Timo Jussi Penttilä (16 March 1931 – 25 February 2011) was one of Finland's most important modernist architects and was for over 15 years a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in Austria. He is most renowned for the design of the Helsinki City Theatre (1961–67).
Timo Jussi Penttilä
Planning Helsinki City Theatre in 1964: from the left, Jukka Siivola, Pekka Salminen and Timo Penttilä
Timo Jussi Penttilä was born 16 March 1931 in Tampere to Arvo Mikko Penttilä and Ester Elviira Matinheimo. His father was agronomist and acted as a supervisor improving cattle in the country. Penttilä graduated from Tampere secondary school in 1950 and went on to study architecture at Helsinki University of Technology, graduating in 1956.
CareerEdit
In 1957–1959 he worked for architect Aarne Ervi before founding his own office. His breakthrough work was Sampola House, the Tampere Adult Education Centre, which Penttilä designed together with Kari Virta in 1958 and which was completed in 1960. The following year, at the age of 30, Penttilä won the architecture competition for the design of the Helsinki City Theatre, a work which when completed in 1967 received much critical acclaim. The building is an example of Penttilä's soft, human-centric Modernism which has similarities to the mature works of Finland's most well-known architect, Alvar Aalto; indeed the building is often mistakenly assumed to be an Aalto design.
The Helsinki City Theatre has remained Penttilä's most renowned work, but among his other building designs the best known are the Ratina Stadium in Tampere (1965) the Hanasaari B power station in Helsinki (1974), the Salmisaari power station (with Kari Lind and Heikki Saarela) in Helsinki (1985). During his career, Penttilä was criticized within the Finnish architectural profession for following uncompromisingly the modernist desire for experimentation and for defending the autonomy of architecture. Penttilä was director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture in 1976–1980, and was a frequent contributor to the Finnish Architecture Review (Arkkitehti) from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, writing a number of polemical articles about architecture and the profession. An exhibition of his works was held at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London in 1980.
During the late 1970s, Penttilä participated in a number of architectural competitions for the design of cultural and public buildings in the Middle East, including Bahrain's cultural centre (1976), the Iranian National Library in Tehran (1978), and the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1979) – but none of which were built. In the later 1980s he courted controversy by designing a series of four 40-storey skyscrapers for the centre of his home town, Tampere. Local grass-roots opposition brought an end to the scheme which had been commissioned by the industrial company Tampella to redevelop an area where their factory then presently stood.
Penttilä was a visiting lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley in 1968–69. He was professor of architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1980 to 1996, where he succeeded Roland Rainer. After his retirement he lived in Italy and Lapland (Finland). Following his death it emerged that he had written an extensive book on architecture theory. This was eventually published in 2013, by the Finnish publishers Gaudeamus, under the title "Oikeat ja väärät arkkitehdit – 2000 vuotta arkkitehtuuriteoriaa" (Right and wrong architects – 2000 years of architecture theory). Excerpts from his notes, written in English, have been in published in Roger Connah's book "The School of Exile – Timo Penttilä for and against architecture theory" (2015).
Sampola school and adult education centre, Tampere 1960.
Ratina Stadium, Tampere, 1965.
Tammisalo terraced housing, Helsinki, 1966.
Hanasaari B power station, Helsinki, 1976.
Suomen Sokeri HQ, Tapiola, 1980 (demolished 2014)
Salmisaari power station, Helsinki, 1985.
ReferencesEdit
Timo Penttilä: Oikeat ja väärät arkkitehdit – 2000 vuotta arkkitehtuuriteoriaa, Gaudeaumus, Helsinki, 2013.
Timo Penttilä: "Autonomy & authority in architecture," in Finnish Architecture, Royal Institute of British Architects, London, 1980.
Anni Vartola: Kuolkoon suomalainen arkkitehtuuri, Avain, Helsinki, 2007.
Roger Connah: The School of Exile – Timo Penttilä for and against architecture theory, Datutop 33, Tampere, 2015.
