by human, organisational and material factors.^3 With technical systems, I have referred
to the mechanical or material dimension of technological systems. Comparing Paimio
Sanatorium with another building had become redundant for my chosen theoretical
perspective, which directed me towards an anthropological approach and guided me
to concentrate on a single project. After launching my study on Paimio Sanatorium, in
2000, the National Board on Antiquities commissioned a historical building survey on
Paimio Sanatorium from me and my team working on a consultancy basis.^4 This gave
me the opportunity to study the building at close range on site and to form an informed
opinion.^5 Furthermore, there are large amounts of source material on this architecturally
ambitious, major institution and its construction and the architect himself was a prolific
writer – all of which allowed me to pursue my elected approach to Paimio Sanatorium.
I launched into my dissertation research in 1999 at the national graduate school,
in architecture. The first version of my dissertation, which I completed towards the
end of graduate school was unsatisfactory in my own opinion. I had digressed into
studying Aalto’s patents and Finnish steel windows of the 1930s.^6 I put active research
work on hold to pursue my other professional interests, until 2010, when I revived my
research project. My topic remained the same, only now my focus had shifted more
significantly towards discussing Aalto’s architectural theories, and I chose Bruno
Latour’s actor-network theory as the major theoretical framework for my study and
a tool for analysing the evolution of the technological solutions adopted at Paimio
Sanatorium. A well-known subject matter demands a fresh angle for the study to be
of any interest, and immersing oneself into the subject matter and interpreting the
findings requires a great deal of work.
My dissertation studies were supervised by Professor Kimmo Lapintie, PhD, Aalto
University, and instructed by Renja Suominen-Kokkonen, PhD, adjunct professor,
Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies, University of Helsinki. In
the early stages of the work, my instructor was Professor Vilhelm Helander, followed for
a short period by Professor Aino Niskanen, PhD. I would like to thank all my instruc-
tors, and especially Renja Suominen-Kokkonen, for their encouraging and challenging
comments and persistent pedagogical work. The preliminary examiners of my work,
Professor Emeritus Claes Caldenby, PhD, from Chalmers University of Technology,
3 See e.g. Hughes 1989, pp. 184–185.
4 The author’s team compiled a report on Paimio Sanatorium commissioned by the National Board of Antiquities,
the City of Paimio and Turku University Central Hospital. The report was completed in 2000 and formed the basis
for the Ministry of Education and Culture’s submission to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Heikinheimo et al.,
Ark-byroo architects 2000.
5 Wang 2002, p. 161.
6 My study on Aalto’s patents was published in a brief article in Ptah magazine in 2004 and a separate study on
steel windows in the Helsinki University of Technology publication series in 2002. See Heikinheimo 2004 and
Heikinheimo 2002.