Märta Blomstedt
| Märta Blomstedt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Märta Elisabeth Adelaide von Willebrand 8 June 1899 Turku, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire |
| Died | 16 February 1982 (aged 82) Helsinki, Finland |
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Occupation | architect, furniture designer |
| Years active | 1926–1972 |
| Known for | Finnish functionalism |
Märta Blomstedt (1899–1982) was an architect and one of the driving forces of the Finnish functionalism movement. Partnering with her husband, Pauli E. Blomstedt, her first works were noted for their functional, rather than decorative appearance and settings in park-like environments. After her husband's death, initially she formed a firm with Matti Lampén to complete projects her husband and she had begun. Later, she and Lampén formed a firm designing their own creations. She designed all aspects of her buildings including the furnishings, demonstrated in one of Blomstedt & Lampén's most noted designs of the Hotel Aulanko. During the war, Blomstedt & Lampén mostly worked on renovation and restoration projects of existing buildings, but at the war's end, they returned to their own designs. In addition to buildings, they were responsible for the city plans for Kuusjärvi and the Oravikoski Mining Community and created both public and private buildings in each city as well. When Lampén died, Blomstedt formed a partnership with Olli Penttilä and continued to work into the 1970s.
Märta Elisabeth Adelaide von Willebrand was born on 8 June 1899 in Turku, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire to Bertha Mathilda (née Hoffstedt) and Reinhold Alexander von Willebrand. Von Willebrand studied architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology and graduated as an architect in 1922. She studied the new modern functionalism which in Finland focused on separation of the building structure from the façade and placing it in a park-like, healthy environment, full of air and light. In 1924, she married a fellow student and architect, Pauli E. Blomstedt and had their first child, Benita (1924–2016). Between 1924 and 1929, she completed further study abroad in Italy and France.
In 1926, the couple began a partnership in a firm as independent architects and in the same year, had their second child, Yrjö. Two years later Pauli won the competition to complete the Finnish Savings Bank in Helsinki. Though he served as lead architect on the project, he was assisted by Märta, Veikko Leistén, Matti Lampén and others, to complete the project in 1930. Blomstedt and her husband completed the Kotka Savings Bank and began work on the Kannonkoski Church, before he died in 1935. She and Lampén jointly completed several of the designs her husband had begun, including the Pohjanhovi Hotel in Rovaniemi, an important icon of the early modernist period. In 1938, the two formed their own firm, Blomstedt & Lampén. Among the works Blomstedt and Lampén designed were the Hotel Aulanko in Hämeenlinna. While the building was being constructed in 1939 Finnish actress Sirkka Sari fell off the roof and died during filming of Rikas tyttö.
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