From the mid-19th century onwards, Polytechnic institutions established new options
for specialising in engineering sciences, in which the emphasis remained nonetheless on
general knowledge. The French École des Beaux-Arts represented a different approach,
with its tuition based on models and learning through imitation. Pfammater argues that,
in this sense, Bauhaus also represented the Beaux-Arts method although its subjects
were industrially oriented.^143 In Finland, technical schools were based on the German
polytechnic model.^144 Furthermore, students and young architects worked as appren-
tices at the beginning of their careers.
The professional atmosphere during Aalto’s student days, between 1919 and 1923
at the Department of Architecture at Helsinki University of Technology, and his early
career was marked by both professional and political^145 change. Architectural training
was modernised in the late 1910s.^146 Engineer training began in industrial schools in
1912 and it was intended specifically to serve the field of building construction. The
university civil engineers of that time were mainly employed by public-sector agencies
for their land and waterway construction or in industrial construction projects.^147 In
the wake of urbanisation, local authorities began to establish positions for technical
professions in the early 1900s.^148 Architects and engineers also began to run private
practices. Architectural competitions were a major channel for architects to win
assignments. At the beginning of the 20th century, architects aimed to monopolise
artistry as the element that distinguished them from the other technical professions.
Expertise in artistic values helped architects create symbolic power in the domain in
which they operated.^149 The first Finnish engineering firms specialised in designing
and building demanding reinforced concrete structures. By the early 1920s, private
engineering firms and construction businesses had become significant employers for
engineers.^150 The history of Finnish architectural offices has yet to be written, except
for monographs on architects or architectural teams, which tend to be very design or
personality-oriented.^151
143 Pfammater 2000, pp. 302–307.
144 Architectural training began in Finland in 1863 at Helsingin teknillinen reaalikoulu (Helsinki Technical School). In
1872, the name of the school was changed to Polyteknillinen koulu (Polytechnic School), in 1879 to Polyteknillinen
opisto (Polytechnic Institute), and in 1908 to Suomen teknillinen korkeakoulu (University of Technology). Härö
1992, pp. 211–214.
145 Finland became an independent republic in 1917, when it broke away from Russia. Shortly after this, in 1918, a Civil
War broke out, in which Alvar Aalto fought on the side of the Whites. Heporauta 1998, p. 6; Schildt 1981, pp. 93–95.
146 The new challenges included urban planning, heating, ventilation and electrical systems, new industrially pro-
duced materials and structural designs. Härö 1992, p. 216.
147 Rantamo 2009, pp. 41–43.
148 As members of the local administration, architects headed town planning and public building construction opera-
tions. In larger towns architects and engineers were jointly in charge of building inspection while master builders
served as project managers. Rantamo 2009, pp. 84–85.
149 Suominen-Kokkonen 2001, p. 122.
150 Construction firms offer design and contracting services as well as cost calculation and project management
services. The operations of major construction firms focused largely on house and industrial building construction
but also to some degree on land and water construction. Rantamo 2009, pp. 91–98.
151 Other research would greatly benefit from understanding who established architectural offices and how they
acquired their clients, what the projects were like and what their charges were based on. It would appear that it
was typical in Finland from the very early days of architectural training for architects to combine a public-sector
job and private practice.