Aalto participated in the international modernistic discourse by demonstrating his
awareness of topical problems and his efforts to resolve the acoustic problem of the
corridor in an aesthetically successful manner.
Photographs could not be used with the article, because the construction was
ongoing and the architectural press was not in the habit of publishing pictures of
unfinished sites, as these were of no interest for the editors of the architectural
magazines. Aalto’s ideas were illustrated with drawings and one photograph. The
photograph shows, however, that the building was being constructed and that this
was not only a theoretical exercise. Using image collage in illustrating the washba-
sins also gave a sense of realism to the article.
In his article in Byggmästaren (The Master Builder), he highlighted solutions that
were of great interest from the perspective of international discourse. Since the Swed-
ish architectural press was widely followed in Finland, Aalto succeeded in raising
public expectations and bringing the highest-ranking leaders in the field of construc-
tion in Finland to inspect the building on its completion the following spring. Aalto
adopted Le Corbusier’s method of critically analysing design questions by breaking
them down into parts, as evident in the description of the design solution for the
patient room. It is also interesting to find that the solutions were not yet finalised. The
Fig. 2.8b. A diagram of the reflection of sound waves in
the patient wing corridor. Aalto 1932a, p. 83.