Paimio Sanatorium

Alvar Aalto – Tuberculosis Sanatorium – competition 1928, Construction, 1929-1933

Paimio Sanatorium (Finnish: Paimion parantola) is a sanatorium in the Finnish town of Paimio designed by Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino.

The complex is modeled starting from the basic unit which is the patient's room. The wing with the patient rooms is made up of a thin linear stick, supported by a single row of pillars, so that all the rooms have the same south-southeast exposure. On the contrary, the living rooms and their terraces are each oriented so that the panorama is different from one another and that the patient can always choose between a shaded or sunny area. The solariums are of various sizes to encourage free groupings even for small groups of patients. The typical room is designed taking into account the horizontal resting position of the guests: the walls of each room are painted in a neutral color, the ceiling, however, is a little darker. From the colored ceiling the heating radiates downwards, furthermore a special air exchange system avoids drafts.

"The primary purpose of the building is to function as a medical instrument... One of the basic requirements for healing is to provide complete peace.... The design of the rooms is defined according to the limited strength of the patient, lying in bed. The color of the ceiling is chosen to give tranquility, the sources of light are outside the patient's field of vision, the heating is directed towards his feet and the water comes out of the taps without making any noise, so that no one disturbs his neighbor."……Wikipedia…>>