Teemu Kurkela, architect, JKMM

The building industry plays a crucial role in the transition to sustainability.  While some argue that nothing should be built anymore, Teemu Kurkela, a founding member of the award-winning architecture firm JKMM Architects, advocates for an active and creative role in architecture that refuses to succumb to hopelessness.

I took an interest in buildings already as a young boy. I would draw pictures of skyscrapers, and I studied a book about the Japanese architect, Kenzō Tange. It was one of the only architecture-related books at the Kauhajoki library in Western Finland. It is interesting to notice that Tange’s concrete brutalism is still relevant today.

My grandparents are farmers and my parents are doctors. It may be that it was my parents who instilled architecture in me, but I never questioned it. I went to an arts high school, and it was useful when I applied to study at both the Helsinki University of Technology and Columbia University in New York. I was accepted to both institutions, but I headed abroad first. I spent the summers working in Finnish architectural offices, and my first summer job was at Helander-Leiviskä. I became friends with Juha Leiviskä.

I am interested in making the world a better place, even saving it.

I completed my master’s studies in Helsinki and set up my own practice in 2007. We won first place in the architectural call for the new central library of Turku, and setting up our own office would not have happened without winning the competition. In the following ten years, we had to keep winning competitions in order to employ ourselves.

In addition to designing public buildings, I am interested in making the world a better place, even saving it. Relying also on a small scale, one building at a time.

I am driven by developing prototypes and concepts for buildings that stand for something new – both large and small. Architectural planning is, however, not just about buildings or the materials used for them, but also about the repurposing of former industrial lots, such as was the case with Dance House Helsinki at the Cable Factory. Or the Kirkkonummi Library where, in a certain way, the new premises swallowed up the old library.

One example of completely new buildings is Hospital Nova. It is more efficient and smaller in size than its predecessor, and compiles all healthcare services under the same roof. It is situated right in the middle of the city, meaning that we also had to consider how the building promotes sustainable development in terms of mobility and the environment.

Working culture is also undergoing many changes, and all organisations are rethinking their work environments. Architects are in a privileged position in that we get to align the future landscape in a new way.

We need to create something novel from scratch, and in a way that has a long life cycle.

I am inspired by the creative process and the fact that we don’t have all the answers beforehand. We need to create something novel from scratch, and in a way that has a long life cycle.

It is not commonly known that architects design buildings from the inside out – so, not starting with the facades – and this phase takes up more than ninety percent of project hours. When assessing the results of architectural competitions, very often around twenty entries grace the top spots with their well-rounded aesthetics. The differences are revealed when one examines what kind of ideas and guiding thoughts are found inside the building in question.

An architect’s work is best defined by human values, visuality, and aesthetics. On the other hand, architecture also comprises the design of operating systems and processes of buildings.

Young architects typically want to inflate a building project into a grand vision as quickly as possible. In terms of a successful end result, however, it would be better not to start with grandness. One needs to tame one’s ego and to allow a building to design itself somewhat. This way we can give birth to something unique, both functionally and artistically.        

Architecture is 3D design. Facades can feature very free-flowing designs. Information technology and robotics facilitate tailored solutions that were previously unheard of. Thinking and values are not dependent on tools however. Only by mutual effort and drafting solutions with the whole team, including the client, does a building turn into something more meaningful than a mere postcard.