Lecturers
Untitled lecture
“Paper architect” from Russia
Alexander Brodsky (born 1955) from Moscow is a colourful critic known in Russia for the discussion he generates. At times his sharp comments have provoked negative reactions in his native country, for instance when he represented Russia at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2006. In addition to being an architect, Brodsky is also an artist by training, and he has taken his installations, project plans and prints to international arenas such as Milan, Sao Paulo and the Bilbao Guggenheim, stimulating much debate. Brodsky’s Venice project, entitled “Settlement”, featured a metropolis of snow and chill. During the early decades of his career, Brodsky collaborated with Ilya Utkin, but in 2000 he founded his own office in Moscow.
Brodsky’s architectural projects have been small-scale interiors, while his art projects have been characterised by a conceptual, Utopian approach that challenges prevailing ideals. The New York magazine Metropolis describes a Brodsky project involving a vanishing house of ice built on a lake, and the writer wonders if Alexander Brodsky is about to reinvent Russian architecture. Brodsky is also widely known as a leading Russian “paper architect”, a term he also has used about himself.
In Finland, there is little knowledge of what contemporary Russian architects think: how they approach the tradition of architecture or what they think about the Russian building boom. At the Aalto Symposium, Brodsky will be providing genuinely Brodskyan views on these subjects; expect nothing officially approved. Brodsky has also lived and worked in New York for lengthy periods.
Embedded in the Biosphere
What can architects learn from the natural sciences?
Yrjö Haila (born 1941) is a leading expert on ecology and environmental sciences in Finland, as well as an ardent advocate of environmental protection and an active writer. Haila is Professor of Environmental Policy at the Department of Regional Studies of the University of Tampere. Haila's background is in philosophy and the natural sciences, particularly zoology. At the moment, Haila is leading a research project funded by the Academy of Finland on civic participation in the protection of nature. Haila’s wide-ranging literary production includes texts on ecology, environmental protection, climate change and civic participation. For the participants of the Alvar Aalto Symposium, Haila will provide a natural scientist’s viewpoint on the constraints of architecture.
Yrjö Haila: Retkeilyn rikkaus - luonto ympäristöhuolen aikakaudella
Kustannus Taide, 2004, ISBN: 9789516080546
Building for Change - Handmade Architecture in Bangladesh
Architecture is a tool to improve lives
German architect Anna Heringer (born 1977) has worked with local people in Bangladesh. Her Handmade School project was implemented in Rudrapur, Bangladesh, and won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Heringer believes that the building process must involve training local skilled labourers and architects for the future. Heringer currently works elsewhere in Asia and in Africa. In South Africa, for instance, her team built a home for handicapped children, who participated in the project.
Heringer teaches at the universities of Stuttgart and Linz.
One of the principal ideas behind her work is to improve not only the living conditions of the poor people she works with, but also to boost local self-confidence. “Joyful living is a creative and active process”, says Heringer. To her, architecture is not merely about technology and aesthetics, but about improving people’s lives. Heringer’s website includes images from the Rudrapur school, as well as a list of other projects and lectures.
Photo © Kurt Hoerbst.
Saija Hollmén, Jenni Reuter, Helena Sandman
Finland
Hollmén Reuter Sandman Architects | www.hollmenreutersandman.com
Beyond Design
Architecture to help people
Saija Hollmén (born 1970), Jenni Reuter (born 1972) and Helena Sandman (born 1972) started their collaboration by designing a Women’s Centre in Senegal (initiated 1995, completed 2001). Since that first project, they have worked elsewhere in Africa and participated in various projects in Finland, from interior design to urban planning.
Currently Hollmén, Reuter and Sandman are working on a children’s home in Tanzania, a project they found through Architecture for Humanity. Hollmén, Reuter and Sandman aim to improve living standards, quality of life and housing conditions through architecture. They raise the funds for their work independently, assisted by an NGO called Ukumbi.
