From Past to Present, From Us to Them: The Development of Humanistic Approach in Architecture

The development of human as a homogenous collective in a contained neighbourhood transferred into a metropolitan and contemporary context as Aalto University is established as a changing architectural response to the foundations laid by Alvar Aalto. Aalto University is located in Otaniemi in the middle of Helsinki as a merger of three universities. The university therefore illustrates how the idea of humanism has transformed from forging a connection between us and surroundings into promoting the wellbeings of human and environment through materiality, technology, and sensory experience.

Starting with the oldest establishment in the university the Undergraduate Center, the building was designed by Alvar Aalto and is still in operation today. It meticulously embodies the classical philosophy of humanism through the historical references and focus on appreciation on art and craftsmanship. The iconic character of the building, the Roman amphitheater, is a tribute to the birthplace for public activites in the classical period alongside the Roman air vent from the temple fronts design which honours Roman educational center.

The building also contributes to the conversation of the relationship between human, art, and technology as it features locally produced ceramic tiles and brick staircase - giving the building a connection, an artificial one, to the environment and a character of Aalto’s work.

As architecture moves towards with time, it reconsiders humanism as the connection that humans can provide to the environment. Although Aalto’s works succeed in bridging the psychological gap between us and the surroundings, they do not take into account the rift that we create in the nature through our material juxtapositions. Väre, a new academic center designed by Verstas Architects takes on the endeavour to establish architecture as a medium to promote the wellbeing of the earth while blending into the existing context laid by Aalto’s work.

Väre embodies the concept of sustainability in the elements that humanistic approach previously used to connect the environment to us; light, facade, and texture. It has more than 760 solar panels and underground thermal vaults for cooling and heating mechanism as a way to reduce the carbon footprint on the environment.

The materials in the building are environmentally friendly as they are water cleanable surface and energy friendly texture. The reusable and interchangeable partitions are used for separations to promote sustainability. The ceiling also allows an optimum amount of daylight to provide for lighting inside the main hall and inspire the philosophical milieu through the ambience. Väre reinterprets these architectural elements to ensure that humanity will continue to coexist with the ecosystem and the communities.

Woven into the Fabric: Connecting Humanistic Approaches to the Collective

The town keeps on growing and people keep on changing.

Like Aalto University grows from a building into a small town, a city has to bloom with us. A city, as a record of the development of urban humanism, narrates the history in the way we use such approach to assimilate the urban environment. We weave system, symbolism, and physicality into the landscape and create an urban fabric as a garment to develop humanity. Helsinki and Oslo therefore becomes one of the few well-woven piece of clothes where the architects discern the urban fabrica as a social welfare to improve quality of life - and consequently advance human dignity.

In order for us to discuss Helsinki as a humanistic city, the social context of Finland should be mentioned to give context to their architecture. Finland develops itself as a socially homogenous nation due to its geopolitical system since the 20th century. In order to protect its autonomy as a neighbouring country of Russia in that period as a flatland country, its political structure was redefined continuously in order to unify its ideological divides and respond the wars that threatened to rip the nation apart. This trend of connecting the contrast continues to run Finland as a unitary state - resulting in the citizens embracing the uniformity its political system acquires up until today.

With the functional tax management of Finnish government system, the tax collected from the citizen is put into developing social welfare programs as a service to their citizens. Helsinki urban fabric becomes one of the amenities for the Finnish citizens enhancing their quality of life and dignity as a human and a social being.

This involves looking at one of the most iconic public infrastructure Central Oodi Library to observe how the humanistic approach to architecture is developed to accustomed to the context - being the urban environment.

Central Oodi Library as the center of Helsinki activities is a direct contribution to the construction of Helsinki urban fabric. The design of public programs such as library, crafting workshops, cafes, and lingering space allows urban life to infuse into the building seamlessly. The structure also opens up to the community through the unfolding of the canopy and the terrace. The canopy space on the ground floor of the Oodi Library unlatches itself from the surrounding flat landscape to provide a symbolic and physical openness to the public. The conglomeration of the terrace area also contributes as a massive addition to the public space.

The building stands as a representation of humanistic system through the implementation of the democratic and state-of-art space. During the 21st century, the popularity of the library typology in Finland has been on the decline as the space fails to allocate the resources and space to the citizens. However, Oodi reinterprets the role of library in Helsinki’s contemporary context and recognizes its role as a monument to knowledge and civil society. The government therefore devotes the latest technology into the programs and sustainability aspects of the building to involve itself and prepare to adapt into the future of humanity.

The building also acts as a power hierarchical symbolism to show the advancement in Finnish philosophical predicament. Finland has an existing notion of the parliament as the representative of the political system in the heart of Helsinki - a governing body amidst its citizens. This meant the city holds the status of the political body among the citizens which contradicts the embodiment of equal and fair space for everyone. The juxtaposition of Central Oodi Library

The components of the building contributes to the national identity as a way of improving the concept of self in the citizens. Embueing nationalistic ideals in a contemporary context concerns on promoting self-actualization, selfworth, and creating somewhere a person feel belong to in a society.

Central Oodi Library therefore uses the modern form to interpret the landscape of Finland onto the form of the building. Looking from the street level, the building appears as a wave as a symbol to the undulating wave arouond Finland. The facade embodies the sky and cloud of Helsinki. Its mountainous shape borrows an inspiration from the granite residue as one of Finnish geological characteristics. Lastly, its plank-covered cladding is made from spruce trees as a homage to its nature and embedding natural beauty to the landscape.

In Discussion With Ourselves: Finding a Place for the Past to Exist inside Us

Where does the past exist when the society already moved forward with the present and the future? Humanistic approach prompts us to fail to remember what we had as it designs for humans to prepare for the future. The majority of the humanistic architecture that we explored during the trip attempt to dismantle the status quo of living standards and reshape the spatial fluctuations to welcome the incoming generations.

However, it raises the dilemma that asks whether if the existing qualities should be diminished by time or should be prolonged to preserve the history of us. AMOS Rex, one of the rehabilitation projects attempts to answer this question and reset the narrative of the existing architecture in the humanistic approach.

Do the past still exist - or is it just a memory between us?

AMOS Rex is established based on the principle to prolong the spatial fluctuations through the reactivation of historical architecture and implementation of artistic dilemmas. The spatial fluctuations around the site alludes to the lives and activities surrounding Lasipalatsi Square along with the rehabilitations throughout its lifetime that change its course of actions.

Although the square was erected as a temporary complex for the visitors from Olympic, the square became an integral part of Helsinki commercial district with its location and programs. As time passes, the community slowly erased its original life from their memories and was left unrepaired for almost a decade - in need of a restoration.

AMOS Rex therefore serves as a reactivation of the spatial reactivation in Lasipalatsi Square as its existence revitalizes the lives around it. The above-ground portion functions as an urban park as the pertruded cavelike structure and the undulating landscape invites public activities into the space.

The museum also moves its exhibition programs underground to maintain the spatial movements in the plaza while setting a unique identity to the theme of the artistic dilemma it provides. The underground museum set us into considering the relationship between humans and ‘the ground’ as our existence changes the earth. The circulation takes us through the development of geological attributes throughout the history of humans - examining the coexistence and collisions of two identities.

AMOS Rex becomes preservation of historical site through the mean of placemaking as a way to trace and prolong cultural development - in hopes to inform the future generations of human interventions in the development of Humanism.