The 15th Alvar Aalto Symposium opens new horizons to the future of industry

The 15th Alvar Aalto Symposium – Future of Industry held in Jyväskylä on 12.–13.8.2021 brings together top international speakers and the general public to discuss current architectural themes. The main venue for the two-day hybrid event is the Main Building of the University of Jyväskylä. The key themes of the symposium are: Reliable partner – industrial buildings in urban environments; Responsible action – industrial construction for sustainable development; and Building identity – the role of industrial architecture in regional planning. The seminar programme also includes urban art experiences in summertime Jyväskylä and tours of factory environments.

A kaleidoscopic view of the future of industrial construction

The Alvar Aalto Symposium 2021 programme and registration are now open online. Providing the introduction for the discussion of industrial construction, urban planning and future visions are the symposium’s keynote speakers: architect Xu Tiantian (DnA_Design and Architecture, China), architect Thomas Bonde-Hansen (Gottlieb Paludan Architects, Denmark), architect Ute Schneider (KCAP architects, the Netherlands, Switzerland and China), and architect Tuomas Kivinen (Virkkunen & Co, Finland). Beniamino de Liguori, secretary general of the Carino Adriano Olivetti Foundation, and architect Pippo Ciorra of the MAXXI MUSEUM will be bringing their greetings from Italy.

The future prospects of the forest industry will be discussed by Sebastián Hernández Maetschl, Manager for Building Concepts for Building Solutions and Ville Hietalahti, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Risk Management and Real Estate Finland, both at Stora Enso (Germany and Finland). Architect Charlotte Skene Catling (Skene Catling de la Peña, UK) and Adam Lowe, Professor at Columbia University (USA) and founder of the Factum Foundation (Spain) will talk about the AALTOSIILO art project, which is being realized in the former industrial area of Toppila in Oulu in a silo building designed by Alvar Aalto in 1931. The symposium moderators are architect Antti Ahlava from Aalto University and chairman of Docomomo Suomi Finland Petteri Kummala from the Finnish Museum of Architecture. More top speakers and programme details will be announced during the spring.

Alvar Aalto Symposium is an international forum for discussion on contemporary architecture. It is a triennial event, that brings professionals from around the world together to engage in current topics in architecture. The aim is to raise critical discussion about the artistic, social and technical challenges of contemporary architecture. The event is mainly in English, the additional programme partly in Finnish. The event is organized by the Alvar Aalto Academy together with the City of Jyväskylä and several other partners.