Chapter 3 | The Building of Paimio SanatoriumCommittee meetings show that most of the tenders had been addressed directly to
architect Aalto, that is to say, he had requested them as a representative of the Building
Board. He therefore had a great influence on the choice of contractors.
The work was carried out as a part contract under client supervision. In a contract of
this type, the financial risk for the outcome rested with the developer, who was respon-
sible for the acquisition of both labour and materials, and was therefore exposed to price
fluctuations. The adopted form of contract, the in-house contract, was chosen based on
the assumption that building costs level would have decreased from that of 1928–1929.
The inspection of the buildings and furnishings of the Tuberculosis Sanatorium
of Southwest Finland was conducted on February 10–11, 1933. The inspection was
attended by Y.J. Sadeniemi, Director General of the National Board of Public Build-
ing; S.I. Launis, architect; Torsten Kranck, engineer; Edward Horelli, Senior Medical
Officer; and K. Oksanen, mechanical engineer.
3.1.3 THE ARCHITECTS BEHIND PAIMIO
Aino Marsio-Aalto and Alvar Aalto’s architectural practice was selected to design of
the Tuberculosis Sanatorium of Southwest Finland through an open architectural
competition. Initially, the intention of the Building Board had been to organise an
invited competition with entries from architects Jussi Paatela, Eino Forsman and Ilmari
Ahonen. In July 1928, before launching the competition, the Building Board toured
other sanatoria to gain deeper knowledge about relevant issues. They visited the City
of Helsinki Tuberculosis Sanatorium, designed by Eino Forsman, the Takaharju and
Harjavalta Satalinna Sanatoria, designed by Onni Tarjanne, the latter of which also
housed a paediatric department designed by Jussi Paatela.^555
Forsman himself introduced the 400-bed hospital in Helsinki to the Board, still
under construction and considered state-of-the-art at the time. The Board realised
during the excursion that the sanatorium differed from the one designed for Paimio in
that the Helsinki hospital was designed also to treat the very ill, terminal patients who
needed to be hospitalised just to prevent them from contracting the disease further. Pai-
mio Sanatorium was aimed at patients with pulmonary tuberculosis who were at least
10 years of age and who could be expected to recover fully or at least regain their ability
to work.^556 The Board was impressed by the modern amenities of the new institution:
the modern lifts, bathrooms and washbasins. It noted that the level of hygiene should
be good, which was achieved through placing only one or two patients in each room
and isolating units from each other. The organisation of the building provided much to
learn, the Board opined. In Punkaharju, Medical Director Niilo Mäkinen introduced
his realm, the Takaharju Sanatorium, which represented a slightly older building style
555 Building Board 7 July 1928, Section 4. PSA.
556 Tietoja parantolaan pyrkijöille (Information for Persons Applying to the Sanatorium). Anon 193-.