MADLEENA LARIVAARA-NÆRUM

Oulu, Finland2012-2014

A new loft home designed for a family of five; photographer father, art teacher mother and their three children.

The original building, a grain silo from 1928 designed by architect Erkki Huttunen, couldn’t be saved due to the poor condition of the structure. Therefore a new building with a new function was built with the same silhouette as the old one, with openings cut into the facade to make it suitable for living.

Since the building had a strong functionalist caracter, we wanted to reflect the original atmosphere through materials and the philosophy of the design. There is no excess of square meters in this home so everything has a well thought place and purpose. We worked closely with a local work force, carpenter Jussi Sutela and metal smith Pekka Laitinen to assure the quality of the work. I as an architect was part of the design of the apartment from the beginning and was able to change the plan within fixed frame. My task was to design the whole loft apartment, including fixing the plan, choosing materials, designing a spiral stair and most of the furniture, both built-in and movable.

120.5 m2main level: entrance, parents’ bedroom, living room, bathroom, kitchenloft level: child’s bedroom, bedroom for the twins, work space, bathroom, laundry, sauna

The family moved in in September 2014.Photographs: Studio Timo Heikkala Oy

For more pictures, the project was published in a Finnish design paper Deko in 2016

THESIS

Copenhagen, Denmark
Autumn 2011

Rooms for Serenity - a refuge on the rooftop of Rigshospitalet

The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Department 11


*****

Serenity | noun (pl. –ties) | the state of being calm, peaceful and untroubled

This project is to nurture the vitality which every person possesses, regardless of illness or age. Its spatial solutions talk about kindness, human scale and empathy.

Motivation

We all have a need for going back to the essence, going back to the core of ourselves. This need is especially significant and substantial when one is unwell, and must stay in a place which is not only temporary but also not ones own. We all have a fundamental longing for the feeling of safety and for a tranquil space where we can escape a little, perhaps forget.
The hospital is a challenging environment, physically and mentally draining for everyone in it. Rooms for Serenity are there to give a pause from that challenge, not only for the patients but for the visitors and employees as well.
There is a significant contrast between the hospital environment and the space for serenity. The clinical atmosphere created by smells, lights and colours is followed by vitalizing surroundings.
By taking the elevator all the way to the rooftop of the south building of rigshospitalet, one can have a sensation of escape and tranquility. That sensation would not be possible inside the hospital. Up on the rooftop, noteworthy views open up; a view towards the sky, a view of Fredenspark, one to the heart of the city and one away from it.

People

By giving a person healing from a sickness a possibility to go up to the rooftop, I am offering them a positive environment as part of their process of healing. Less mobile patients, for example in a wheel chair, attached to an IV, etc., would also be able to use the space on the roof. New moth- ers have to stay in a hospital for a while even with good health. This new environment will provide them with a positive alternative to the hospital, which is a place meant for unwell people.
For an employee, the hospital is often very draining. Having a pause in another environment could help them to let go of the events of a long day at work.
A relative or close friend of the patient might spend hours at the hospital, waiting, thinking and questioning. The new space will provide a peaceful place for this suspended and often difficult time.

Healing

Healing is the process that leads towards health, as such it requires more than just care. A healing environment is not only a need of the ill; it is also for the healthy to make the most of living, being, thinking, feeling and doing. We all benefit from healing surroundings.
In harmony with nature - the neighbouring tree tops, the ever changing clouds - the Rooms for Serenity are there to nourish and give strength to all who need it.

"The purpose of the building is to act as an instrument that collects all the positive influences from the nature for man’s benefit, while sheltering him from the unfavourable influences that appear in nature. ” Alvar Aalto

