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Calendar

12. 5.

Monday

13. 5.

Tuesday

14. 5.

Wednesday

15. 5.

Thursday

16. 5.

Friday

17. 5.

Saturday

18. 5.

Sunday

19. 5.

Monday

20. 5.

Tuesday

21. 5.

Wednesday

22. 5.

Thursday

23. 5.

Friday

24. 5.

Saturday

25. 5.

Sunday

26. 5.

Monday

27. 5.

Tuesday

28. 5.

Wednesday

29. 5.

Thursday

30. 5.

Friday

31. 5.

Saturday

1. 6.

Sunday

2. 6.

Monday

3. 6.

Tuesday

4. 6.

Wednesday

5. 6.

Thursday

6. 6.

Friday

7. 6.

Saturday

8. 6.

Sunday

Sunila pulp mill and residential area (1936–38, 1947, 1951–54) form the largest entity realized according to Alvar Aalto’s original plans. Aalto drew up a master plan for the industrial community in summer 1936. He separated the factory from the residental area by placing the former on a rocky island accessible via an embankment, and scattered the residential units on the mainland, thus creating Finland´s first “forest town”. The scheme is still a harmonious example of the socially driven construction of the period and of the possibilities and achievements of building technology.

Designed in

1936–38, 1947, 1951–54

Location

Finland, Kotka

— 1

View from the sea to the mill. Photo: Foto Roos, Alvar Aalto Foundation.

— 2

Plan for the Sunila pulp mill and residential area. Drawing: Alvar Aalto Foundation.

— 3

Modern pulp mill architecture. Photo: Eino Mäkinen, Alvar Aalto Foundation.

— 4

The head office building is located right next to the mill, inside the factory gates. This was an unusual solution at the time. Photo: Gustaf Welin, Alvar Aalto Foundation.

— 5

The head office building. Photo: Maija Holma, Alvar Aalto Foundation.

— 6

The head office building was furnished according to a plan by Aino Aalto. Photo: Gustaf Welin, Alvar Aalto Foundation.

— 7

In Sunila, the dwellings do not form traditional street spaces and blocks. The nature and terrain have guided the placement of the buildings. Photo: Foto Roos, Alvar Aalto Foundation.

— 8

The row house for engineers. The fan-shape and stepped levels of the dwellings provide the right amount of privacy. Photo: Maija Holma, Alvar Aalto Foundation.

— 9

All the dwellings in the three-storey RinneOviTalo (Slope Door House) apartment buildings have their own connection to the yard. Photo: Maija Holma, Alvar Aalto Foundation.

Guided tours

Enquiries: info@sunilakantola.fi

More information

See Pro Sunila website for information about the sites.

Information about visits can be found at visit.alvaraalto.fi.