Aarno Ruusuvuori

Who was Aarno Ruusuvuori?

Aarno Emil Ruusuvuori was a Finnish architect, professor and director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture. He studied at Helsinki University of Technology, completing his studies in 1951.

Aarno Ruusuvuori was one of the central architects in Finland during the 1960s, well known for designing modern buildings, often using exposed concrete, often in a Brutalist style. His best-known works are the Weilin & Göös Print Works in Espoo and the Church of Hyvinkää.

Ruusuvuori courted much controversy during the early 1970s with his ambitious plans for the modernisation of the Helsinki City Hall in the very centre of Helsinki. The City Hall takes up an entire city block, consisting mostly of several buildings built in the neo-classical style, including buildings designed by C.L. Engel. Ruusuvuori preserved the main festival hall, but demolished many of the interiors, preserving only their facades. This saga, together with many other developments where historical buildings were demolished was captured in an influential book by architects Vilhelm Helander and Mikael Sundman, titled Kenen Helsinki?. Ruusuvuori continued to work on the large scheme throughout the 1970s, completing it in 1988, but toned down the scale of the earlier proposed demolitions.