Path

You are walking inside the hospital. There are no long views, only white walls and doors and nurses and doctors and other patients. Feeling tired, and wanting a change of scene, you take the elevator up, all the way to the rooftop.
Coming out of the elevator, you enter a dimly lit room with a door at the far end. The door opens and you step out into the air, over a short bridge and through a doorway. You take a long, deep breath. You can feel the wind on your skin, see the sky. Wind brings the scent of lavender as you walk slowly down a gently sloping wooden deck, past flowers and grasses. After a meandering walk in the garden, you sit down on a bench, then stretch out in the warmth of the sun.
Now you take a walk. There are two paths to choose from, one ends in a house for gazing far away, the other in a house which opens up to the sky, revealing the beauty of the fast running clouds.
On the path, you walk past plants on one side, the wall and roof curving over you on the other. You stop, sitting on the bench and leaning against the spine of the walkway. You look over at the other hospital building with its many windows... at the end of the path the plants give way to a roof and you walk under it to step into a building. There is a soft light around the smaller house inside. You open a door that leads into a warm space. curving walls invite you to go further and find out what is there. Inside are three rooms for reflection, for contemplation. The long, flowing lines of the wooden floor reach forward, and the undulating ceiling envelops you in a protective space where you sit on the floor and look off into the distance...
On the walk towards the other end of the rooftop, you have a view out to Fredenspark and the city beyond. The path curves above you once again, sheltering you before you step out on the small bridge that leads the way to the other house. Inside it there is a soft, suggestive light falling on the outside walls. This is a round space. You could stay right here on a bench if you wanted, but today you continue walking around the curved wall. You slide the door open and enter a warm space. This way leads you to a rounded room where there are inclined seats against the walls. Light falls down from the large round skylight. You sit and look up at the softly framed view of the sky...

VISUALIZATION

Oulu, Finland
Autumn 2014

3D-modelling work for a finnish company Vihtaovet Ltd.

13 variable glass wall and door models for a sauna.
I created the 3D-model visualization by using Rhinoceros and produced renderings and final images with Maxwell and Photoshop

A bench for the square around Nikolaj Konsthal, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center.

The story behind the bench's form begins with an event in the church's history, when the spire crashed down during a storm in 1628 and destroyed the nave. What if the spire had fallen further down onto the square, leaving a crater in the ground?

The bench sits in rather than on the square. It is round and clad in soft pine boards, inviting passers-by to take five steps down and sit back in the sun. From one's position below street level, one experiences the surroundings from a new perspective – the square, the church, the clouds and the many pedestrians, birds and summer foliage. The bench makes a setting for a quiet moment in the busy inner city, a cosy chat between friends, a lunch break under the trees or a little nap in the sun.  


Competition Ta' Plads 
Nikolaj Konsthal, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center
Collaboration with architect Sophie Brauer and landscape architect Laura Parsons
June 2015
Copenhagen

HOLDFAST

Copenhagen, Denmark
Autumn 2012

holdfast |'hōl(d), fast|
noun
a firm grip.
• a staple or clamp securing an object to a wall or other surface.
• the holdfast anchors the seaweed to a rock or other sturdy object.

A NEW RESCUE LADDER

H o l d f a s t is a ladder in painted steel; clear and familiar in its form and strong yet delicate in its detailing.
The ladder expresses strength and generosity. It offers a sturdy way up for a person in the water, from its lowest rungs in hard rubber, to its single top rung which stands on top of the quay.
The ladder is easy to see, eye-catching in colour and set against a lit background at night.
All over Denmark, the harbours which once were purely industrial, functional parts of the city, are becoming lively social places used by everyone from sailors to theatergoers. H o l d f a s t brings a new, ornamental figure to the changing Danish waterfront.

Competition entry, rescue ladder for Copenhagen harbours 2012, in collaboration with Sophie Elizabeth Brauer, Architect MAA

WOODEN PEN CASE

Copenhagen, Denmark
Autumn 2012

Laser-cut and -engraved boxes for protecting your drawing and writing tools.
Includes a cheating chart for school kids.

FURNITURE STUDIES

Copenhagen, Denmark
Spring 2010

A Rocking Chair

The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture
Department 11


Experiments with water bended wood and creating a furniture with movement.

Model photographs and drawings 1:1

ROOF OF LIGHT

Copenhagen, Denmark
Spring 2009

The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Department 2

One week workshop with architect David Garcia (Map Architects).

This project was created as a side workshop on a semester project based on a 15-day study trip to Lissabon, Portugal. In one week I zoomed in to the roof of the project and studied how the roof can be the main part of my project. 

A place for healing people suffering from photodermatitis, the roof became the heart of the building by controlling natural light -the main cause for this disease. If the light was too strong, parts of the roof would automatically close the excess light by shutting down the 'roof doors'. Sun panels reacted to the light and closed them with a motor that got the energy from the sun panels.

ARCHITECTURAL CONSTRUCTION

Oulu, Finland
Spring 2008

Oulu School of Architecture

Course on Construction Design in Architecture, based on a previous project in Architectural Design. The task was to produce technical drawings, scale 1:5 to 1:50.