Paimio Sanatorium Foundation
In the time in which we live, Alvar and Aino Aalto’s vision seems particularly relevant. Paimio Sanatorium is more than a building. It is the concrete expression of the strong humane understanding of its creators in architecture and design, a message for the future, a complete work of art in itself.
Therefore, the Foundation sees the Paimio Sanatorium not a passive site, but a place of active solution-seeking and solution-making. It will bring together thinkers and doers, makers and visionaries to collaboratively build brave, unexpected ways to answer questions through radical, practice-based solutions. The Foundation’s goal is for the Sanatorium to become known as a place that generates new and radical approaches to how we humans relate to the world and to each other.
Paimio Sanatorium is considered Alvar and Aino Aalto’s international architectural breakthrough. The Sanatorium has been the focus of extensive international attention ever since its completion, and today it is seen as an iconic masterpiece of international modernist architecture. The Aaltos’ perspective on the interrelationship between humanity, nature, architecture, and design was unique in their time.
The memorandum of association of the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation was signed on 27 October 2020. The foundation was founded by the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, the State of Finland, the Alvar Aalto Foundation, the Municipality of Paimio, and the City of Turku.
Paimio Sanatorium LTD
Paimio Sanatorium Ltd. was established shortly after the establishment of the Foundation in 2020. It is owned by the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation. The company maintains the Sanatorium real estate and movable property and develops new uses for the building’s premises while respecting the building’s conservation regulations and value as a cultural heritage. To ensure the Sanatorium’s future and stable financial base, Paimio Sanatorium Ltd. also produces event, meeting, accommodation services and is responsible for its visiting activity.
Partners
Alvar Aalto Foundation
The Alvar Aalto Foundation maintains the material and intellectual legacy of the world-famous architect and designer Alvar Aalto, and acts to make his work and thinking more widely known.
The Alvar Aalto Foundation’s sites in Helsinki and Jyväskylä are meeting points for friends of architecture and design from all over the world. The Alvar Aalto Foundation also oversees the work of the Alvar Aalto Academy and the Foundation’s Architectural Heritage Department.
Artek
Artek was founded in Helsinki in 1935 by four young idealists: Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen, and Nils-Gustav Hahl. Their goal was “to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of living by exhibitions and other educational means.”
In keeping with the radical spirit of its founders, Artek today remains an innovative player in the world of modern design, developing new products at the intersection of design, architecture, and art.
City of Paimio
Paimio is a lively rural town located in the southwest Finland. For 11,100 Paimio residents, their home town is a place to live, work and study. Paimio received the status of town as late as 1997, but its roots reach far back into history.
City of Turku
Turku is the former capital and the oldest city in Finland. Turku is located at the mouth of the Aura rive, approx. 30 minutes from Paimio by car. The population of Turku is 200,000 making to 6th largest city in Finland. Turku is known for its active student community, vivid cultural life and a variety of outdoor recreation possibilities.
Paimio Sanatorium is a member of Iconic Houses.