and was designed by architect Onni Tarjanne. At the time of its completion in 1903, it
had been Finland’s first tuberculosis sanatorium that was accessible also for the poor.
Mäkinen mentioned its downsides being the lack of concentration in functions and the
shortage of space, as well as the narrow, dark corridors and the placement of sundecks in
the centre of the building. He also objected to situating the boiler room within the main
building.^557 The Board also visited Tarjanne’s Harjavalta Sanatorium, which had been
completed in 1925. The Board noted that some of the disadvantages they had witnessed
in Tarjanne’s older design at Takaharju had been remedied, but again, for example, the
sundecks had been placed in the middle of the main building and not at the ends, which
the Board saw as a preferred arrangement. The sanatorium also lacked lifts big enough
for hospital beds and certain washing and kitchen facilities were criticised in the report
as being too small. The bakery, in which the products were baked using steam, was
considered modern by the Board. The recently completed 50-bed paediatric unit (1927)
designed by Jussi Paatela made a positive impression on the Board.
Forsman and Paatela were both accomplished hospital designers. Ilmari Ahonen,
the third architected invited to participate in the initial invited competition, instead had
no merits in hospital design specifically.^558 The Board’s decision to organise an invited
competition was debated outside the meeting to the extent that it revoked its decision.^559
The debate or decision on organising an open competition has not been recorded in the
minutes, possibly because of the delicate nature of the matter. Reviewing competition
rules was a topical issue for the architectural profession, which is the reason why the
competition procedures regarding the Tuberculosis Sanatorium of Southwest Finland
would have elicited critique among Turku-based architects. It is also the most likely
reason why the Building Board approached the subject with such vigour and saw best to
retract and change its decision. The new competition rules issued by the Finnish Asso-
ciation of Architects were adopted only in June 1929, when the competition period had
already closed. They provided ethical guidelines and, for example, private negotiations
and any exchange of opinions between the competition jury members and participating
candidates were from now on forbidden during the competition.^560
In autumn 1928, the Building Board of the Tuberculosis Sanatorium of South-
west Finland issued the following announcement: “Esteemed Architects are invited
to participate in a competition for drawing up the designs for said sanatorium with
184 sick beds”.^561 The announcement effectively excluded representatives of all other
professions except architects, and futhermore, the wording of the Finnish original
also made it clear that the architects were assumed to be male. The competition jury
557 Building Board October 27, 1928, Section 1. PSA.
558 Anon 1948, p. 8.
559 Building Board September 27, 1928, Section 3. PSA.
560 Rules for Architectural Competitions June 5, 1929. Suomen Arkkitehtiliitto (Finnish Association of Architects) 1937a,
pp. 383–384.
561 The announcement of the architectural competition of the tuberculosis sanatorium of Southwest Finland.
Varsinais-Suomen tuberkuloosiparantolan rakennuslautakunta (The Building Board for the Tuberculosis
Sanatorium of Southwest Finland), 1928b.