Indoor House
Colonialism among us
Geir Tore Holm was born in Tromsø in 1966, spent his youth in Olmmáivággi/Manndalen, and now lives in Oslo.
Holm graduated from the Academy of Fine Art in Trondheim in 1995, and has since worked as an independent sculptor and performance artist, who has frequently addressed the theme of “colonialism among us”, often through his own Sámi background. His works have been displayed at the BildMuseet, Umeå (Same, same but different); Castlefield Gallery, Manchester (From elsewhere); Pikene på broen, Kirkenes (Barents Spektakel and Border Dialogue), and Ringnes Skotbu. Holm curated the Sámi Art Festival 2002 in Sør-Varanger and CSV – To Visualise Sápmi at Galleri F15, Moss, 2005. In 2002–2004 Holm was Assistant Professor at the Bergen National Academy of the Arts. He has also lectured widely. Since 2003, Holm has developed a long-term dialogue project called Sørfinnset skole/The Nord Land in collaboration with Søssa Jørgensen, Kamin Lertchaiprasert and Rirkrit Tiravanija, Thailand.
Photo © Søssa Jørgensen.
Dialogue and Deviation. India: Building in times of change
Human infrastructure and genius loci
Bijoy Jain (born 1965) was trained as an architect in the USA and worked in Richard Meier's office. Jain returned to his native India in the 1990s and founded Studio Mumbai Architects in 2005. The Indian landscape as well as local resources, materials and technology play key roles in the office's projects, which train local artisans and skilled labourers during the planning and building process. Planning always begins by bringing local craftsmen together and making plans in collaboration. Studio Mumbai’s projects invariably involve a social dimension, which aims at improving people's living and housing conditions through local resources.
Jain has criticised the uncontrolled building that occurred in India during the economic boom. Engineerdriven “photocopy design” is what Jain calls the years of uncontrolled growth; it was this phenomenon which made him come back from the US, set up Studio Mumbai and dive into alternative architecture. "Human infrastructure" is Jain's goal. He also speaks of genius loci and its interpretation, something which can be found together with local people.
Step by step: Sustainable buildings for Africa
”Help to self-help”
Kéré comes from Burkina Faso, and was educated as an architect in Berlin, where he now also teaches. When still a student, Kéré founded Schulbausteine für Gando, an organisation for promoting climatesensitive architecture in Burkina Faso. Today, Kéré runs his own office, which mainly designs for African projects, but also has projects in India, Yemen and Europe. Kéré received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the school he designed in his native village of Gando, Burkina Faso.
Kéré’s motto is ”help to self-help”: by engaging local people in development projects, they learn to appreciate their environment and commit to genuine improvements in the future.
Strokes
Wood – intimate and simple
Olavi Koponen (born 1951) first studied social sciences in Moscow and then architecture at the Tampere University of Technology. Today, he is an Artist Professor who has for a long time promoted ecological wooden construction, handicraft and recycling, thus establishing himself as something of a dissident in Finnish architecture. Koponen’s own designs are one-family houses, and he received the Wood Prize in 2007. Koponen describes his principles as follows:
“Intimacy, naturalness and self-evidence emerging from simplicity are in my opinion the most important features in vernacular building. It combines unpretentious materials, skill and traditional wisdom linked to experience of life. Such an environment is something I recall from my childhood, and perhaps this is why it is my goal in design. It is in contrast to academic theory, a burden which I cannot escape as an architect.”
Koponen represented Finland in the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2006.
THE LIMITS OF ARCHITECTURE - between reality and fiction
The borders of architecture
Through his books, articles and lecture, Juhani Pallasmaa (born 1936) has become a key figure in both the Finnish architecture scene and promoting Finnish architecture abroad. As the director of the institution that later became the University of Art and Design as well as the Department of Architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology, Pallasmaa has influenced the thoughts of generations of Finnish architects and designers. Pallasmaa headed the Museum of Finnish Architecture in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Helsinki, his office has contributed to the formation of the districts of Kamppi, Itäkeskus and Ruoholahti, created individual commercial and residential buildings and engaged in renovations such as the Helsinki Market Hall.
