Jyrki Sinkkilä

Jyrki Sinkkilä works as Professor of Landscape Architecture, with specialization in Landscape design and construction, at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Within the multidisciplinary field of landscape architecture, Sinkkilä’s focus lies on ecological design, biosystems and architectural engineering. In his practice he combines freelance work for architectural companies with both teaching and research. Moreover, he is an active contributor to architectural journals and anthologies.

Sinkkilä has been involved in numerous landscaping projects related to public buildings in Finland and Sweden, including the outdoor design for the new library in Turku, the embassy of Finland in Stockholm, the extension of the Helsinki Zoological Museum, and several university premises around Finland.

In addition to institutions, Jyrki Sinkkilä has conducted housing projects during 1990s and 2000s, both in urban and suburban areas in Finland. Residential and living environment-related projects encompass also green and recreation areas, parks, kindergartens, and service center contexts for the elderly. All in all Sinkkilä’s involvement in Finnish and Nordic landscape architecture has been extensive, his practice spanning over four decades.

Sinkkilä is FCINY’s artist-in-residence for October and November. As he is involved in the preparatory work that is currently being done for the development of the Aalto University campus in Otaniemi, his main goal during the residency is to research campus design in the U.S. as well as in Canada. These sites are a matter of great interest for him, since they often are designed and built to function as teaching laboratories for architecture and landscape architecture. North American campus areas are physical learning environments that form an integral part of the studies of the future architects. At their best, these landscape laboratories also function as a real-life resume of the university in question.