An old friend? by Stijn Drolenga

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Author Stijn s.l.drolenga@student.tudelft.nlstijn.drolenga@aalto.fiDrolenga Year / Period 2021 - 2022 / Q4 Tutor / Subject Panu Savolainen / History of Finnish Architecture - ARK-E1012 Illustration cover page Stacks of lumber, Seattle Cedar Manufacturing Plant, Ballard, 1958 (ArchDaily, 2021) Nothing from this research may be reproduced, by means of printing, photocopies, computeri zed data files or in any other way without the prior written consent of the author. Colofon

An old friend? How vernacular (Finnish) timber construction methods can inform future green architecture An old friend? AIntroductionbriefhistory of... Finnish timber construction Modern intergration A brighter Referencesfuture? 15131174

A brief introduction on... timber Eversince the existence of humankind people have built structures. Structures to live in, educate in, relax in, seek refuge in and shelter in. These structures can be added up to something which we now call Architecture. Though, what drives my interest is the way in which we erect buildings, what materials we use and how these materials are connected, where the materials come from and the ones in charge of putting them together. This brings up relevant questions about material strength, it’s durability, possibilities of prefabrication etc. etc. All relevant because we face one of the most challenging times of our collective (human) history. Climate change. As architects, and thus the buildingsector, we are directly responsi ble for almost 40% of the total amount of CO2-emissions worldwide (UN environment programme, 2020). With the current estimates of unhindered growth of development countries such as India and Nigeria, this number will not likely to be even smaller at the end of 2050, when, according to the Paris (Climate) Agreement the rise in mean global temperature must be kept well below 2°C in order to keep climate change controllable.

History of Finnish Architecture Essay

As an (upcoming) architect I’m well aware of the responsibility I have towards people and therefore the climate. The first semester at the TU Delft last year had a big impact on me in terms of sustainable design. During that semester I attended a studio which was taught by Mechthild Stuhlmacher, a renowned Dutch architect and very known as one of the first to do CLT construction in the Netherlands.

The brief of the first semester’s project involved the extension of a primary school in Utrecht and was to be done entirely in timber. At that moment a whole new world opened up to me. I got acqauinted not only to building with timber but also building ín timber, meaning: detailing open, breathable structures instead of closed, sealed off boxes. To fully understand timber building con struction, one has to fully immerse him/herself into the history of this beautiful material and presumably draw from earlier (Finnish) Theexamples.urgeI’m feeling to do something in favor of the climate on the one hand and the timber knowhow on the other, made me think of combining the two for these writings. In other words, I will look into Finnish timber building methods from the past and consider them within current and future construction practices. Can we actually learn from the past? and are we able to put these findings into a future context? Or as my research question puts it: Can vernacular (Finnish) timber construction inform future green architecture? This with the aim to contribute to the ongoing effort of transitioning to a more sustainable and green built environment.

5History of Finnish Architecture Essay Slum< of Makoko, Lagos, FirstOpenstreetmap(HumanitarianNigeriaTeam,2021)<CLTbuildingintheNetherlands,parasiteLasPalmasin2001byKorteknieStuhlmacher(KSA,2001)

6History of Finnish Architecture Essay

Sami< people in front of their ‘Kota’, or Goahti (Wikipedia, 2019)<The corner joining or populartimbering’‘corner-techniquewasknownforit’sexcellentstructuralpropertiesandthereforeveryamongmaster-builders(Aito,2018)

A brief history of... Finnish timber construction Finland has a rich history of timber construction. In this section I will consider several of them, including past and present examples.

Some methods dating back to prehistoric times; others as young as 50 Startingyears.with the first known timber structures to men in Finland are the so called ‘Kota’, or Goahti; a hut or tent which is covered by peat, moss, fabric or wood. It was one of the most built timber buildings until the 19th century and they are still being built by the Sami. The Goahti buildings were very much ‘flat-pack’; easy to dismantle and transport, the individual timber parts easily packable onto a reindeer. Due to the considarable size of modern Goahti, Sami people are changing to ‘Lavvu’ structures more and more, because of their smaller sizes and even more easy demountability. Other than the Goahti, the Sauna is another very good example of typical Finnish vernacular architecture. The oldest dating back almost 10.000 years ago, after the Ice Age. The earlier examples were used primarily as dwellings during the wintertime, made from pits dug into a hillslope. For over decades the wooden construction tradition has been very widespread across the entire boreal coniferous as thé way to con struct a building. The corner joining or ‘corner-timbering’ technique was known for it’s excellent structural properties and therefore very popular among master-builders. According this technique, logs were laid consecutively in horizontal direction and notched at the ends, forming secure, tight joints. Some question the origins of the technique with speculated ‘birthplaces’ ranging from the Romans in Northern Europe to areas of present-day Russia. Even the IndoAryan people are said to be the inventors (Opolovnikova et al., 1989). For it’s advancements corner-timbering was reliant on the tools which were necassary, an axe was preferred over a saw. A direct resultant of this way of constructing was the rectangular plan, originally comprising only one single room with a low-pitched saddle-back roof. Therefore it had lots of commonalities with early Greek dwellings, also known as ‘megaron’. At first, corner-timbering has been used for storehouses and warehouses, and later for both saunas and residential houses. The very first adaptations of the technique probably used some kind of round logs, while the later, more developed ones used shaped logs (mostly square). The square shape did assure a more tight fit, resulting in a better insulation. Also, square-shaping with an axe was seen as preferable to sawing because axe-cut surfaces reduced water penetration.

History of Finnish Architecture Essay

The development of timber construction in Finland evolved parallel to advancements in church building. Although (according to some historians) the basic principles of wooden construction techniques came from elsewhere, the so-called block-pillar church (tukipilari kirkko) is a particular Finnish innovation. While block-pillar churches look like normal ones at first sight, the novelty involved the construc tion of hollow pillars from logs built into the exterior walls, which made the walls themselves structurally unnecessary. Internally the pillars are tied together via large joists. Churches often had two, sometimes three pillars across the longitudinal walls. The largest, still existing church built according to this system is the block-pillar church at Tornio (1686). Other examples are the churches of Vöyri (1627) and Tervola (1687). Further developments, maybe even more refined than previous ones are also attributed to the construction of churches. These examples weren’t even designed by ‘real’ archi tects but often by master-builders, who were fully responisble for there erection. A good, and probably the oldest example of these advancements is the church of Santamala in Nousiainen. Although only archaeological remains are still existing, it shows the main principles of a building from that time. Dating back to as early as the 12th century, the church had a simple rectangular ground plan of 11,5 x 15 metres (Pettersson, 1989). Sadly, almost none of the mediaval churches are existent today because they are, like all wooden buildings, susceptible to fire (Nikula, 1993).

Although ordinary buildings were still built according to Finnish wood tradition, not much progress / advancements were made in this field. It was up until the 20th century that people began to build according to the balloon framing technique, which came over from North America. Finnish master builders had been travelling to the US to learn about this industrialized way of building with a timber-framing technique. Although the master builders came back with positive new insights, the way of building wasn’t popular at first. One reason was the construction’s poor climatic performance. Later, this was improved considerably by adding insulation in the 1930’s (Korvenmaa, 1990). With lower prices of labour and material in Finland right after World War II, timber-framing became the new Another,standard.quite recent, import to Finland is that of wooden shingles for roofs, which dates back to the early 19th century. It was the substitute for the more traditional birch-bark roof (malkakatto in Finnish) which was composed out of a base layer of wooden slats, overlaid with several layers of birch-bark and finished off with a layer of long timber poles by weighed down in places by the occasional boulder. Traditionally, these roofs were unpainted (Böök et al., 2008)

The decades that followed were mainly dominated by stone archi tecture for bigger buildings such as (newer) churches and castles.

9History of Finnish Architecture Essay Block-pillar< church, Balloon-framing(Wikipedia,orTukipilarikirkko;VanhakirkkoinTervola2021)<timberconstruction,PavillionofTheUnitedStatesattheVeniceBiennaleof2021(TheArchitect’sNewspaper,2021)

10History of Finnish Architecture Essay

Impression< of the new extension of the Finlandia Hall in (TorvinenHelsinki & Aalto University, 2021) < Kamppi Chapel, K2S (Divisare,Architects2017)

History of Finnish Architecture Essay

The new headquarters of Finnish game design company Supercell is housed in the newly built district. Developed by the Finnish contruction companies SRV and Stora Enso, the new office building is built mainly using LVL, or laminated veneer lumber. According to Stora Enso, this material is the strongest wood-based material relative to it’s weight, and is engineered to be relatively stron ger than steel and lighter than concrete, while remaining workable and durable. Moreover, wood or timber don’t need any protection against the weather, have a lower carbon foorprint than concrete or steel and can be used to build relatively quickly (B1M, 2020).

