Chapter 4 | Conclusionsexpertise in building. Representatives of the State Medical Board were consulted only
at the beginning of the project and at certain cirtical points later on. In addition, the
Building Board appointed a physician to serve a medical advisor for the duration of
the work. The influence of medical experts was limited to a number of special areas, in
which the Building Board was uncertain to pass decisions independently.
The reinforced concrete frame was developed in collaboration between designers.
The major role was played by a person who used the initials “H.H.”, who was either
Harald Wildhagen or Hugo Harmia; there is no certainty as to his identity. His drawings
showed the evolution of the final character of the reinforced concrete sundeck wing. The
reinforced concrete structure of Paimio Sanatorium as a whole is quite tectonic in nature
and scholars such as Banham have paid attention to the discontinuity of expression.^1007
Aalto’s building frame is both structurally and aesthetically complex. For example, the
round load-bearing columns in the lobby of B wing form part of the wall, resulting in
undulating forms in the lobby walls, a structure that served the purpose of aesthetic hygiene.
On the other hand, the structure at the eastern end of B wing has been accentuated with
beams protruding from the building envelope and joined to rectangular pillars. Casting the
concrete frame in situ was also the biggest single sub-contract in the process, which the
Building Board elected to outsource. Aalto influenced the selection of the contractor in the
role of contract negotiator in order for Arvi Ahti, his close collaboration partner, to win the
contract in such an invasive manner that a legal advisor was required to resolve the matter.
The empirical investigation of the concrete frame also led me to pay attention to
traditional concepts of architectural theory, namely rationality and tectonics. Contem-
plating the power of expression in a structure as part of the poetics of architecture pro-
pelled me to ask: were not modern installation technologies similarly part of the tectonic
expression of architecture, if the architect approached them on a conscious level?
A detailed enquiry into certain processes produced a wealth of new information
about the main building and furnishings of Paimio Sanatorium. Furniture acquisitions
particularly revealed the architect’s tactics. He favoured the suppliers he had previ-
ously collaborated with. Aalto’s strategy to launch the patient room furniture into serial
production, was something that previous research had already suggested and further
confirmed by the present study. Aalto aimed to use standardised products for the hos-
pital purchases, and at the same time to design the very standards to be applied, such as
the washbasin in the patient room. Standardised products by other manufacturers were
available but they did not meet Aalto’s standards. His likely motive was to introduce his
own designs into serial production, and he found the existing serially produced wash-
basins aesthetically unsatisfactory. Aalto’s washbasin relied on basic aesthetic forms.
Arabia manufactured the special washbasins for the patient room, but presumably their
production costs were too high for the factory to be interested in their serial production.
The design contracts signed between Aalto and the Building Board did not guar-
antee that the interiors in general or even the patient room would be furnished with
1007 Banham 1957, p. 244; Porphyrios 1982, pp. 2–8.