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SÄYNÄTSALO TOWN HALL
A ALTO’S 1952 MUNICIPAL BUILDING, IN CENTRAL FINL AND, HASN’ T
SERVED ITS INTENDED PURPOSE SINCE 1993. CURRENTLY, A LOCAL
RESIDENT GIVES TOURS AND RENTS ROOMS THROUGH AIRBNB.double rooms, shaped so that water hitting the porcelain wouldn’t
make disruptive splashing sounds. (Back then, the main treatment
for tuberculosis was rest and relaxation.) Between each pair of sinks
is a smaller, clear-glass bowl with a flushing mechanism—a wall-
mounted spittoon, the height of modernity when Aalto conceived the
building 90 years ago. Walking the building’s long hallways, with
their white walls and bright-yellow floors, one can imagine it becom-
ing a hip design hotel, a chance for architecture buffs to vacation in a
true modernist landmark. But would even the most devoted of them
want to sleep beside Aalto’s spittoons?
In fact, the sanatorium’s transformation into a hotel is a real
possibility. “The maintenance is costly, and we have financial
pressure to reduce these costs,” says Leena Setälä, strategy direc-
tor of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland. Last year, Setälä
tried to sell the 86-year-old building, but, she says, “our initial
good effort resulted in a poor sample of potential buyers.” So she
took the building off the market. Now, she says, she is hoping for “a
government-supported trust that owns and keeps the sanatorium
in good shape.” In March the Finnish government appointed a com-
mittee of two men, including Aalto’s grandson, Alanen, a lawyer, to
consider the building’s future. Their report, released in June, called
for the creation of a nonprofit foundation—with a contribution of up
to 2.5 million euros from the government—that would maintain the
building while seeking a viable use for it in the area of “cultural and
wellbeing tourism.” If the plan works, it would mean that “at least
the day-to-day expenses can be covered by the rent from the actual
use of the building,” Alanen wrote in an email.
But even an Aalto building in the center of Helsinki isn’t guar-
anteed a buyer. In 1955, Aalto was hired by Finland’s Communist
Party to design a complex called Kulttuuritalo, or Hall of Culture.
The building, completed three years later, consists of an auditorium
and an office block joined by a long canopy. Aalto experimented with
wedge-shaped brick to create the curved auditorium exterior. The
office wing, by contrast, is rectilinear and sheathed in copper.
While the auditorium thrives, the office wing is eerily empty. It
contains dozens of small rooms arrayed along long corridors. That
kind of workspace compartmentalization is unfashionable today,
says Jonas Malmberg, who heads the Aalto Foundation’s architec-
tural heritage department, explaining why the building’s owner,
Senate Properties—an arm of the Finnish government—has had a
hard time finding tenants. According to Sampo Terho, the minister,
“Senate Properties has started exploring the possibility of selling”
the building, but would only do so, he says, “to an owner who values
the unique quality of the asset.”
Not far from Hall of Culture is Finlandia Hall, a sprawling confer-
ence center and performing arts complex designed by Aalto late in
his career. The building, which opened in 1971, is white—Aalto had
it covered entirely in Italian Carrara marble. “We are extremely
popular, and often the premises are fully booked,” says the hall’s
managing director, Johanna Tolonen. But the building is about to
undergo a top-to-bottom renovation, for which its owner, the city of
Helsinki (population 630,000), has allocated more than $130 million.
At least $20 million of that will be spent replacing the facade.
Critics say that Aalto made a mistake by insisting on the porous
marble, which began to deteriorate soon after the building was com-
plete. The entire exterior was replaced in the late 1990s, but the new
marble panels began bowing almost immediately. Now materials
experts are looking for an alternative. “According to the preserva-
tion order, the facade of the building must remain equivalent to the
architectural appearance of the original,” Tolonen says. If no suit-
able material is found, the contractors will use marble, knowing it
may have to be replaced again. Yet, given Finlandia Hall’s success,
restoration—even with caveats—appears to be a good investment.
About a hundred miles northwest of Helsinki, that kind of invest-
ment may be hard to come by. A giant paper mill, long owned by
the Ahlstrom Corporation, dominates the town of Kauttua. In 1937
GOVERNMENT ISSUE
Opposite, from top: The red-brick
Säynätsalo Town Hall, built with the
contours of an Italian village in mind;
a sun-filled passageway facing onto
the central courtyard features built-in
seating with planters. Below: The
former town council meeting chamber.FINLANDIA HALL
BUILT IN 1971, A ALTO’S HELSINKI ARTS CENTER
IS STILL GOING STRONG. YET ITS BUCKLING
MARBLE FACADE IS ABOUT TO BE REPL ACED
FOR A SECOND TIME AT A COST OF AT LE AST
$20 MILLION, PART OF A TOTAL RENOVATION.SURFACE TENSION
Left: Aalto designed
Helsinki’s Finlandia Hall
with a Carrara marble
exterior, which was already
redone once in the ’90s
and has not held up well.
Below: A lobby area with
Aalto furnishings. Bottom:
A long curving bar.