Browsing by Author "Niskanen, Aino, Prof. Emerita, Aalto-yliopisto, arkkitehtuurin laitos"

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Helsingin yliopiston päärakennuksen laajennuskilpailu 1931, edeltävät vaiheet ja toteutus – Kysymys yliopiston asemasta ja tyylistä
(2024) Merenmies, Eija
School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Doctoral dissertation (monograph)
The thesis deals with the 1931 architectural competition for the extension of the University of Helsinki’s Main Building, the period preceding the architectural competition, the implementation of J. S. Sirén’s winning proposal in 1935–1937, as well as the repairs to the building in 1938–1940 and 1944– 1948. The main question posed in the thesis is how the Main Building, designed by C. L. Engel and completed in 1832, influenced the 1931 architectural competition and the implementation of the extension in 1935–1937. Other important questions concern the stakeholders that influenced the evaluation of the competition proposals, and the role the Finnish Association of Architects, the university’s administration and the public debate played in it. What political or cultural values did the competition’s winning proposal and its implementation encompass? What factors influenced the post-competition changes in Sirén’s implemented design? The above questions are linked to various phenomena related to the architectural style of Sirén’s extension, in particular the stylistic features of the building and their relationship to Engel’s architecture. When distinguishing stylistic features alongside the classicism and functionalism of the 1920s, the focus falls on pastiche features and quotations. The pastiche features of the extension were regarded as taboo by the supporters of functionalism, who felt that the formalistic historicist solution weakened the value of the authenticity of the original building. In their opinion, the external character of the extension should have been clearly distinguished from the original part. Because of these features, the Sirén extension was ignored in later assessments made during the following decades. The 1931 architectural competition was exceptional in Finland, because the university’s main building that was to be extended is part of the nationally valuable site comprised of the Senate Square. That fact, and the organisation of the competition during a period of transition in Finnish architecture were the reasons for the fierce debate that arose after the competition between the supporters of the classicistic closed-block proposals and the functionalist open-block proposals. Among the competition proposals were also some mixed forms combining styles and block structures. The functionalist proposals included strip windows, shell structures and tall glazed atrium spaces made possible by new types of concrete structures. A special feature of the competition was that even though the functionalist proposals differed in appearance from the old buildings surrounding them, their authors defended the preservation of the Empire-style cityscape. The decision to implement J. S. Sirén’s classicist competition proposal was made in 1934. Sirén’s extension as built forms a closed block with the old main building. In the extension, a zone of motifs quoted from the Engel building continues in the facades, thus connecting the new part to the whole. The architecture and refined furnishings of the interior of the extension are characterized by an abundance of features of 1920s classicism. Like Engel, Sirén employed columns and pillars in the most prestigious spaces. Sirén’s extension also includes several spatial typologies adopted from Engel’s building. Since the competition proposals and Sirén’s design for the extension are compared in the thesis to Engel’s design for the main building, Engel’s University building provides the context. The thesis also examines the renovations of the Engel section designed by Sirén, first in 1938–1940 and then in 1944–48 when bomb damage in the Engel section during the Continuation War (1941-44) was repaired and the large festival hall was extended. This renovation work marked the completion of one of the last public buildings in Finland that was visibly classical in style. The central research material in the thesis has been drawings, photographs, and other archive material as well as periodicals. The competition proposals and implementation are analysed with the help of, among other things, drawings and diagrams prepared specifically for the thesis. The thesis is a case study analysing the architectural, stylistic and functional properties of the building. The designs for the extension to the university’s main building are also analysed in relation to other architecture of the period.