Topic outline

  • General

    This short lecture course is a compact introductory package of the history of Finnish architecture, from the vernacular wooden houses to the hi-tec architecture of the 1990s, what was built, when and why? The aim is to become more aware of the architecture you encounter in, for instance, Helsinki, and to understand how building and architecture are interconnected with the general development of Finnish culture and society.

    The course leader is Netta Böök (architect M.Sc.), and the lectures will be held at the Museum of Finnish Architecture, Kasarmikatu 24, Helsinki (www.mfa.fi). The course is open for anybody interested in the history and architecture in Finland, and students of Aalto University can earn 1–2 ects for the course; other students get a certificate to have the course to be included in their studies.

    The preliminary programme of the lecture course, held on four successive Wednesdays 6–7.30 p.m., and 2 Thursdays (excursions):

    13.3. Lecture 1: From building to architecture – from vernacular building to early Neoclassicism

    20.3. Lecture 2: The Finnish wooden town and the 19th century stone architecture. Helsinki from the 17th to 20th century

    21.3. Walking tour in the historical centre of Helsinki, 2-4 p.m., meeting point: Senate Square, statue of Alexander II.

    27.3. Lecture 3: Finnish architecture from around 1900 to the 1940's: National Romanticism, the Classicism of the 1920's,  Functionalism.

    3.4. Lecture 4: Finnish architecture after World War II. The Golden Age of the 1950's, the building boom of the 1960's, and the later tendencies

    10.4. Alvar Aalto excursion in Helsinki (appr. 12-16)

    Students of Helsinki University and Aalto University should be prepared to present their student cards at the ticket counter to avoid paying entrance fee to the museum. Other listeners shall pay the museum entrance fee.

    For more instructions on how to pass the course, see the Assignments section; for more information on the history of Finnish architecture, see the Materials section.