architecture – Object of the Month – Helsinki University Museum Flame

In October 1827, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia ordered that the Imperial Academy of Turku be transferred to Helsinki, the new capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The fate of the Academy was sealed by the Great Fire of Turku in September 1827. It was decided that the new buildings constructed for the university in Helsinki would form part of the emerging city centre. The German architect Carl Ludvig Engel was tasked with designing the buildings.

Engel produced four series of drawings of the University’s Main Building, one of which is included in the collections of the Helsinki University Museum. A drawing of a longitudinal section and of the south façade demonstrates how some of the plans for this magnificent building came to fruition, but others were never realised.

A wash drawing of the façade, stairwell and ceremonial hall of a building, with handwritten text in Swedish and Russian. — Carl Ludvig Engel’s drawing (1828) of the University of Helsinki Main Building. The bottom left corner of the plan for the top floor shows the Senate’s chambers, which were destroyed in a bombing raid during the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union (1941–1944). The drawing has been signed not only by Engel, but also by his subordinate at the National Board of Public Building, the architect Anton Wilhelm Arppe. Photo: Helsinki University Museum

Continue reading “C. L. Engel’s drawing of the University of Helsinki Main Building”

At a time when long-distance travel was rare, faraway regions could be brought to people through the means of art and, later, photography. One way to examine culture and architecture was by studying scale models. They also afforded an opportunity to look into the past, especially in the case of historical locations that had not survived for posterity. As our object of the month for October, we present a scale model of the classical era Tower of the Winds from the Sederholm collection I catalogued last spring.

The scale model of the Tower of the Winds is light grey, octagonal building with red roof. — The scale model of the Tower of the Winds is 26 cm high. The weather vane in the shape of the god Triton that once adorned the rooftop has disappeared. Photo: Helsinki University Museum / Anna Luhtala.

Continue reading “Tower of the Winds from Sederholm’s scale model collection”