“With the stadium precisely adapted to its surroundings, a closed block and a quiet urban area have become a vibrant city district.”
3/2024Stage
What kind of space is suitable for presenting? What kind of ideals guide contemporary theatre buildings? What kind of city will be created around the arenas?
Vision and Form
Kotka’s new events centre is ALA Architects’ latest take on the theme of a sculptural main facade.
Dramaturgy of Building and Ruin
If one examines an office building or shopping centre through the means of performing arts, what do they reveal about themselves, about architecture – and about the act of performing?
Artwashing Demolition
Utilising to-be-demolished buildings for temporary art shows is becoming a formalized urban development practice. However, it disregards the potential of existing urban spaces and ignores the temporary use and artistic agency as vehicles for place-shaping.
A Stadium and a Place
With the new stadium carefully adapted to its surroundings, a quiet corner of Tammela has become a vibrant part of the city district.
A Key to Modern Architecture
In the 1970s, architect Pentti Piha was involved in developing and bringing to Finland the so-called black box stage, which performing artists are nowadays critical of. Through this critique, we can reevaluate the legacy of modernist architecture even more broadly.
Time Traveling
In the recent renovation of the Finnish National Theatre’s Small Stage there is no appreciable distinction between the materials of different ages or the temporal layers, but rather a theatre visit takes you back to the 1950s.
Arenas of Urban Development
Helsinki, Turku and Oulu are planning to build event arenas in central locations. In Tampere, an arena built above the railway has been in use for a good two years. What kind of cityscape is being constructed along these megaprojects?
2/2024Matter and Intelligence
How will artificial intelligence change architecture? If one must build new or repair, what are the best material choices in terms of natural resources and the carbon footprint? What is the new aesthetics of architecture like?
Material Upheaval
If one must build new or repair, what are the best material choices in terms of natural resources and the carbon footprint?
Wooden Charm in a Concrete Neighbourhood
A CLT-frame daycare centre introduces fresh shapes and a pleasant milieu for children in Oulu’s Kaijonharju.
A Pioneer of the Circular Economy
The warehouse of a former brewery in Berlin’s Neukölln district is now being used for work and living. The project named CRCLR House has been designed following the principles of circular economy.
Talking Trash With an Architect And a Designer
What is it like to design with materials someone else has discarded? Architect Seela Pentikäinen explored the topic with designer Isa Kukkapuro-Enbom and architect Satu Ratinen.
1/2024The Heart of the City
What is the role of the centre in contemporary cities? How should city centres be developed? What are the current trends in urban architecture? What kind of infill development do urban environments sustain?
Against the Human Scale
The key challenges of urban planning extend beyond the human scale, argues Tommy Lindgren.
Part of the Continuum – Interview with Peter Barber
Peter Barber’s residential buildings in London create continuity with the picturesque historic urban fabric, combining aesthetics and ethics in an original way.
Threat to Protected Buildings
Protected buildings should always be renovated preserving their distinctive features. Nowadays, more and more often, the proposed solution is demolition to make way for larger and more efficient spaces.
Revisit: Kuokkala Centre
The Kuokkala centre shows that urban planning, at its best, is an endurance discipline.
In Memoriam: Juha Leiviskä (1936–2023) Was Both Expressive and Low Key in His Work
The passing of Juha Leiviskä is a loss to the culture of Finnish architecture but also to the world of architecture in general.