Misplaced Pages

#284715

17-403: Completed in 1833, the building originally served as Hotel Seurahuone and was an important cultural facility hosting many premieres. The hotel was designed by Carl Ludvig Engel who also designed the major buildings around the nearby Senate Square . The city purchased the building in 1901 and, after the hotel moved out in 1913, renovated it as a city hall. Following an architectural competition

34-893: A Neoclassical style . Charles Bassi was the brother of ballet dancer Giovanna Bassi and came with her from present-day Italy to Sweden in 1783. Initially, he was employed by the Swedish King Gustav III as a page but started studying architecture at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm in 1784. His principal teacher was Louis Jean Desprez . He was awarded prizes at the academy in 1788 and 1790, and after finishing his studies left for an eight-year-long study trip to Italy and Paris . He thereafter returned to Stockholm and began his career as an assistant to Carl Christoffer Gjörwell in his position as city architect of Stockholm. Gjörwell and Bassi had studied together at

51-477: A Neoclassical style and had a significant impact on the architecture of Finland in several ways. Notably, the city centre of Turku with its pronounced Neoclassical architecture contains several buildings by Bassi and was to some extent shaped by his work. In Sweden, where he began his career, only a single building can be safely attributed to Bassi's hand: Aske Manor in Uppland . In Finland, Bassi continued to work in

68-620: A businessman in Turku, Finland , where he came in contact with Johan Albrecht Ehrenström , who led the project of rebuilding Helsinki. The city had just been promoted to be the new capital of the new Grand Duchy of Finland . Ehrenström was searching for a talented architect to work by his side and this meeting proved to be decisive for Carl Ludvig Engel's future career. At this stage Engel did not however stay in Finland. In March 1815 he travelled to St. Petersburg where he got private employment. In 1816 Engel

85-493: A kind of head architect of the Grand Duchy was established when he received more and more building assignments, both private and public, in other parts of Finland. The final confirmation came when he in 1824 was appointed head of the statewide Intendant's Office, responsible for all key state buildings throughout the country, a position he was offered - but first declined because he still had hopes of returning to Prussia - following

102-701: The Finnish War ). At first he was active as an independent architect, notably in Turku, and was in 1810 appointed as the head of a government agency ( Swedish : intendenturkontoret ) responsible for producing plans for new church buildings. He kept his position and in 1821 moved with the agency to the new capital of the Grand Duchy , Helsinki . He took his leave in 1824 and was succeeded by Carl Ludvig Engel . He moved back to Turku and continued working as an independent architect there until his death in 1840. Bassi worked in

119-735: The Senate Square and the buildings surrounding it. The buildings are Helsinki Cathedral , The Senate (now the Palace of the Council of State ), the Helsinki City Hall , and the library and the main building of Helsinki University . Carl Ludvig Engel was born in 1778 in Charlottenburg, Berlin , into a family of bricklayers. It was probably as a bricklayer apprentice that he first came in contact with his future profession as an architect. He trained at

136-529: The Berlin Institute of Architecture after which he served in the Prussian building administration. The stagnation caused by Napoleon's victory over Prussia in 1806 forced him and other architects to find work abroad. In 1808, he applied for the position as town architect of Tallinn, Estonia . He got the job and in this way came into the vicinity of St. Petersburg and its neoclassical Empire style . Finland

153-685: The City Hall was radically remodeled by architect Aarno Ruusuvuori in 1965–70, replacing many of the old classical interiors and building modern glass-facaded insertions. The City Hall hosts the offices of the Mayor of Helsinki and the Deputy Mayors as well as the meeting facilities for the City Council and City Board. The City Council meets on alternate Wednesdays in the Council Chamber. City Hall hosts

170-527: The Virka information service, which is open to all Helsinki residents. The Virka gallery hosts exhibitions, concerts, and movie screenings. Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840) was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki , which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental centre,

187-549: The academy and knew each other. In 1802 Bassi travelled to Finland (at the time a part of Sweden) to supervise the construction of a new building for the Royal Academy of Turku designed by Gjörwell. The finishing of the construction of the building was delayed until 1815 and by that time Bassi had already established himself as an independent architect in Turku . He never returned to Sweden but settled permanently in Finland (which in 1809 had been lost by Sweden to Russia following

SECTION 10

#1732844848285

204-451: The best example of Bassi's architecture from the 1810s. At Joensuu Manor he designed a granary which is the first secular Neo-Gothic building in Finland (1813). The churches designed by Bassi usually followed local tradition in their design, as this was often requested by the parishes. Most of them are restrained, cross-shaped churches. Among the later works of Bassi, the main building of Åbo Akademi University in Turku has been proposed as

221-507: The resignation of its first head, the Italian-born architect Carlo Bassi , and which he retained until his death. Among his other key works from this period is Helsinki Old Church in Kamppi , completed in 1826. He designed the first theater of Helsinki, Engels Teater , in 1827, though this was a rather modest building. He was also responsible for the new city plan for Turku after most of it

238-458: The restrained form of Neoclassicism which was popular in Sweden (sometimes called Gustavian after King Gustav III ) and practised by his friend and co-worker Gjörwell. It stands in contrast to the more elaborate Neoclassicism that was later to become popular in Finland through the influence from Saint Petersburg , practised e.g. by his successor Carl Ludvig Engel. Wiurila Manor has been described as

255-600: Was also close by and was soon to experience a new governmental phase as a Grand Duchy under Russian rule . Engel started working in Tallinn in 1809, but just after a few years he was forced to move on again because of a lack of assignments. From this period in Estonia, a palace on Kohtu street 8 in Tallinn survives (today housing the Estonian Chancellor of Justice ) and, possibly, Kernu manor. From 1814 to 1815, he worked for

272-548: Was planning on returning to his city of birth, but at the same time Ehrenström got approval for his plan to get Engel to Helsinki. Engel's plans for Helsinki had been shown to Czar Alexander I and in February Engel was appointed architect of the reconstruction committee for Helsinki. Engel probably thought that this would once again be a temporary job, but instead Helsinki came to be his life's work. In 1819–1820, when Engel's first creations were nearing completion, his status as

289-556: Was wiped out by the Great Fire of Turku in 1827. Engel died on 14 May 1840 in Helsinki. Charles Bassi Charles (Carlo) Francesco Bassi (12 November 1772, Turin – 11 November 1840, Turku ) was a Finnish architect of Italian descent. He was the first professionally trained architect who permanently worked in present-day Finland. He worked, both as an independent architect and as an official responsible for planning new churches, in

#284715