Rainer Mahlamäki Explained

Rainer Mahlamäki
Nationality:Finnish
Birth Date:12 June 1956
Birth Place:Ilmajoki, Finland
Alma Mater:Tampere University of Technology
Practice:Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects
Significant Buildings:Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Awards:Finland Prize, Ministry of Education Award, 2008

Rainer Mahlamäki (born 12 June 1956) is a Finnish architect, president of the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) from 2007 to 2011, Professor of Contemporary Architecture at the University of Oulu, and joint partner with Ilmari Lahdelma of the Helsinki-based architecture firm Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects, one of the most prolific such firms in Finland. A significant part of their work started as entries in architectural competitions, in which they have received 35 first prizes (and 59 other prizes).[1]

Mahlamäki studied architecture at the Tampere University of Technology, and was awarded the Master of Science in Architecture in 1987. He, along with Lahdelma and 6 others, was a partner in the architecture firm 8 Studio from 1986 to 1993. From 1992 he together with Lahdelma and architect Mikko Kaira founded Kaira-Lahdelma-Mahlamäki Architecture, and from 1997 Mahlamäki and Lahdelma have been in partnership in the firm Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects.

Mahlamäki was appointed Professor of Contemporary Architecture at the University of Oulu Department of Architecture in 1997, from 2000 to 2007 he was head of the department and since 2007 vice-head of the department. In 2007 to 2011 he was appointed President of the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA).

Mahlamäki was the Chair of the Jury for the 2009 International Architecture Awards.[2]

Selection of works by Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects

The work of the firm Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects is generally split between the two partners, though with each having some input in all the works. The style of the firm has been described as contextual, varying dramatically in character depending on the project, from minimalism to expressionism. The contextualism is typified by Lahdelma's design of the Jyväskylä University Teacher Training School (2002) built adjacent to several buildings on the university campus designed by Alvar Aalto. The form of the new building complex was generated by the "site lines" of the surrounding buildings, resulting in a "fortress-like" appearance.[3]

Awards to Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.arklm.fi/tl_files/download/architects-lahdelma-mahlamaeki-references.pdf Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Prizes.
  2. News: Finnish architects select 97 buildings in thirty nations to win the world’s most prestigious 2009 International Architecture Awards. Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design. September 21, 2009. 2010-05-14. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091008195558/http://www.chi-athenaeum.org/intarch/2009/2009INTARCHSPRESSRELEASE.pdf. October 8, 2009.
  3. Kristo Vesikansa, "Seminaarinmäki architecture after Alvar Aalto", in Alvar Aalto Architect, Volume 16, Jyväskylä University 1951-71, Alvar Aalto Foundation, Helsinki, 2009, p.107-8.