Paimio Sanatorium ( fi, Paimion parantola, sv, Pemars sanatorium) is a former

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

Paimio Paimio (; sv, Pemar) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The pop ...

Southwest Finland Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regi ...

, designed by Finnish architect

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

. Aalto received the design commission having won the architectural competition for the project held in 1929. The building was completed in 1933, and soon after received critical acclaim both in Finland and abroad. The building served exclusively as a tuberculosis sanatorium until the early 1960s, when it was converted into a general hospital. Today the building is owned by

Turku University Hospital Turku University Hospital ( fi, Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala, TYKS, sv, Åbo universitetscentralsjukhus, ÅUCS) is a hospital in Turku, Finland. General information The hospital serves as the central hospital for southwestern Finland. I ...

but is not functioning as a hospital; rather, the building has functioned as private rehabilitation center for children since 2014. The sanatorium has been nominated to become a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

History

Aalto received the commission to design the building after winning an

architectural competition An architectural design competition is a type of design competition in which an organization that intends on constructing a new building invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel o ...

for the project held in 1929. Though the building represents the 'modernist' period of Aalto's career, and followed many of the tenets of

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

's pioneering ideas for

modernist architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

(e.g. ribbon windows, roof terraces, machine aesthetic), it also carried the seeds of Aalto's later move towards a more synthetic approach. For instance, the main entrance is marked by a nebulous-shaped canopy unlike anything being designed at that time by the older generation of modernist architects. The building is widely regarded as one of his most important early designs — designed at the same time as the

Vyborg Library Vyborg Library ( fi, Viipurin kaupunginkirjasto) is a library in Vyborg, Russia, built during the time of Finnish sovereignty (1918 to 1940-44), before the Finnish city of Viipuri was annexed by the former USSR and its Finnish name was changed to ...

. Aalto and his wife Aino designed all of the sanatorium's furniture and interiors. Some of the furniture, most notably the Paimio chair, is still in production by Artek.

Architecture

Aalto's starting point for the design of the sanatorium was to make the building itself a contributor to the healing process. He liked to call the building a "medical instrument". For instance, particular attention was paid to the design of the patient bedrooms: these generally held two patients, each with his or her own cupboard and washbasin. Aalto designed special silent basins, so that the patient would not disturb the other while washing. Aalto placed the lamps in the room out of the patients' line of vision and painted the ceiling a relaxing grayish green so as to avoid glare. Each patient had their own specially designed cupboard, fixed to the wall and off the floor so as to aid in cleaning beneath it. In the early years the only known "cure" for tuberculosis was complete rest in an environment with clean air and sunshine. Thus on each floor of the building, at the end of the patient bedroom wing, were sunning balconies, where weak patients could be pulled out in their beds. Healthier patients could go and lie on the sun deck on the very top floor of the building. As the patients spent a long time — typically several years — in the sanatorium, there was a distinct community atmosphere among both staff and patients; something which Aalto had taken into account in his designs, with various communal facilities, a chapel, as well as staff housing, and even specially laid out promenade routes through the surrounding forest landscape. In the 1950s the disease could be partly dealt with by surgery and thus a surgery wing, also designed by Aalto's architect studio, was added. Soon after,

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...

saw the virtual end of the disease, and the number of patients was reduced dramatically and the building was converted into a general hospital.

Use of Sanatorium today

Paimio Sanatorium is still owned by Turku University hospital, but it's not used as a hospital anymore. Since 2014 main building and some staff houses have been part of The Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Children and Young People established in 2000 by the

Mannerheim League for Child Welfare Mannerheim League for Child Welfare ( fi, Mannerheimin Lastensuojeluliitto ry (MLL); sv, Mannerheims Barnskyddsförbund rf) is a Finnish non-governmental organization founded in 1920 that promotes the well-being of children, young people and fami ...

Literature

*Margaretha Ehrström, Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen and Tommi Lindh, ''Nomination of Paimio Hospital for Inclusion in the World Heritage List''. Museovirasto, Helsinki, 2005. *Marianna Heikinheimo (2013):
Functionalism and Technology
', p. 73-79 *Göran Schildt, ''Alvar Aalto. The Early Years''. Rizzoli, New York, 1984.

References

External links