EXHIBITION _ "Architecture is not merely national but clearly has local ties in that it is rooted in the earth" Alvar Aalto.
What is happening in Finnish Architecture almost 40 years after the death of Alvar Aalto? Suomi seven exhibition at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt answers to this question showing the most promising up-and-coming architectural Finnish talent born in the 1970s and 1980s.
Thanks to Finland’s established tradition of open architectural competitions, many emerging Finnish architects have had the opportunity to work on major projects already at a relatively early stage of their professional careers.
The exhibition was curated by Peter Cachola Schmal and Anna Scheuermann who selected seven of the capable architecture practice around the country.
Kilden Performing Arts Centre has brought together all the city's institutions of performing arts. Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra now has a concert hall accommodating 1200 attendees. Agder Theater, a regional group, is performing in a theater with a capacity of 700.
The core of its architecture is the way the concert, theater and multi-purpose halls are serviced efficiently and without interference. The monumental abstract form of the wall of local oak, separates reality from fantasy. Passing through, the audience will move from natural landscape to the realm of performing arts. The wall allures the audience and expresses the diversity of artistic performances housed by the building as well as the power induced by their combination.
Anttinen Oiva Architects
University of Helsinki City Campus Library, the largest academic library in Finland is located in a historically important city block in the very heart of the city centre. The library was designed to offer a wide range of services flexibly to a large number of customers. This imposing building in the centre of Helsinki provides a gateway to the new information age.
The new library building complements the urban block by adding a curved brick facade, integrated within the street line formed by the adjacent buildings. The architectural starting point - the cityscape considered - was a vision of a unique public building that will suit its surroundings in terms of its materials, design and height.
Avanto Architects Ltd
Chapel of St.Lawrence ties together different aspects of the area without emphasizing itself. The chapel connects with the graveyard, leaving the old buildings with their own boundaries and territories untouched. It delineates the northern boundary of the graveyard and hides the service yard behind its back. The chapel has been divided in smaller parts to adapt with the scale of the surroundings. The stacked stone walls of the cemetery are echoed in the design – a series of three chapels of different sizes are nested within orthogonal masonry walls. A new bell tower in a corner of the chapel completes the composition and leads the eye skyward.
Office for Peripheral Architecture
Kuokkala Church consists in a concrete walling structure, wood-beam vault with internal wood grid layer and spruce protection layer. Externally, the roofing and elevation structures have been covered with overlapping Spanish slate tiles, with wood and copper-covered details in the entrance area that create a sense of warmth and scale. Other primary outer surfaces are clad in Finnish granite.
Rudanko + Kankkunen Architects
Sra Pou vocational school is made out of local materials with local workforce. The aim was to encourage the community to make the most out of the materials that are easily available. The building budget was extremely low and the materials scarce, so the beautiful red soil was utilized as the main construction material in the form of sundried soil blocks.
The soil block walls are laid out with small holes, so that indirect sunlight and gentle wind come in to cool the spaces. The community space is open, providing comfortable shade from the sun.
Esa Ruskeepää Architects Ltd
Verstas Architects Ltd
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DEUTSCHES ARCHITEKTURMUSEUM - until January 18, 2015
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60596 Frankfurt am Main
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