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Prefab but beautiful

Peculiar to Finnish culture, interior architects tend to work both on public spheres — a typically masculine field of architecture — and on feminine home interiors, says art historian Susanna Aaltonen.

Susanna Aaltonen is one of those people who enjoy spending time at her workplace. No wonder. Few people have the privilege of working in a building as beautiful as the Main Building of the University of Helsinki.

The Senate Square, one of the key locations of Helsinki, is surrounded by the Cathedral, the Government palace and old merchants’ houses: temples of religion, politics and commerce. On the fourth side of the square stands Aaltonen's workplace — an Empire style edifice designed by Carl Ludvig Engel in the mid 19th century.

I meet Susanna Aaltonen over a cup of coffee in the neighbouring university building: the modern Porthania, a prime example of 1950s architecture. The building is a landmark that features prominently in Aaltonen’s recently complete doctoral dissertation.

Aaltonen’s dissertation deals with the interior architect’s profession and its development in Finland in the 1940s and 1950s. According to Aaltonen, the professional profile of the interior architect in Finland has differed from that in other countries. Over here, it has involved the architecture of public spaces, a typically masculine domain, and home interiors, typically a feminine one.

This difference is manifested also in the use of language. “For example in English, people talk about designers or decorators rather than architects,” she says.

The boundaries of different professions have been under debate in Finland as well as elsewhere. In the 1940s, interior architects were called furniture draughtsmen. Gradually, architectural offices started hiring them.

One of the interior architects Aaltonen has studied, Lasse Ollinkari (1921–1993), worked initially at the office of Aarne Ervi, i.e., the architect who designed Porthania. The Turku-based Carin Bryggman (1920–1993) started her career working for her father, architect Erik Bryggman.

“Architects were, at first, dead against their assistants being called architects. For interior architects, the title was a way to raise the profile of the profession,” says Aaltonen.

Another aspect peculiar to Finland is that there have been equal numbers of female and male interior architects and both have designed homes as well as public spaces.
Aaltonen’s own home is located in the Kallio district of Helsinki, which she fell in love with as a 16-year-old student, her school being situated in the area. “My own home is an eclectic mix. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a furniture museum, but I do have pieces from many different periods,” she says.

Susanna Aaltonen’s five favourite places in Helsinki

“A lovely, colourful café where the owner’s personal touch shows. A favourite among the students of the nearby art-oriented upper secondary school.”

“A small kiosk from the 1940s gives life to the whole park. I love sitting by the kiosk in the summer for some traditional Finnish lemonade. In the wintertime, the same people run the café in the corner of Karhupuisto Park.”

“A small gem in the midst of the district of Vallila.”

“Designed by Aarne Ervi, the building represents 1950s architecture. Don’t miss the oval staircase and the art works in the lobby. The first floor café serves great buns. For more of Ervi’s architecture, visit the Museum of Finnish Architecture. ”

“This is where my office on the premises for art history reside. The Unionkatu side vestibule is exquisite, as are the plaster of Paris reliefs and sculptures.”

Text: Mervi Itkonen
Photo: Veikko Somerpuro

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