Typpi Oy – Alvar Aalto's Red Brick Industrial Community in Oulu

In the 1950s, the Finnish state decided to build a nitrogen fertiliser plant in Oulu and invited Alvar Aalto as the designer.

The Typpi Oy commission was extensive and long-term, covering a vast area from the master plan to production, research and residential buildings, down to the smallest details.

The industrial community is divided into three zones. North of Kuusamontie lie the research and staff facilities and the actual production area, closed to the public. South of the road is a hierarchically organised residential area: closest to the factory are apartment blocks gracefully following the pine-covered ridge, while by the river stand the director’s residence, a sauna and a terrace house for engineers.

The architecture of the buildings, realised during Aalto’s so-called “red-brick period,” is characterised by exposed brickwork, mono-pitch roofs and a unified architectural expression.

Aalto’s office worked on the Typpi Oy complex in four phases from 1950 to 1968, after which other architectural firms continued the design of the plant.

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