Sites & stories: Henrik and Lastenlinna Children's Hospital
Paavo Foley
In this series, we take a glimpse at buildings that appeal to us at Archinfo – and tell a little about our staff in the process. First up is our communications assistant Henrik Hynninen, who admires the architecture of Lastenlinna Children’s Hospital, which has stood empty and out of use for some years now.
I chose Lastenlinna Children's Hospital because, at Archinfo, I have been particularly inspired to highlight issues related to the preservation of the existing building heritage. I have written about the demolition wave of sacral buildings and modern buildings, among other things.
Lastenlinna children’s hospital was completed in 1948 and was designed by Elsi Borg, Otto Flodin and Olavi Sortta. The building is a synthesis of Functionalism of the 1930s and romantic trends of the 1940s, and is a gesamtkunstwerk, housing lamps designed by Lisa Johansson-Pape and rich facade decorations, reliefs and sculptures by Sakari Tohka. Lastenlinna has been vacant since 2019.
Back when I was a student, I lived in Domus Academica student housing for a few years, and I used to jog a lot in Taka-Töölö. I often stopped by an old, impressive hospital building. I was always left wondering how such a fine building could be empty and how it could be put back into use. If I could save one empty building in Helsinki, it would be Lastenlinna.
Henrik Hynninen started in Archinfo as a communications intern earlier this spring, after which he graduated from the Intercultural Encounters Master’s Programme at the University of Helsinki with a Master of Arts degree. He continued over the summer in our communications team and in our Helsinki Architecture & Design Highlights project. The project is ending soon and we have to say goodbye to Henkka soon. We wish him the best in his future endeavours!
Explore Lastenlinna at finnisharchitecture.fi.
