Aulis Blomstedt

28.07.1906, Jyväskylä - 21.12.1979, Espoo

Architect 1930, Helsinki University of Technology

Yrjö Aulis Uramo Blomstedt first worked in several architectural offices, including those of Martti Välikangas, Erkki Huttunen and Oiva Kallio. Since 1945 he had a private office. He made study tours to the United States, Japan and India in addition to European countries.

Blomstedt taught drawing at the Central School of Applied Art in 1932–34 and was Professor of Architecture at Helsinki University of Technology in 1958–66. In 1972 he was Visiting Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, USA. He was editor of the Finnish Architectural Review (Arkkitehti) in 1941–45 and one of the founders and the editor of the magazine Le Carré Bleu in 1958. He was also active in the Finnish CIAM group.

Aulis Blomstedt established a theoretical basis for discourse concerning the aesthetic principles and social applications of modular systems. During the reconstruction period in the 1940s he developed his prefabricated building system Kenno (cell). In the 1950s he focussed on studying a system of measures based on the human body and the musical harmony of measures. His modular system Canon 60, based on the number 60, was first published in Le Carré Bleu in 1961. In his architecture, Blomstedt emphasized simplicity and clarity.

Blomstedt’s main works are the dwelling houses and artists’ studios in Tapiola and the extension of the Helsinki Workers’ Institute building, all designed in the 1950s and 60s. He participated in international competitions, such as the Imperial Palace of Ethiopia, Oslo Concert Hall and the Beaubourg Centre of Arts in Paris. Besides architecture, he designed pieces of furniture and jewellery and made graphic art.

The Aulis Blomstedt collection includes drawings from his early student work to the competition entry of Espoo Cultural Centre made in 1979; harmonic studies and competition entries are well represented.