Riitta Nikula (born 1944, in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

), is a Finnish art historian, author and professor emeritus in art and architecture history at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

. She obtained her PhD from the University of Helsinki in 1981 with a study of the architecture of the

Töölö Töölö (; sv, Tölö, formerly spelled ''Thölö'') is the collective name for the neighbourhoods Etu-Töölö ( sv, Främre Tölö, lit=Front Töölö, links=no) and Taka-Töölö ( sv, Bortre Tölö, lit=Rear Töölö, links=no) in Helsinki ...

region of Helsinki. She was Professor of

Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

at the University of Helsinki from 1994 to 2007. Nikula also acted as Head of Research at the

Museum of Finnish Architecture The Museum of Finnish Architecture ( fi, Suomen arkkitehtuurimuseo, sv, Finlands arkitekturmuseum) is an architectural museum in Helsinki, Finland. Established in 1956, it is the second oldest museum of its kind (after the Shchusev Museum of Arc ...

from 1988 to 1994. Nikula is regarded as a generalist historian of Finnish architecture, with her writings covering a time-span from prehistoric times to the present day. But she also combines two potentially contradictory viewpoints, a feminist viewpoint and a pro-bourgeois viewpoint, highlighting the role of the ruling middle classes in creating aesthetically valuable architecture.Riitta Nikula, "Housing policy, architecture and the everyday", ''Tapiola; Life and Architecture'', Rakennustieto, Helsinki, 2003.

Select list of publications

*Riitta Nikula, ''Focus on 20th century architecture and town planning. Collected papers by Riitta Nikula''. SRM, 2006 *Riitta Nikula, ''Wood, stone and steel: Contours of Finnish architecture'', Otava, 2005 *Riitta Nikula (ed), ''Heroism and the Everyday. Building Finland in the 1950s'', SRM, 1994 *Riitta Nikula, ''Armas Lindgren 1874-1929 - architect'', SRM, 1988.

References

1944 births Living people Architectural historians Finnish women historians Finnish architecture writers Academic staff of the University of Helsinki Finnish art historians Finnish women academics Women art historians 20th-century Finnish historians 21st-century Finnish historians {{Finland-historian-stub