Chapter 1 | Introductiongreat interest in using natural light in innovative ways and, in particular, in creating
architectural solutions that took into account the existing light conditions.^176 Markku
Norva suo’s doctoral dissertation Taivaskattoinen huone (A Room with a Sky Ceiling)
discussed the role of scientific and technological knowledge of lighting in Alvar Aalto’s
architecture between 1927 and 1956. He specifically studied the importance of the
1920s and 1930s lighting technology and theories for Aalto. Norvasuo defined lighting
technology as a discipline that covers both the technology of producing light and the
theory of lighting and light sources. Norvasuo did not see the application of light-tech-
nological theories in the analysis of architectural form as a relevant object of study.^177
He maintained that technological principles were not apparent in a pure form in Aalto’s
thinking, which in his opinion was understandable as Aalto was, after all, an architect,
not a technology professional.^178 According to Norvasuo’s interpretation, lighting tech-
nology and theory represent a discipline separate from architecture.
Knowledge about electrophysics and the function of electrical equipment was essen-
tial for a lighting designer. Norvasuo has emphasised the importance of the Finnish
engineer Helge Kjäldman and the Danish designer Poul Henningsen for Aalto. Apart
from the influences they apparently drew from the work of these two, the Aaltos were in
a privileged position in terms of accumulating and absorbing knowledge about electricity,
as Aino’s brother and Alvar’s brother-in-law, Aksel Marsio, was one of the first pioneers
of electrification in Finland.^179 At the time of the Paimio Sanatorium project, he was
heading the Helsinki Electricity Works and chairing the Lighting Economy Agency of
the Finnish Electricity Association. The remit of the agency was to provide information
and advice in all matters regarding electricity.^180 Aksel Marsio’s expertise must have had a
crucial influence in Aalto’s knowledge about lighting and electrical systems.
The monographs of Aalto’s contemporary architects given this research insight into
how the professional scope and the position and relations within the different networks
of an architect were understood in 1920s and 1930s Finland. Elina Standertskjöld’s
monograph on P.E. Blomstedt (1900–1935), who was more theoretical in his approach
to architecture than Aalto and one of the architects featured at the Helsinki Minimum
Apartment Exhibition as well as a prolific writer, serves as an important benchmark.^181
Erik Bryggman, who collaborated with Aalto, has been studied by art historian and
Professor Emerita Riitta Nikula^182 and art historian Helena Soiri-Snellman, whose
thorough study into Erik Bryggman’s Turku period also provided a wealth of information
176 For example Kaarina Mikonranta has studied Aalto’s light fittings and Markku Norvasuo his use of light. See
Mikonranta 2002a and Norvasuo 2009.
177 He draws attention to how light and the shape of the space have usually been linked together when studying light-
ing. The shape becomes salient when observing the geometry of lighting, in other words, how light is reflected
in a space. However, the effects of the reflection of light are complex in a deeper analysis of a space. Norvasuo
2009, p. 21.
178 Norvasuo 2009, p. 25.
179 Renja Suominen-Kokkonen in personal conversation, March 18, 2015.
180 Kjäldman 1930, pp. 56–58; Norvasuo 2009, p. 35.
181 Standertskjöld 1995.
182 Nikula 1991, pp. 9–79.