(b Kuopio, 14 Jan 1925; d 1992). Finnish architect. He graduated in architecture from the Technical University in Helsinki (1951) and set up his own practice in Helsinki (1952). From 1963 to 1966 he was professor of architecture at the Technical University. The core of Ruusuvuori’s architectural design work was produced in the 1960s and early 1970s. Its characteristic starting-points are architectonic and structural clarity and a genuine approach to the expressive means and materials of the architect’s own time. Ruusuvuori’s favoured materials include concrete (cast fairface and prefabricated elements), steel and glass; he adapted wooden structures in many works such as his prefabricated housing experiments (Marikylä plan and experimental house, 1960s, and prefabricated sauna, 1968). Careful finishing and elegant details in every component are common to all his buildings. Ruusuvuori’s architectonic starting points are often basic geometric shapes or objects; this is most clearly seen in his religious buildings. The interior of Hyvinkää Church (1961) is an almost completely closed pyramidal mass, lit from above. The structural solution for the internal space, which rises towards the light, is a folded concrete slab whose span is 42 m at the widest point. At the end of the churchyard is a separate, wall-like and greatly simplified building for parish functions. Tapiola Church (1965) in Espoo is a complex of buildings on a rectilinear plan, articulated by the long courtyards and the high, closed hexagonal mass of the church itself. The plan of Rauhanummi funeral chapel (1972) near Hyvinkää consists of a chain of squares like a wall, upon which is built a series of open and closed spaces. Ruusuvuori also designed industrial and office buildings. The printing works for Weilin+Göös in Espoo (first stage 1964, second stage 1966) is built on a square plan and structurally designed to help the flexible work procedures in the print room itself, a large open space with few vertical supports: the ceiling is carried on four central concrete towers. The Paragon office block (1973) in Helsinki is also square in plan, with open-plan offices; its façade is of concrete, aluminium and glass. A notable example of Ruusuvuori’s many renovation projects is the town hall in Helsinki; the first phase, the complete restoration of the former Seurahuone Hotel, designed by Carl Ludwig Engel, was completed in 1970. A characteristic of the new interior is the juxtaposition of old and new. Between 1975 and 1978 Ruusuvuori was the director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture, and from 1978 to 1983 he was an art professor.

• Ruusuvuori, Aarno
  • Finland, §II, 3: Architecture, after 1809