Paimio Hospital and Vyborg Library: Questions of Authenticity, Integrity and Conservation

The paper introduces the notions of Authenticity and Integrity regarding two world famous buildings of Alvar Aalto of the late 1920s-early 1930s within a frame of the major World Heritage assessment tools. A search for a balance in between these two important concepts is presented as a basic strategy in conservation approaches. Special attention is paid to the changes in the interpretation of these notions in the World Heritage Operational Guidelines since 1977 until today. Conservation works carried out in Paimio Hospital and Viipuri (Vyborg) Library during the last decades compared along these concepts and with a prospect of their potential for being inscribed into the World Heritage List. This possibility is estimated both as within a separate monument approach as well as in a serial transboundary nomination. For both actions significant comparative analysis leading to demonstration of the Outstanding Universal Values are crucial.

Natalia Dushkina