Chapter 3 | The Building of Paimio Sanatoriumfor transporting concrete mass horizontally on upper floors.^727 However, the building
of Paimio Sanatorium took place largely using manpower without machinery. The
foundations were excavated manually with shovels, bricks were carried along a gang-
way into the building and mortar was pulled up in 20–30 litre buckets using a manual
hoist. The small farmers in the area drove sand to the site with horses, forming a chain.
The bricks were driven from Paimio train station to the site on a small truck.^728 Bricks
and insulating firebricks were purchased from Suomen saviteollisuus Oy in Paimio.
3.3.4 INSIGHT, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS
AND MATERIAL CAME TOGETHER IN THE
REINFORCED CONCRETE FRAME
The Paimio Sanatorium project involved three master builders who had trained as con-
crete engineers in Germany. The structural engineers Henriksson and Cairenius as well
as the clerk of works Kilpi had studied in the same Technical School of Sterlitz. Kilpi
designed the concrete and other structures for the smaller buildings in the sanatorium
compound.^729 These master builders and engineers had made study trips to many Euro-
pean countries and were well informed about the latest international developments
in their field. Therefore, the design and execution of the modern concrete structure
of Paimio Sanatorium did not depend on the knowledge of one or two individuals.
According to Aalto, the building management in the Sanatorium project had aimed to
keep the design and execution of each specialist structure separate and that the design
and building supervision were left in the hands of a senior professional advisor. When
the building was complete, Aalto recounted that the structural calculations had been
conducted in close collaboration with Emil Henriksson, from the very early stages
of the drawing process, and that, of all the specialists, his contribution was the most
notable.^730 Aalto did not, however, specify when exactly the collaboration had started.
Henriksson had probably served as an advisor in the competition stage in developing
the overall solution for the building. One should bear in mind that during the Paimio
Sanatorium competition stage, Aalto was collaborating with Emil Henriksson on the
Turun Sanomat Newspaper Building. However, it is equally possible that Henriksson
assisted Erik Bryggman, who also participated in the competition.
Aalto set store by expertise, on the one hand, and the separation of design and
execution, on the other. The structural engineer and the concrete frame contractor were
connected with each other on many levels, both professionally and personally. Aalto
himself had also built a relationship with Emil Henriksson during his earlier projects.
727 Tools and machinery. Summary of the building costs. I. Gm 1:1. PSA.
728 Törrönen 1984, p. 37.
729 Building Committee May 9, 1930, Section 3. PSA.
730 Aalto 1933b, p. 86.