In Viherympäristö Magazine Malin Blomqvist and Elina Kataja explore how to transform an iconic a culturally and historically significant campus to accommodate modern needs  – without losing its original sprit.

Adapting architectural-historical masterpieces to new needs requires equal measures of humility, professional expertise, and vision. And there are hardly any Finnish modernists more iconic than Alvar Aalto, who in the 1960s designed the red brick buildings and outdoor spaces that today house Aalto University. Over recent years, the area has undergone extensive development. In 2010, the campus was expanded as part of the consolidation of the Finnish higher education system, and today’s Aalto University is the result of a merger between the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economics, and the University of Art and Design Helsinki.

The extensive university expansion significantly altered traffic flows through the area. Due to the new metro line, the main entrance no longer faced the primary arrival space; instead, students and staff arrived from the new station and entered the campus via self-created routes. These newly formed paths resulted in an undignified—and often rather muddy—arrival situation. In addition, the grass-covered slopes, terraces, and the iconic amphitheatre square also appeared worn due to a lack of maintenance and increased use.

The university expansion and the new metro station created an acute need to rethink the entire campus area: its overall infrastructure and appearance, while at the same time the client wished to increase biodiversity in the area as part of a new image for the modern campus.

The design plans were based on a sequence of urban spaces from the new metro station to the amphitheatre square, accommodating the changed pedestrian flows. Outdoor spaces supporting student life were to be established, and the amphitheatre square itself was to be upgraded with respect for the area’s history.

However, during our planning process, a dendrological survey determined that the trees were in very poor condition and posed a direct danger along the most heavily used pedestrian routes in a highly active campus environment. In recognition of the trees’ historical significance, we sought to create a homage to these old giants and extend their afterlife through a respectful staging. The felled trunks are given new life in the form of an artwork made of dead wood, where nature’s cycles and processes are made visible.

Two of the branched linden trunks are lifted into the air by slender columns and allowed to hover on a pedestal above living, dynamically evolving planting. Placement on a pedestal elevates the trunks from dead material and waste to exhibition objects. In this way, they now form a landmark that symbolizes the campus area’s dialogue between past, present, and an ever-changing future. In the artwork, the site’s natural development, species-rich vegetation, and the connection between living and decomposing elements are always present.

This is a extract of Taide osana ikonisen kampusalueen muodonmuutosta from Viherympäristö.

Read the full article (text in Finnish)

Thank you, Viherympäristö, for your interest in Aalto Campus / Photographs: Maite Gonzales (top) and Mikko Raskinen (end).