In 2020, AOR Architects was selected as a finalist for the prestigious British architecture award, the Dorfman Award. The Finnish office's recent works include, among others, the Jätkäsaari school building in Helsinki. Now a couple of years after the Dorfman nomination, finally in Finland this school building has been chosen as a candidate for the Finlandia Award for Architecture 2022.
At HS on August 26, 2019, AOR architects Erkko Aarti and Kuutti Halinen emphasized the great importance of furniture in spacious public buildings after the building was completed. The furniture includes, for example, acoustic curtains that facilitate the flexible division of spaces into smaller spaces. They are convenient, as heavy movable partitions are difficult to handle and therefore often go unused.
A DISTINCTIVE special feature in the interior of Jätkäsaari school is also the placement of small alcoves in different parts of the building. The school's young students have already named one of them "sauna". You realize the naturalness of the nickname as soon as you cast a glance through the open opening to the "boards" of the sop.
This year's justifications for the selection of award candidates emphasized Civilization and the overall quality of architecture: "The three selected architectural, landscape and urban sites remind us of the importance of top-quality science, education and learning environments on the one hand, and on the other hand bring out how architecture creates warm places for a good life in an abstracted world."
Jätkäsaari elementary school is described in the justification as follows: "Jätkäsaari elementary school in Helsinki was born as a result of a general architecture competition. It is a cell school where the teaching spaces are woven into groups of spaces suitable for different teaching situations around the central hall. The experience of two academic years has shown that the structuring of the spaces supports the pedagogical goals of a modern school.
This year, the recipient of the Architecture Finlandia Award is chosen by film director Klaus Härö. The winner will be announced on October 3. Good luck to AOR and Jätkäsaari school already.