Speakers

Professor Rainer Mahlamäki’s representative designs are a product of his belief in the importance of understanding each commission’s backstory. He strives to understand the people he designs for, the landscape he is altering, and the history he is representing. Whether museums or homes, his designs are rooted in a deep understanding and speak for themselves.

His best-known works include, e.g., the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Poland, and the Finnish Forest Museum Lusto in Punkaharju, Finland. He is currently working on the Żurawie mixed-use block in Gdańsk, Poland, and the Lost Shtetl Jewish Museum in Šeduva, Lithuania, to name but a few.
Aside from his projects, Rainer Mahlamäki frequently acts as a juror for high-profile international architecture
competitions. His pioneering achievements have been recognized with, e.g., the prestigious Prince Eugen Medal conferred by the King of Sweden for outstanding artistic achievement.

Rainer Mahlamäki founded Lahdelma & Mahlamäki architects together with Ilmari Lahdelma in 1997. Their collaborationsbegan well before this, with the founding of the architecture collective 8 Studio in 1986, and architecture office KairaLahdelma-Mahlamäki in 1992. Rainer Mahlamäki has been ever-present within Finland’s education and architecture institutions. He is Professor Emeritus of Contemporary Architecture at the University of Oulu, chaired the Board of the Museum of Finnish Architecture from 2002 to 2006 and was President of Finnish Association of Architects from 2007 to 2011