The origins of education

The emergence of architecture as a profession in Finland dates back to the beginning of the autonomous period in the 19th century, when there was a need for a separate architectural profession to be responsible for the country's public buildings. The architects working in Finland at that time had received their training abroad: at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, like the first curator of the pre-building government, Italian Carlo Bassi, or in Berlin, like his successor, German C.L. Engel. In the 1820s and 1830s, individual trainees were taken on as apprentices at the Intendant's Office, and later, provincial architects such as G.Th. Chiewitz, trained apprentices in their offices. The teaching methods of the 'Chiewitz Academy' already included field trips and practical building exercises, which are still used in architectural teachings today.

In the rest of Europe, architects studied at either art academies, which stemmed from the French, or at polytechnic schools, which were based in engineering. Finland decidedly adopted the German polytechnic system.  In 1863, architecture became a part of Helsinki School of Technology’s curriculum under the German architect Ludwig Bähr, who created the course. In 1872, Helsinki Technical School became the Polytechnic School.

This is considered the beginning of university-level teaching of architecture in Finland.

The founder of architectural education in Finland is considered to be architect F.A. Sjöström, who was the first teacher of architecture from 1873.

The turn of the century was accompanied by a national awakening, and architects became the interpreters of national identity. The rise of urbanisation and industrialisation along with the flourishing economy, increased the need for construction and design.

The total number of architectural students increased until the First World War and even afterwards, as the war prevented prospective architects to study abroad. Post-war Finland needed a wider range of technical and architectural skills and architects had plenty of work to do in rebuilding the country.

Women in architectural education

In the 1860s, women were granted access to higher education and subsequently accepted as “extra students” in architectural programs starting in 1887. Of the six women who began their studies between 1887–1894, all of them graduated on time. Signe Hornborg was the first to graduate in 1890 and is believed to be the first woman in all of Europe to graduate as an architect. Another notable student, Wivi Lönn, graduated in 1896 and is believed to be the first architect in Europe to set up her own practice.

In the 1890s, there were apparently only six female architects in the world, all of them Finnish. As the first female architects and lacking in suitable role models, they became such themselves.

After the establishment of the Helsinki University of Technology in 1908, more and more women enrolled in the Department of Architecture. In the early 1930s, there were fifty women architecture graduates in Finland and by the early 1940s, that number had doubled.

Despite having equal education possibilities, the proportion of women in Finnish architecture seems to have been lower than their actual contribution, as women have had to settle for less prestigious design jobs, while men were responsible for representative buildings. The work of women architects is often virtually forgotten in the annals of history. Only in later decades, did the world begin to value their work.

In the professoriate, too, the role of women only began to emerge later on. In the 1970s, the first female professorship in architecture education, Leena Iisakkila, was awarded in the field of landscape architecture. In the history of architecture, the first female professorship was adopted in the 2000s by Aino Niskanen and in building design in 2014 by Pirjo Sanaksenaho.

Today, the majority of architecture students are women. In autumn 1999, 42% of all architecture graduates were women; by 2022, this figure has risen to over 60% and to over 80% in landscape architecture. The department now has eight female professors.

Dissatisfaction with teaching, elitism and the narrow opportunities for architects hit its peak in the spring of 1969. Architecture students occupied the Otaniemi Department of Architecture twice, demanding that professorships be made temporary and that superfluous art subjects be cut from the curriculum.

As a result of the movement, the new curriculum was approved. It increased the number of electives and extended the target period of study to six years. The Department of Architecture introduced electives and a credit system that also accepted studies outside the department and the university. This model was subsequently extended to other departments and other higher education institutions. There was no return to the old system of degrees based mainly on compulsory subjects and strictly professor-driven teaching. In the 1960s, the intake of students also increased from 40 to 50 architecture students, the need for architects to rebuild the country increased.