Wigley poster 

Architect Juan Herreros, Madrid: own works.  Monday 3rd November, public lecture at 14:00, A1, Otakaari 1X, old dept. of architecture.

Herreros poster

Welcome!

Professor Marc Treib gives two public lectures at Aalto University Department of Architecture

- LIMITS OF SUSTAINABILITY, on Monday, 20 October at 5 pm,

- IN PRAISE OF MASTER PLAN, on Tuesday, 21 October at 9 am,

The events take place in Otaniemi, at Aalto University Department of Architecture's former premises; address Otakaari 1X, lecture hall A2. The entrance via the former Department of Land Survey, ("Wing M") Marc Treib is Professor of Architecture Emeritus, from University of California Berkeley. He is internationally one of the most prominent authors and critics in the field of landscape architecture. In his writings he has investigated the significance of the landscape architecture in field of arts and especially its relationship with architecture. He has widely published on the modernism of landscape architecture e.g. on the legacy of Garrett Eckbo and Thomas Church. He has received several awards including the ASLA (American Association of Landscape Architects) award in 2003. Treib has twice been in Finland as a Fulbright scholar.

Treib visits the Aalto University Landscape Architecture degree programme, moderating a two-day workshop in a studio course that aims to find models for the landscape development on the Otaniemi Campus where the contradictory demands of protection and development meet. The lectures are part of the workshop, but open to the public.

Welcome!

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.

The project for the Master Class course in architecture originated from a prize from the Asko Foundation won by the architectural working group of Saija Hollmén, Jenni Reuter and Helena Sandman.

The reason why the group received the Asko Avonius prize in the autumn of 2013 was the group's praiseworthy work with architecture adapted to culture and among communities in the developing countries.

‘In the aftermath of getting the prize we discussed the possibility of holding a Master Class course for architectural students.

During the course we would learn about a foreign culture and the same kind of participatory planning that we apply in our work,’ Saija Hollmén says.

The idea developed into a plan for a Kigali Master Class course, for which the Department of Architecture got funding from the board of the Asko Foundation.

The goal of the course on construction planning was to use the methods of participatory planning to study the possibilities for architecture to improve the quality of life in developing countries.

Field trip to thought-provoking Rwanda

At the beginning of the course, a two-week field trip was arranged to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

The students acquainted themselves with local conditions and visualised their own planning tasks together with local residents.

‘We learned about Rwandan history, politics, construction, urban planning and research at lectures in Kigali.

With the help of local architecture students we interviewed village residents and investigated what they might need for the improvement of their quality of life,’ says architecture student Pyry Kantonen.

‘In the interviews we tried to read between the lines and find common ground and problems for which we would seek solutions.

The most educational experience was, nevertheless, to walk around in the city, eat in local restaurants, and spend time with local students with whom we made friends.

The image that we get about Africa from the media is quite one-sided, and not necessarily even up-to-date.

For instance, in Rwanda we were surprised by the clean streets, the safety and the ease with which everything worked - we had not expected those based on previous information.

The trip was an eye-opening experience,’ Kantonen says.

Peter Rich's infectious energy

The construction design part of the course took place in Finland.

One of the instructors was South African architect Peter Rich, whose previous experiences in Rwanda had also been a factor in the selection of the target country.

Rich was in Kigali and guided the students over a period of several weeks in Otaniemi.

Rich's deep understanding of the African concept of space and African culture was definitely a high point of the course.

‘Peter was full of energy and had an appropriate amount of creative madness, which inspired us to work in a liberated manner.

With the help of his Rwandan contacts he organised wonderful lectures and visits in Kigali for us.

We immediately got the feeling that we are involved in a real project with meaning, not just an ordinary course at school,’ Pyry Kantonen says.

‘Peter Rich's down-to-earth attitude, his infallible architectural instinct, and his dedication to teaching brought depth and energy to the course.

We are privileged to have had an architect, who has won international awards, teaching such an intensive course for Aalto students,’ notes Saija Hollmén.

An exhibition on the results of the course will be compiled for display at the Artek store on Pohjois-Esplanadi in Helsinki between 25.4.- 10.5. 2014.The exhibition will present content of the course in photographs and drawings, and two areas that were targets of the planning. Each student will also produce a scale model of his or her design.

In addition, a short documentary shot by Pyry Kantonen in both Rwanda and Finland will be presented.

The trailer is available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b8ASy0W5BY&feature=youtu.be

 The project can be followed on line http://masterclass.lumihub.com/

Rejuvenating the City – The making of a TV-series about young architects’ city planning clinic

A dozen young Finnish architects are going on a city planning crusade. YLE (the Finnish national public broadcasting company) will be broadcasting this new series by the end of the year. The series is named “Rejuvenating the City”. The young architects will be visiting some of the major regional centres such as: Jyväskylä, Oulu and of course Helsinki.

What does a changing Finland look like? What tools do architects have today when encountering new challenges? Are there things to learn for professionals from openness and participation?

Migration and economic growth within the cities have dictated totally new conditions for the development of city centres and complementary building. As a counterweight to busy city life the journey continues to the border regions of the country, to the east and north and out to the archipelago. Here tourism and natural resources have created their identity. Is this enough raw material for a vibrant town?

The aim of the TV series is to bring town planning closer to the city dwellers as well as strengthen their possibilities to make a difference on their own environment.

Public working campaigns can bring an architect’s work closer to the public and thus encourage citizens to a dialogue with planners.

“Finnish Town Planning is encountering more and more various requirements. It is extremely difficult to stand up to these requirements when using traditional town planning”, says one of the young architects behind the planning collective. “Through the traveling architecture clinic we encourage cities, companies and communities to use architecture as a tool for discussion and problem solving”.

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

Learnt in Translation 
Process of Leaning from African Space Making

Petri Rich is a visiting professor at Aalto University, Department of Architecture, teaching the Kigali Master Class (Spring 2014), funded by Asko Foundation.

Open: Mon 17.3. 17:00 Urban Mill, Betonimiehenkuja 3.

The exhibition is open Mon-Fri from 9 to 17 at 28.3.2014 until. 

Peter Rich bio.pdf

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. 

You can follow the Class online in:

http://masterclass.askonsaatio.fi

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

http://arts.aalto.fi/en/current/news/view/2013-11-12/

http://energyefficiency.aalto.fi/en/current/news/view/2013-06-10/

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.