Press release

1 September 2016

Free for publication

The shortlist for the 2016 Finlandia Prize for Architecture: Lappeenranta City Theatre, Löyly, Railo and Suvela Chapel

Paavo Lipponen will elect the winner

The Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) will award the third Finlandia Prize for Architecture in 2016. The finalists shortlisted by the Pre-Selection Jury are the Lappeenranta City Theatre, Löyly in Helsinki’s Hernesaari district, the spectator stand of the Rovaniemi Sports Arena Railo and Suvela Chapel in Espoo. The prize winner will be chosen by Paavo Lipponen, former Prime Minister of Finland. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony held on 13 October in Helsinki.

Four different types of living rooms

According to Pirjo Sanaksenaho, who chairs the Pre-Selection Jury, all four finalists offer in their own way a living room for local residents, each with a unique character arising from their function and environment.

“The shortlisted new builds represent buildings of widely differing functions and geographic locations. What they have in common is that they all form a space for the public to spend time in – a church space, a sports venue, a cultural space and leisure time space. In each of these buildings, architecture has been used to give them interest and personality within their respective environments.”

The Lappeenranta City Theatre is housed, unusually for a theatre, within a new extension of a shopping mall. The Pre-Selection Jury finds that the concept in which a large public building is housed within a commercial building ultimately creates an intriguing setting for a new type of theatre building to emerge. The foyer of the theatre opens up towards the high central hall of the mall. The public spaces are furnished with dark monochrome and metallic surfaces providing a convincing contrast to the abundance of colour and information stimuli of the shopping mall. Built on one level, the theatre centres around a tight group of large hall spaces. Its elegant simplicity raises the ambiance above and beyond the ordinary. Completed in 2015, the theatre was designed by ALA Architects (architects Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Janne Teräsvirta and Samuli Woolston).

Lappeenranta City Theatre

Löyly was erected in Helsinki’s Hernesaari district this year. According to the Pre-Selection Jury, few buildings in Helsinki that are open to the public make such full use of their location by the sea as Löyly does. The horizon is visible from almost all indoor spaces and the views can also be taken in from the roof. The building is a mound clad in wooden lamellas that beautifully reflect the light thanks to their triangular profile. The wood used on the elevation will acquire a grey patina over time, so that, from a distance, it will look like one of the bare granite rocks emblematic of the Helsinki coastline. The slats provide discrete privacy to those using the saunas, while allowing a sea view from inside. The building was designed by Avanto Architects (architects Ville Hara, Anu Puustinen, Antti Westerlund and Hiroko Mori; architect students Laura Nenonen and Xiaowen Xu).

Löyly

Railo

The spectator stand of the Rovaniemi Sports Arena, Railo, and the boulder-shaped residential and office buildings, once completed, will form a crevasse-like roadway winding between them. The building is located within the so-called “Reindeer Antler” town plan designed by Alvar Aalto, near the town centre of Rovaniemi. The stand has a very different look depending on the direction from which it is viewed. When seen directly from the front, from the other side of the pitch, the structure looks like a lean and lightweight canopy supported by columns. The best view of the spectator stand is from a distance: a large-scale, statuesque sports arena. According to the Pre-Selection Jury, the new sports arena and multipurpose building add a contemporary edge to the city’s high-quality architecture. Railo was designed by APRT Architects (architects Aaro Artto, Teemu Palo, Yrjö Rossi, Hannu Tikka and Jussi Vakkilainen).

The Suvela Chapel creates a natural highpoint within its surroundings.Some of the spaces are used by the City of Espoo residents’ park. The building also houses some facilities serving the residents’ park, making it a natural meeting point for people of all ages. The building forms clear delineation for traffic routes around it and the yard area it encloses. The copper clad building extends from the ground over the roof and belfry, resulting in a sculptural impression. The interior of the main hall is powerful in its simplicity. Completed in 2016, the chapel was designed by OOPEAA Office for Peripheral Architecture (architects Anssi Lassila, Iida Hedberg, Juha Pakkala, Teemu Hirvilammi, Jussi-Pekka Vesala, Hanna-Kaarina Heikkilä, Anis Souissi and Miguel Silva).

Suvela Chapel

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Finlandia Prize for Architecture and the members of the Pre-Selection Jury

This year’s Pre-Selection Jury members are Pirjo Sanaksenaho (chair), Professor of Building Design at the Department of Architecture of the Aalto University and Head of the Research Institute for Health Care Facilities (SOTERA); Sari Nieminen, Artist Professor in Architecture; Eero Lundén, Director of Lundén Architecture; and Janne Pihlajaniemi, Professor of Architecture at the University of Oulu and Partner at M3 Architects. The Secretary of the Jury was Paula Huotelin, Secretary General of the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA).

The Finlandia Prize for Architecture is awarded for the design or renovation design of an outstanding new building or building complex that has been completed within the past three years. The prize may be awarded either to a Finnish or foreign architect, or to an architectural firm for a project designed for a location in Finland; or to a Finnish architect or architectural firm for a project designed for a location abroad. The recipient of the Finlandia Prize for Architecture is elected by an influential stakeholder representing an expertise other than architecture. The Elector makes the choice based on a shortlist of the architectural projects named by the Pre-Selection Jury. The purpose of the prize is to promote the appreciation of high-quality architecture and to highlight the importance of architecture in producing cultural value and increasing well-being.

The Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) is a non-profit professional organisation engaged in active efforts to promote architecture and high-quality living environments. Established in 1892, SAFA has approximately 3,100 members, all of whom are architects with a university degree from a Finnish university or equivalent qualification from another country. In addition, SAFA has approximately 600 student members.

For the media

Representatives of the media are welcome to attend the award ceremony on Thursday 13 October 2016, at 5 p.m. Guests will receive separate invitations.

Media contacts: Johanna Immonen, Pink Eminence +358 40 838 6252

Images: www.arkkitehtuurinfinlandia.fi

Other inquiries: Pirjo Sanaksenaho, tel. +358 50 571 4900 or Paula Huotelin, tel. +358 9 5844 4224

Website: www.arkkitehtuurinfinlandia.fi

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ARKFinlandia

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArkfinPrize