Uno Ullberg

Viipuri Art Museum and Drawing School (1930) in Vyborg, Russia
Uno Ullberg
Born 1879
Vyborg, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died 1944
Helsinki, Finland
Nationality Finn
Occupation Architect
Buildings

Viipuri Art Museum and Drawing School, 1931
Viipurin Panttilaitos Oy Building, 1931

Viipuri Hospital Maternity and Women's Wards, 1937
Projects Viipuri Reconstruction, 1940

Uno Ullberg (1879 in Vyborg – 1944 in Helsinki) was a famous Finnish architect, who worked most of his life in Vyborg. Vyborg belonged until 1917 to Russian Empire as the part of Grand Duchy of Finland, then it was part of Finland, and from 1944 part of first the Soviet Union and then Russia. The style of his architecture covers the transition in architecture from so-called Nordic Classicism of the 1920s to Functionalism during the 1930s. Ullberg is regarded as a leading architect of the Nordic Classicism period and was the first to introduce Functionalism to Vyborg.[1] Though his most notable buildings were constructed in Vyborg, he became famous not only in his native town but nationwide.

Education and early works

Ullberg graduated from the architectural faculty in Helsinki Polytechnic Institute, now Aalto University. After returning in 1906 to the native town he joined Klaes Axel Gulden, who had studied with him in Helsinki, for the purpose of setting up their own architectural bureau.

They worked together until 1909, when Ullberg decided to quit and to start working under his own name. The most important work created in collaboration with Gulden was the headquarters of Hackman & Co (1909) at Piispankatu 14in in Vyborg. The building represents the compositional and formal variations of Jugenstil, Art Nouveau or National Romanticism. The main elevation pediments, openings, window frames, portals, and the granite facades are quite typical of National Romanticism, which at that time was also the prevailing architectural style in Finland for key public buildings, most notably in the works of architects Gesellius, Lindgren, and Saarinen (e.g. Finnish Pavilion at Exposition Universelle (1900), Paris, and National Museum of Finland, Helsinki (1902–1904).) The interiors of the building were among the most stylish and rich in the city. The inside of the house survived harmful transformations during the Soviet period so the interior decorations were greatly damaged.

After leaving the collaboration with Gulden, Uno Ullberg continued to work alone. Between 1910 and 1930 he designed a large number of public buildings and houses, most of which are situated in Vyborg. Among these are several office buildings in Priozersk (former Käkisalmi), Imatra and other Finnish towns.

The early works in Vyborg could be described as traditional town architecture with a classicistic influence. The most interesting examples from this period include the reconstruction of the Union Bank (originally built in 1900), the Karjala offices (1929), the store and residence of V. Dippel (1921) and the restoration of the famous medieval Round Tower in the middle of the old city centre. Ullberg converted the massive old building into a restaurant and cafe.

The White Era

The most important period in Ullberg's architect career is connected with the "White Era" of Functionalist architecture. However, some of his important works can be considered as marking a transition from Nordic Classicism to Functionalism during the 1920s and early 1930s.

Ullberg found his own unique conception and interpretation of functionalistic architecture. The main aspect of his philosophy is the connection between the functional and the classical. In his early works Ullberg used as his basis Classical architecture, emphasizing reductive common elements from Classicism. The most important works of the era became Ullberg's reply to the serious social needs of the city. Among these works are the Viipuri Art Museum and Drawing School (1930), the Vyborg Panttilaitos Oy Building (1931), the Vyborg Provincial Archives (1933), and the Vyborg Maternity Hospital (1937).

Viipuri Art Museum and Drawing School (1930) in Vyborg, Russia

The most important of Ullberg's works is the combined Vyborg Art Museum and Drawing School. Completed in October 1930, the building is situated near the 16th Century Pantsarlahti Bastion at the southern end of the city. Contrasting with its fortress surroundings, the white-stuccoed building commands the view over the South Harbour and the approach from the sea. The massing of the building comprises two wings (the Art Museum on the east wing, and the Drawing School on the west) placed at an angle to each other, with a wedge-shaped, paved courtyard separating the two. The wider part of the courtyard faces south-west, towards the harbour, and there is an imposing twin-row of Classical columns with a rectangular cross-section supporting an equally stylistic curving architrave, doubling as a corridor that connects the two buildings. The approach to the museum from the city is through a series of flights of steps leading to an opening, set at an angle, between the windowless north walls of the wings. The walls facing south are almost as austere, with the central colonnade acting as the focal point.

Viipuri Panttilaitos Oy (1931) in Vyborg, Russia

The four-storey building of the Viipuri Panttilaitos Oy was the first completed example of Functionalist movement in the city. It has as many rows of distinct, very simplified bands of windows, or rather, more like four very wide windows with very thin mullions. The first floor fenestration consists of a double row of windows, 22 in a row (that are hinged from the bottom, opening downwards), while the upper three only have one. The bold fenestration is enabled by the use of a solid reinforced concrete girderless framework with "mushroom form" columns that free the brick facade of its load-bearing function. The cross-section of columns on the last stage is much smaller than on the first one, it's because of the increase of mechanical tension down from the roof the basement.

Ullberg worked not only with his own bureau, but also acted as the Viipuri city architect in 1932–1936. During this period he controlled the urban conception of the city and worked on the Master plan.

Ullberg was very successful in designing medical facilities. During the White Era he built a number of hospitals in Viipuri. In 1936 Ullberg moved to Helsinki where he became the head of the architectural bureau of the National Board of Health. This job was connected to his great experience in the theory of the design of medical buildings and his practical design achievements.

After the Winter War with the Soviet Union, when after the short period of being a Soviet city in 1941 Vyborg was belonged again to Finland, Ullberg quickly drew up a plan for the reconstruction for his native town (1941). But there was no time or possibility to implement the plan because the entire city was annexed to the Soviet Union.

Ullberg died in Helsinki in 1944 at the age of 65.

Important buildings

References

  1. ↑ Simo Paavilainen, Nordic Classicism 1910-1930, Museum of Finnish Architecture, Helsinki, 1982.
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