External linksEdit
Timo Penttilä – Finnish Architecture Museum website
Timo Penttilä Society
The School of Exile at Finnisharchitecture.fi
October 21, 2023
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Timo Jussi Penttila 16 March 1931 25 February 2011 was one of Finland s most important modernist architects and was for over 15 years a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in Austria He is most renowned for the design of the Helsinki City Theatre 1961 67 Timo Jussi PenttilaPlanning Helsinki City Theatre in 1964 from the left Jukka Siivola Pekka Salminen and Timo PenttilaBorn 1931 03 16 16 March 1931Tampere FinlandDied25 February 2011 2011 02 25 aged 79 HelsinkiNationalityFinnishOccupationArchitectPracticeArkkitehtitoimisto Timo PenttilaBuildingsHelsinki City TheatreSampola House TampereHanasaari power station HelsinkiHelsinki City Theatre 1967 Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 Penttila s completed works 4 Selection of works by Timo Penttila 5 References 6 External linksEarly life and education EditTimo Jussi Penttila was born 16 March 1931 in Tampere to Arvo Mikko Penttila and Ester Elviira Matinheimo His father was agronomist and acted as a supervisor improving cattle in the country Penttila graduated from Tampere secondary school in 1950 and went on to study architecture at Helsinki University of Technology graduating in 1956 Career EditIn 1957 1959 he worked for architect Aarne Ervi before founding his own office His breakthrough work was Sampola House the Tampere Adult Education Centre which Penttila designed together with Kari Virta in 1958 and which was completed in 1960 The following year at the age of 30 Penttila won the architecture competition for the design of the Helsinki City Theatre a work which when completed in 1967 received much critical acclaim The building is an example of Penttila s soft human centric Modernism which has similarities to the mature works of Finland s most well known architect Alvar Aalto indeed the building is often mistakenly assumed to be an Aalto design The Helsinki City Theatre has remained Penttila s most renowned work but among his other building designs the best known are the Ratina Stadium in Tampere 1965 the Hanasaari B power station in Helsinki 1974 the Salmisaari power station with Kari Lind and Heikki Saarela in Helsinki 1985 During his career Penttila was criticized within the Finnish architectural profession for following uncompromisingly the modernist desire for experimentation and for defending the autonomy of architecture Penttila was director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture in 1976 1980 and was a frequent contributor to the Finnish Architecture Review Arkkitehti from the late 1960s to the early 1980s writing a number of polemical articles about architecture and the profession An exhibition of his works was held at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London in 1980 During the late 1970s Penttila participated in a number of architectural competitions for the design of cultural and public buildings in the Middle East including Bahrain s cultural centre 1976 the Iranian National Library in Tehran 1978 and the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1979 but none of which were built In the later 1980s he courted controversy by designing a series of four 40 storey skyscrapers for the centre of his home town Tampere Local grass roots opposition brought an end to the scheme which had been commissioned by the industrial company Tampella to redevelop an area where their factory then presently stood Penttila was a visiting lecturer at the University of California Berkeley in 1968 69 He was professor of architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1980 to 1996 where he succeeded Roland Rainer After his retirement he lived in Italy and Lapland Finland Following his death it emerged that he had written an extensive book on architecture theory This was eventually published in 2013 by the Finnish publishers Gaudeamus under the title Oikeat ja vaarat arkkitehdit 2000 vuotta arkkitehtuuriteoriaa Right and wrong architects 2000 years of architecture theory Excerpts from his notes written in English have been in published in Roger Connah s book The School of Exile Timo Penttila for and against architecture theory 2015 Penttila died 25 February 2011 in Helsinki Penttila s completed works EditSampola House Tampere Adult Education Centre Tampere 1960 Salokunta Church Sastamala 1960 Tampere Business School Tampere 1965 Ratina Stadium Tampere 1966 Private row houses Tammisalo Helsinki 1966 Helsinki City Theatre Helsinki 1967 Hanasaari power plant Helsinki 1976 Suomen kaupunkiopisto Finnish city college Espoo 1975 later partly demolished and converted into a hotel Hirviniemenranta luxury housing development Helsinki 1980 later acquired for housing for the Republic of Korea Suomen Sokeri Finnish Sugar headquarters Tapiola Espoo 1980 demolished 2014 Salmisaari power station with Kari Lind and Heikki Saarela Helsinki 1985 Perusyhtyma Oy Makrotalo House Tapiola Espoo 1986 demolished 2018 Gumpendorferstrasse apartment building Vienna 1988Selection of works by Timo Penttila Edit nbsp Sampola school and adult education centre Tampere 1960 nbsp Ratina Stadium Tampere 1965 nbsp Tammisalo terraced housing Helsinki 1966 nbsp Hanasaari B power station Helsinki 1976 nbsp Suomen Sokeri HQ Tapiola 1980 demolished 2014 nbsp Salmisaari power station Helsinki 1985 References EditTimo Penttila Oikeat ja vaarat arkkitehdit 2000 vuotta arkkitehtuuriteoriaa Gaudeaumus Helsinki 2013 Timo Penttila Autonomy amp authority in architecture in Finnish Architecture Royal Institute of British Architects London 1980 Anni Vartola Kuolkoon suomalainen arkkitehtuuri Avain Helsinki 2007 Roger Connah The School of Exile Timo Penttila for and against architecture theory Datutop 33 Tampere 2015 External links EditTimo Penttila Finnish Architecture Museum website Timo Penttila Society The School of Exile at Finnisharchitecture fi Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Timo Penttila amp oldid 1115205876, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
