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Viljo Revell

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Viljo Revell
Viljo Revell (right) with Aarne Ervi in 1943
Born(1910-01-25)25 January 1910
Vaasa, Grand Duchy of Finland
Died8 November 1964(1964-11-08) (aged 54)
Helsinki, Finland
NationalityFinnish
Alma materHelsinki University of Technology
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsLasipalatsi, Palace Hotel, Toronto City Hall
ProjectsCity-Center, Helsinki

Viljo Gabriel Revell (25 January 1910 – 8 November 1964) was a Finnish architect of the functionalist school. In Finland he is best known for the design of the Lasipalatsi ("Glass Palace") and Palace Hotel, both in Helsinki. Internationally, Revell is best known for designing the New City Hall of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Life and career

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Toronto's New City Hall (1965)

Revell, originally spelt Rewell, was born in Vaasa in 1910, and graduated from Vaasan Lyseo in 1928. He graduated as an architect from the Helsinki University of Technology in 1937. He made his architectural breakthrough already the year he graduated when he, together with fellow students Heimo Riihimäki and Niilo Kokko, won the architectural competition for the design of the Lasipalatsi, which had originally been intended as a temporary building comprising shops, restaurant and cinema, but which became one of the landmarks of Finnish "white functionalist" architecture. His next major work was the so-called Teollisuuskeskus (Industrial Centre), comprising offices, hotel (Palace Hotel), roof-terrace restaurant and ground-floor shops, situated on Helsinki's south harbour seafront. The building was also based on a competition winning proposal, made together with architect Keijo Petäjä, and was completed in 1952 in time for the Helsinki Olympic Games.

Revell's international breakthrough came with winning the 1956–58 architectural competition for the design of the Toronto City Hall, which he designed together with fellow Finnish architects Heikki Castrén, Bengt Lundsten, and Seppo Valjus.[1] Upon announcement of the winner of the architectural competition, Mayor Nathan Phillips called the design "breath-taking".[1] Construction of the City Hall began in 1961, and was completed in 1965, the year following Revell's premature death.[2][3] Revell had also commissioned that English sculptor Henry Moore to create a sculpture in keeping with the design – Three Way Piece No.2: Archer was installed in the public square in 1966 under controversy due to its cost.[4]

Revell married Maire Myntti in 1941; they had three daughters born in 1942, 1943 and 1945. As he had excellent stereoscopic eyesight, he served as naval artillery fire control officer in World War II, and he was one of the survivors of the sinking of the Finnish Navy flagship, the coastal defence ship Ilmarinen in 1941.

In 1943, at a time when post-war reconstruction was already an important topic of discussion, Revell, along with Alvar Aalto, Aarne Ervi and Kaj Englund, was one of the instigators of the Finnish Building Information File (in Finnish: rakennustietokortisto), the Finnish version of a building standards file, to assist in standardization of building practices and component sizes.[5] The work was financed by the Finnish Association of Architects, under the name of the Standardization Institute. As part of the research the group had contacts with a similar organisation in Germany, run by architect Ernst Neufert. In June 1943, while the war was still going on, Aalto, Ervi and Revell, together with architects Jussi Paatela and Esko Suhonen, travelled to Germany at the invitation of Neufert to witness the German building standardization efforts, including the construction of government buildings designed by Albert Speer for the Nazi government.[6]

Significant buildings

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  • Lasipalatsi, Helsinki, with Kokko, Laisaari and Riihimäki (1935).
    Lasipalatsi, Helsinki, with Kokko, Laisaari and Riihimäki (1935).
  • Palace Hotel, Helsinki, with Petäjä (1952).
    Palace Hotel, Helsinki, with Petäjä (1952).
  • Taskumatti houses, Tapiola (1953).
    Taskumatti houses, Tapiola (1953).
  • KOP Bank building, Turku (1960).
    KOP Bank building, Turku (1960).
  • Finnish Ministry of Defence, Helsinki, with Castrén (1961).
    Finnish Ministry of Defence, Helsinki, with Castrén (1961).
  • Revell Center, Vaasa (1963).
    Revell Center, Vaasa (1963).
  • City-Center, Helsinki, with Castrén (1958–67).
    City-Center, Helsinki, with Castrén (1958–67).

References

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  1. ^ a b City Staff (2024). "A Step Forward in Time: Toronto's New City Hall: Announcement of Competition Results, 1958". City of Toronto. Archived from the original on 22 April 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  2. ^ Star Staff (8 November 1961). "Nate Turns Sod for New City Hall Amid Cheers". Toronto Daily Star. p. 25. Retrieved 21 July 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Globe Staff (14 September 1965). "Widow of Architect Viljo Rewell Honored at City Hall Opening". The Globe and Mail. Toronto: FP Publications. p. 12. ISSN 0319-0714. ProQuest 1270832117. Retrieved 21 July 2024 – via ProQuest.
  4. ^ Macfarlane, David (3 April 2013). "Henry Moore's Three-Way Piece No. 2 a reminder of a bygone Toronto". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  5. ^ Karl-Erik Michelsen, 'The Finnish Building Information File', in Pekka Korvenmaa (ed), The Work of Architects, Rakennustieto, Helsinki, 1992.
  6. ^ Sarjakoski, Helena: Rationalismi ja runollisuus: Aulis Blomstedt ja suhteiden taide. Rakennustieto, Helsinki, 2003.
  7. ^ Lasipalatsi. Archived 12 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Palace Hotel. [dead link]
  9. ^ Printal.
  10. ^ Didrichsen Art Museum.
  11. ^ City-Center. Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Rewell Center.
  13. ^ Star Staff (14 September 1965). "WHOOSH, BANG-IT'S OPEN!". Toronto Daily Star. p. 1. Retrieved 21 July 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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Media related to Viljo Revell at Wikimedia Commons

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