Simo Paavilainen

He was appointed Professor of Architecture at Helsinki University of Technology Department of Architecture in 1998, and dean of the school in 2004. He resigned his position in 2010 to return to private practice. The work of the Paavilainens first came to attention in the early 1980s, at a time when Finnish critics were adamant that Postmodernism was having no significant influence on architecture in Finland, one of the bastions of Modernist architecture. Against this trend the Paavilainens introduced a strain of playfulness, colour and irony into Modernism. While part of the reasons for their style of architecture is certainly derived from following international trends, this also took on a local concern: in attempting to gain academic respectability, the Postmodern theorists, such as Charles Jencks, Michael Graves and Charles Willard Moore, turned their attention to earlier proto-Postmodernism, one of the prime examples being the architecture in the Nordic countries during the 1920s, Nordic Classicism, and in particular the Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund. Scholars in the Nordic countries became well aware of the international attention, and the architecture of that period, which had been forgotten in the onslaught of Modernism, was then 'rediscovered', as evident in various books and exhibitions. Paavilainen emerged as one of the key academics in the field; but his interest then spilled over into his own architectural production.

• Olari Church and Parish Centre, Espoo, 1976–1981 • Paimio Parish Centre, Paimio, 1980–1984 • St. Michael's Church, Kontula, Helsinki, 1988 • Mansikkala City Offices and Shopping Centre, Imatra, 1990 • University of Vaasa, Stage 1, 1991 • Pirkkala Church and Parish Centre, 1994 • Finnish Embassy, restoration, Tallinn, Estonia, 1996 • Tritonia Library, University of Vaasa, 2001 • Vehkalahti Parish Centre, Hamina, 2002 • Villa Kisko, 2005 • Local Government Pensions Institute, offices, Helsinki, 2005