Modern intergration

Another great example of modern use of timber is the so called Wood City in the Jätkäsaari district in Helsinki. While timber construction has been mainly involved with residential buildings (according to Pellervo Economic Research Institute, more than 80% of detached houses in Finland have a wooden frame), recent modifications of the regulations around multi-storey wooden structures, along with new innovations in wood manufacturing and digital technology, has made building tall with timber an irresistible prospect for deve lopers (B1M, 2020).

There is more to Finnish timber construction than only above mentioned precedents. Very good examples of new applications of timber are, amongst others, the new extension of the Finlandia Hall and Wood City in the Jätkäsaari district in Helsinki. To start off with the Finlandia Hall project, a new extension has been added to the already existing Finlandia Hall in order to relieve the original building while it’s renovation takes place over the course of the next 2.5 years. Interesting to these writings is the fact that the design has been done in coöperation with students and teachers at Aalto University Department of Architecture’s Wood Program and Building Design Studio. The assignment for the project was to implement the goals of the city of Helsinki in relation to wooden construction and circular economy goals so that, after it’s initial purpose, parts of the building can be moved and altered for further use as temporary facilities by schools and daycare centres (Aalto University, 2020). Exceptional in this project is the use of real tree trunks, shown as they are without the usual processing, making them into wooden planks or CLT.

Another great example of a modern application of timber is the Kamppi Chapel in the city centre of Helsinki by K2S Architects. Totally made out of cnced glulam, the chapel provides a quiet oasis in the busy Narinkka square in central Helsinki.

Although previous sections aren’t doing justice to the (entire) Finnish timber contruction history, these writings hope to summarize the most important happenings in this field. We saw how the Sami used timber construction to make their Goahti, flatpack dwellings to sustain their nomad lifestyle. The corner joining or ‘corner-timbering’ technique was known for it’s excellent structural properties and therefore very popular among master-builders, hereby an axe was preferred over a saw and to improve the insulation properties, squared out logs were preferred over round logs. The development of timber construction would evolve parallel to advancements in church building. With the so-called block-pillar church (tukipilarikirkko) as the most notable Finnish innovation. The decades that followed were mainly dominated by stone architecture for bigger buildings such as (newer) churches and castles. Although ordinary buildings were still built according to Finnish wood tradition, not much progress was made in this field. It was up until the 20th century that people began to build according to the balloon framing technique, which came over from North America. Although not popular at first, better insulation, lower material prices and inexhaustible labour forces made this timber-framing the new standard in Finland. Notable modern developments in the wood segment in Finland are the new extension of the Finlandia Hall and Wood City in the Jätkäsaari district in Helsinki. Now that a selection of Finnish timber construction methods have been discussed these can be reviewed within contemporary building practices. Or to mention the research question again: Can vernacular (Finnish) timber construction inform future green architecture? Although some of the techniques aren’t efficient enough or financial feasible, the flatpack dwellings of the Sami and the timber-framing technique are most compelling for these writings. The Goahti can be very much reinterpreted along the rising demand for a ‘nomad’ lifestyle. Since the tiny house movement is becoming more and more popular in European cities due to the high real-estate prices and the increased need for single person’s condominiums, the Goahti can be an sustainable alternative.

History of Finnish Architecture Essay A brighter future?

Finnish< constrcutionCLT (WoodworkingsiteNetwork,2017)

Also the timber-framing will be a perfect solution for the increased demand of repurposing or extending existing buildings within the city. Because timber-framing embodies CO2 more than concrete or steel, extensions of the exisiting building stock suddenly can become a sustainable practice in two respects; not only does the cities get used by more people, also the way in which this is done is better for the environment at the same time, that is win win. To even further elaborate on these writings a possible next chapter could be the actual ‘consolidation’ of the before mentioned typologies. That is maybe something for the next class of students..!

Explores

January).

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15History of Finnish Architecture Essay WritingsReferences

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2021 Venice