Pallasmaa’s lecture will explore the borders of architecture under the theme of “Between reality and fiction”.
Short Memory.
Stern nature, stern formal idiom
The office of Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen is in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but they are currently engaged in projects exploring the borders of art and architecture in southern Chile. Pezo comes from Chile and was educated in his native country. Sofia von Ellrichshausen is Argentine.
The Fosc House is a building featuring six wings in a circle; the dramatic plan can be seen at the office website. The Wolf House was recently completed in Andalue, Chile; see the photos in Archdaily. The two architects work in the borderland between art and architecture, and their houses are like installations. The fact that their buildings stand in austere natural environments at one of the ends of the earth, southern Chile, adds an interesting aspect to their philosophy.
Dan Rockhill
USA
Rockhill + Associates | www.rockhillandassociates.com
Studio 804 | www.studio804.com
Design and Construction: Hand and Mind The work of Rockhill and Associates and Studio 804
Spartan discipline in Kansas
Dan Rockhill declares opposition to the prevailing ideas of building and housing design in America, and wants to set architecture free. Rockhill emphasises the importance of natural conditions and place, "in the spirit of regionalism", according to his own words. He prefers small scale to large, hiding his buildings in the landscape instead of creating landmarks. Together with his students, Rockhill founded Studio 804 in Kansas City. Last year, the studio presented their ideas on urban planning and building at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Rockhill’s lecture theme is Design and Construction: Hand and Mind. Rockhill’s principle is that the architect must not only see to the designs but also to the actual construction. During their studies, his students get to build with their own hands.
Out of professional practice
Design processes with learning and collaboration
The architect Patama Roonrakwit from Thailand finished her education in Britain. Together with community members, she aims at creating projects which improve the housing conditions and environments of the poor in Thailand. Her office is called CASE, short for Community Architecture for Shelter and Environment. In CASE projects, local people participate in the design process from the start, and they also have final authority in decisions concerning the building process. CASE works in poor urban settlements in Thailand, aiming at improving the conditions of the people who live there. Use of materials is resourceful: even paper can be used for creating shelter. Roonrakwit emphasises that each design process is a process of learning for all participants, including herself.
How To Listen To People?
Keeping building costs to a minimum
The South African architect Carin Smuts (born 1960) studied and entered the practice during the apartheid era. Smuts was actively opposed to the apartheid regime. Today, she is hailed as an expert in low-cost dwelling, speaking on the subject around the world, for example in South America and Namibia. Smuts also teaches and lectures actively. In her low-budget buildings, she uses local materials, design solutions and labour, which contributes to feeling of community and life force. Last year, Smuts was granted the Global Award in France, and she has presented her low-cost dwelling ideas at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
Mark Isitt
Sweden (moderator)
Architecture critic from Sweden
Mark Isitt edited and published Forum AID, a magazine of architecture and design, for seven years. He has also edited a number of books. Last year, he received the Spot City award for his urban planning texts published in Göteborgs-Posten.
Isitt will be interviewing the speakers throughout the symposium.
Photo © Olli-Pekka Orpo 2007
The man behind Edge
Sami Rintala (born 1969) was invited to chair the Alvar Aalto Symposium 2009 around the theme of Edge. Rintala is one of the cross-over architects of his generation, moving fluently between architecture, art and design. Rintala also likes to cross geographical borders, moving around the Nordic countries. He currently lives and works in northern Norway, where he runs an office with Norwegian colleague Dagur Eggertsson.
Together with Marco Casagrande, Rintala represented Finland in the Venice Architecture Biennale 2000. In Finland, he is also known for his furniture.
Rintala says that his works are based on narrative and conceptualism and aim at a layered interpretation of the physical, spiritual and poetic resources of place.
Photo © Olli-Pekka Orpo