1.6 The Structure of This Dissertation
T
he first Chapter served as an introduction to the study, presenting the background
and the theoretical frame, stating the research problem, making a review of existing
research, and explaining the context, methods, delimitations and the key concepts.
Chapter 2, “Alvar Aalto’s Professional Networks”, focused on the ideological influ-
ences, writings, social networks and professional development of the architect during
the years of Paimio Sanatorium completion, between 1928 and 1933. In this chapter,
Aalto’s writings have been analysed with reflection on the international intellectual
influences that he absorbed, with specific attention paid to thoughts and concepts
regarding technology. Aalto’s writings echoed the influences he adopted and revealed
his personal interpretations thereof. The chapter also explained how Aalto himself dis-
cussed the Paimio Sanatorium project in publicity during its construction. Discussing
the architect’s later interpretations of his design for the sanatorium, were deliberately
avoided, as his ideas may have evolved over the years.
Chapter 3 “The Building of Paimio Sanatorium” concentrated on the construction
of Paimio Sanatorium from the initial architectural competition to its inauguration. At
the time of the realisation of his design, Aalto collaborated with numerous stakeholders,
each with their own motives and interests to guard.^271 Besides Aalto himself as a person
who headed the design team and the construction project, the design created by Aalto was
another factor directing the execution process. The design work and the realisation partly
overlapped. Approaching the realisation process from certain ideologically determined
perspectives revealed the intentions of the different stakeholders as well as the perspectives
that mattered the most to the architect. The findings of the empirical research were linked to
Latour’s set of concepts at the end of all four sections in which the processes of design and
construction were discussed. The first section introduced the project organisation, the pro-
cess and the format that the project took. The second section explained how the economic
depression in Finland affected construction and the funding of the sanatorium project. In
the sections focusing on the technological systems, the solutions, designers, contractors,
manufacturers, methods and, most importantly, the critical stages in their interaction at
each given topic were described. In Chapter 4 “Conclusions”, the research question for the
present study study, the findings and the professional significance thereof were discussed. In
the final section, Latour’s key concepts were mobilised.
271 In addition to the Federation of the Municipalities of Southwest Finland, the competition organisers, the architects,
the engineers and the state authorities, there were many other stakeholder groups involved in the construction
stage: building supervisors, medical doctors as specialists representing the state and the user, specialists in differ-
ent engineering disciplines, construction contractors, subcontractors, workers and product suppliers. Each player
contributed to decisions made. As the users of the building, in other words the patients and the staff, were absent
from the design and execution phase, they were represented indirectly by specialists, such as doctors, institutes,
and architects, who made decisions for them.