work in the field of landscape architecture.

http://www.jannesaario.com/Steelpark

Further information:

Degree Programme in Landscape Architecture
Pirkko Hiort af Ornäs
pirkko.hiortafornas@aalto.fi

The Finnish architectural partners Hilla Rudanko and Anssi Kankkunen are getting a lot of positive responsiveness from architectural magazines all over the world.

“The Architectural Review”, one of the most esteemed architectural magazines in the world, mentioned the Finnish partners in an article where the role of young architects was described as new and more and more significant.

Thirty architectural works from around the world were selected for the article. The architects had to be under the age of thirty. The same kind of recognition was granted to the Finnish pair last December, as they were picked out as the only Finnish representatives, to be presented in the well reputed Italian architectural magazine “Casabella”. The magazine introduced the thirty most interesting young architects in the world.

“The Architectural Review” especially mentions the colourful vocational high school in the village Sra Poun in Cambodia, designed by the working partners Rudanko & Kankkunen. The building originates as a result from a project at Aalto University about four years ago. The project also led to the founding of the Rudanko + Kankkunen Architectural Office.

Not only did the pair design but they also surveyed the construction of the school where local materials and local work force were used. 

The building was in itself a learning process for those involved, and in cooperation with local civic organisations it was teaching new techniques to the people, in order to enable construction of their own houses in the future.

At this moment Hilla Rudanko and Anssi Kankkunen are making imaginative day-care centre classes in China, business incubators in Africa and participatory townscapes in Finland.

Ecological sustainability is one of the most important design principals within the Komity workgroup. Bamboo, brick and recycled plastic bottles have been used when constructing the youth centre.

‘Congratulations to the Komu architects.   This project is very important to the Cambodians and many are proud of it’. These were some of the comments made by the Cambodian architect Sokly Yam.

 ‘We wanted to remind the Cambodians of the traditional, local building materials, such as the durability and beauty of bamboo. We also presented other ecological construction means’, said Elina Tenho, part of the working group. The Komitu work group has organised lectures and workshops about ecological construction and invited local students to participate.

‘We have learned a lot during this process and we wanted to share the knowledge with future local construction professionals. There is already one group of students, inspired by our project, who has realised a teaching centre made of bamboo and started training local builders in the art of using bamboo as a building material ,‘ says Elina Tenho.

The Komitu work group consists  of Noora Aaltonen (1983), Sisko Hovila (1984), Tuuli Kassi (1982), Maiju Suomi (1984), Elina Tenho (1985) and Inari Virkkala (1984). Komitu is part of the Ukumbi registered association, offering architectural services to the less privileged. The youth centre project emerged in 2010 when a course concerning Cambodia was held at Aalto University Department of Architecture. 

Press package at: http://sdrv.ms/1fXjGuC

More information regarding the youth centre at: www.komituarchitects.org

and Elina Tenho elina.tenho@gmail.com

Our City-festival: http://ourcityfestival.org/2014/ocfwebsite/

In the autumn 2013 the Department of Architecture and the Concrete Industry together organized a two stage design competition for all students, studying Arts, Design and Architecture, at Aalto University.

The winners in this competition are students in landscape architecture Maija Gulin and Veera Tolvanen together with architectural student Annimaija Tarkkanen. Their entry  is called the “Light Wave”.

The aim is to realize the “Light Wave”, an innovative concrete work, through extensive course work. The “Light Wave” will be placed right in front of the Otaniemi shopping centre. 

Link: 
http://arts.aalto.fi/fi/current/news/view/2014-01-24/

The prize for sustainable development, awarded by the Finnish Association for Architects, “Shingle” has been awarded to the Design Capital 2012 project ‘The Pavilion’. This project created a new kind of meeting place and interaction in Helsinki. The prize was received by the Aalto University Wood Studio, responsible for the design, and representatives of the Museum of Architecture and the Design Museum.

The idea for the Pavilion originated from the two neighboring museums. They were able to offer an ideal location for a wooden pavilion in the Ullanlinna quarters in downtown Helsinki. The parking space between the two museums was transformed into an open space filled with action. The easily accessible Pavilion joined, in a natural way, the various features of city’s culture; art, science and commerce. The Pavilion opened up a flexible stage for many different activities; performances, workshops, discussions and city happenings.

Footnote:

Emma Johansson, head of SAFA, mobile: 050 3722743
Pekka Heikkinen, professor, Aalto University Wood Studio mobile: 050 517 4727

Architecture students at Aalto University Department of Architecture, Wood Studio, together with a group of experts built the Pavilion. The Pavilion design originates from a winning entry in an architectural competition won by architecture student Pyry-Pekka Kantonen. 

The winner Mikki Ristola and the second prize contestant Joakim Breitenstein, are both architecture students from Aalto University Department of Architecture. Third prize: Kentaro Mabe, University of Tampere/Tokyo Metropolitan University.

The idea with the pavilion “Viewpoint” is to bring a sense of Finland to London. The pavilion is inspired by the idea of the land of the thousand lakes, where people escape from the city to the country and the archipelago. The pavilion is like an island, its construction is like blocks rising from the sea opening views on nature.

The block like parts are concrete, whereas the inside constructions are of wood. Vegetation is an important part of the space.

Construction work starts in the summer and the pavilion inauguration is in the autumn in conjunction with the London Architecture Festival and Design week.