Alexander Stubb, President of the Republic of Finland, has awarded the title of Art Academic to architect Mona Schalin. Presented with the 2019 Finlandia Prize for Architecture for her renovation of Helsinki’s iconic Serpentine House, much of her career has been dedicated to championing the repair and restoration of modern architecture.
Alexander Stubb, President of the Republic of Finland, has awarded the title of Art Academic to architect Mona Schalin. Presented with the 2019 Finlandia Prize for Architecture for her renovation of Helsinki’s iconic Serpentine House, much of her career has been dedicated to championing the repair and restoration of modern architecture. Over the course of the past three decades, Mona Schalin has also held several roles within the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA).
In their comments, the panel responsible for selecting the Art Academic title recipients described Mona Schalin as having “led the way for research into and the development of conservation methodologies for modern architecture in Finland”.
Since establishing her own architectural practice in 2003, Mona Schalin has focused on the repair and restoration of buildings with significant heritage value. Together with her team, she has also completed several historic building and heritage area surveys.
“Mona Schalin is known for the depth of her professional expertise, the enduring passion and enthusiasm with which she approaches her work and her insightful and balanced views on architecture, the Finnish approach to building and the values that shape our built environment. The high-profile residential refurbishment projects she is known for demonstrate beyond doubt that seemingly simple and ordinary architectural elements, too, have an inherent value to them and are worth preserving,” Asko Takala, SAFA chair, commented.
“I am deeply grateful for this honour. In my view, it lends recognition not just to my own work, but also to the work carried out by my colleagues in preserving and protecting our built heritage and the values that underpin it,” Mona Schalin said.
Among her most high-profile works is the refurbishment of Helsinki’s iconic Serpentine House residential development. The first phase of the project was recognised with the Finlandia Prize for Architecture in 2019 and the Docomomo Prize in 2021. International acclaim followed in the form of its inclusion on the Mies van der Rohe Award shortlist in 2022.
After Serpentine House, Mona Schalin turned her attention to the refurbishment of the Hilding Ekelund-designed Pohjolankatu 47 (2022), another social housing development in Helsinki. Her other notable works include the restoration of the Urho Kekkonen Museum in Tamminiemi (2011) and of a number of buildings on Suomenlinna Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Schalin is actively engaged in protecting Finland’s cultural environments and a keen participant in public debates on this issue. She is also one of the authors of Whose City (2021), a pamphlet critiquing current approaches to urban development
From 2021 to 2023, Mona Schalin served as a member of the SAFA Board, and has sat on its Council for many years over a period of three decades.
She is also a member of Svenska Tekniska Vetenskapsakademien i Finland, and served on the international ICOMOS committee from 2007 to 2011.
Alongside her design work, Schalin has taught the history of architecture and landscape architecture at Aalto University and the Tampere University of Technology. She has also worked as visiting professor at the Aarhus School of Architecture, taught on the NORDMAK architectural heritage programme and served as coordinator of MARC, an international course focusing on the conservation of modern architecture.
The President of Finland awards the life-time title of Art Academic to a distinguished artist nominated by the Arts Council of Finland.