The Getty Foundation in Los Angeles has awarded a $180,000 grant to the Alvar Aalto Foundation to develop a conservation management plan for Paimio Sanatorium. The project is due to start immediately. This is the first conservation management plan of this magnitude in Finland.

Completed in 1933, Paimio Sanatorium is one of the most significant cultural heritage sites in Finland. Alvar Aalto not only designed the building, but he also conceived the interior design of the hospital. The sanatorium was one of the buildings that made Aalto a household name internationally.

“The creation of a conservation management plan for the building proves its significance and guarantees its preservation. With the grant awarded to the Alvar Aalto Foundation, we can implement a comprehensive plan that takes into account the historical and architectural characteristics of this modern masterpiece, also in the future,” says the director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation, Tommi Lindh.

The plan will be created as a joint effort between a team from the Alvar Aalto Foundation, and representatives from the National Board of Antiquities and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. The team will also include experts in cultural history, the maintenance of historic buildings, the UNESCO World Heritage programme, and building services engineering.

The Getty Foundation, which awarded the grant, is a non-profit organisation, named after the American Jean Paul Getty (1892–1976). The Getty Foundation supports institutions and individuals committed to advancing the greater understanding and preservation of the visual arts in Los Angeles and throughout the world. Keeping It Modern initiative will address the considerable challenges involved with the conservation of modern architectural heritage through support for key model projects.

Among the first ten modern buildings that were selected for the initiative, in addition to Paimio Sanatorium, were, for example, Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House and Le Corbusier’s apartment and studio in Paris, France.

For more information, see the Getty Foundation’s Press Release (PDF).

More information:

Director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation, Tommi Lindh
tommi.lindh(at)alvaraalto.fi
tel. +358 44 562 1625