Case study: The Paimio Sanatorium 1933
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Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden for centuries but in 1809 it became part of the Russian empire as an autonomous Grand Duchy. A great sense of nationalism raised among the Finnish population during the 19th Century. Finnish Architecture until this period was dominated by architects from the Swedish-speaking part of the country ,where the prestigious schools were, while Finnish architects had to go abroad to receive their education (Quantrill, 1983). This proceeded until the 1890s when the Finnish National Romantic movement took the stage. The pioneers of this movement were the painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela and the architect Lars Sonck, who was the winner of 1894 architectural competition for the Church of Saint Michael in Turku. With his designs, Sonck set the principles of Finnish architecture. The beginning of the 20th century saw an incrrease in Finnish architecture’ s confident, as demonstrated by the fact that Finland started producing its own architectural critical journal, Arkitekten. Following the rise of the architectural journal, architects were starting to look beyond the imposition of the Russian empire and Finnish architecture was now being recognised globally through the National Romanticism. At the beginning of 1920s, young Finnish architects labelled National Romanticism as regressive and they became influenced by Neo-classicism. However, by the end of this century, thanks also to the independence from the Russian Empire gained in 1917, Modernism and Functionalism became the biggest influences in Finnish Architecture. (Miller,1982) In 1898, in Kuortane, a small town in Finland, something that will change the future considerations of Finnish architecture happened. Indeed, during this year one of the most influent Finnish architect and designer was born, Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto. He dominated Finnish architecture for almost half a century and had the merit to make Finland visible and highlighted in the Architecture map. (Quantrill, 1983). As mentioned earlier, Finnish people developed a strong sense of nationalism and attachment to their folklore, which could be a cause of mind closure towards the rest of the world. In Alto’s case, it could have limited his horizons in architectural studies and research but, being raised in a westward – looking environment of a Swedish speaking family helped him avoiding this risk. His background gave him the possibility of having his own personal view of Finnish architecture in the much broader European architectural context, and international influences helped him understanding and admiring more Finnish traditions and creating an indestructible bond between him and the National Romantic movement (Quantrill, 1983).
