University of Jyväskylä Teacher Training School is a lower-level comprehensive school situated in the campus milieu designed by the Aalto office in Jyväskylä’s Seminaarinmäki hill.

The building’s outer form is characterised by the strong bipartite division. The street-side wing forms an integral part of the campus’ western silhouette, whereas the glass façades facing the interior of the campus are characterised by reflections of the parkland site and earlier architecture.

The school’s interior spaces have been organised into units by function about the entrance hall, exhibition space and east-facing schoolyard. Common spaces, the canteen, multi-function space, library, subject-specific classrooms and general teaching spaces at the centre and the two wings house the teaching groups’ base classrooms arranged in clusters of three.

University of Jyväskylä Teacher Training School was designed by Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects, Ilmari Lahdelma being the principal architect of the building. The design is based in the winning entry in an invited architecture competition in 2000.

Text: Finnish Architectural Review 1/2004