AALTO UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
Type Commission
Role Main consultant
Client Aalto University
Size 5000 m2
Project start 2020
Status Completed 2023
The buildings and landscape of the Aalto University Campus are influential masterpieces in Finnish architectural history. The iconic redbrick buildings were designed and built during the ’50s by Alvar Aalto. Our task was to restore and develop the arrival area due to a changed pedestrian flow, a demand for universal accessibility, and a wish for increased biodiversity.
During the past ten years, the former campus of the Technical University of Helsinki underwent extensive development and expansion, including new educations and a new metro connection west of the amphitheatre. The light traffic routes throughout the campus drastically changed with the new metro station, occurring on unplanned dirt trails around the campus, reflecting an inadequate path network and ruining the appearance of the iconic campus park, which was the opportunity to rethink the path system, improve universal accessibility, and add new programs while protecting the cultural heritage.
INTERSECTION OF HISTORIC AXICS
INTERSECTION OF AREAS
FLOW
A sensitive approach to protect the cultural heritage
Our design strives to preserve Aalto’s original ideas and to secure the site’s cultural heritage values while updating the area to meet the demands of a modern campus. To achieve this goal, we conducted the project through close dialogue with Museovirasto, Aalto Foundation, and the university, ensuring the protection of cultural heritage.
Each design element and solution was adjusted through dialogue, finding the right balance between continuing the original and allowing new elements to stand out as clear additions.
SAFETY, FLOW & ACCESSIBILITY
PLANTING STRATEGY & LANDFORM RESTORATIONS
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS
Transformation into Decaying wood art: a new life for the old Linden trees
At Aalto University Campus, an iconic group of old Linden trees, surrounded by heavy traffic, suffered from tree rot and, unfortunately, had to be cut down. While we planted new Linden saplings for future generations as part of the plan for the area renewal, these precious trees find new life as decaying wood art, enriching the site’s biodiversity.
After cutting down the trees, parts of the trunks rise as sculptures on wooden posts, marking the old Lindens’ cycle end, preserving historical layers, and making a tribute to the valuable, central trees of the new and old campus area.
This action takes an entirely new layer in the area, where the landscape, which transforms over time, reflects the beauty and impermanence of nature. It’s like watching an art piece come to life, shifting and evolving along the seasons and years.
This unique transformation of the Aalto University Campus adds a meaningful touch to the ongoing evolution of the campus landscape and its surroundings.
