Poznati arhitektonski kritičar J. M. Richards je godine 1957. u jednom predavanju na BBC-ju opisao Finsku kao “najbolje obaju svjetova”1. Govorio je o tome da se finski arhitekti imaju sposobnost služiti prefabrikacijom, a pritom ipak očuvati individualnost arhitektonskog izraza, da se arhitektonskih pitanja laćaju znanstveno, ali ih rješavaju na human način, da je njihovo djelo vezano za lokalni kontekst, ali pritom nikada nije provincijalno.
Richards je zapravo parafrazirao slavnog promotora modernizma Sigfrieda Giediona, koji je nekoliko godina prije sličnim riječima opisao najpoznatijeg među finskim arhitektima – Alvara Aalta. U drugom izdanju svoje utjecajne knjige Space, Time and Architecture predstavio je Aalta kao velikog sintetičara koji je sposoban združiti naoko suprotne principe: standardizaciju s humanim pristupom, znanstveni um s umjetničkom maštom te posljednja dostignuća tehnologije s lokalnim elementima regije.
(...)

The renowned architectural critic J. M. Richards described Finland in a BBC lecture of 1957 as “the best of both worlds”1. He said that Finnish architects knew how to use prefabrication yet developed their individuality as artists; that they confronted architectural issues scientifically yet resolved them humanely; that their work was closely connected with the local context yet was never provincial.
Richards was actually paraphrasing Sigfried Giedion, the famous proponent of modernism, who had some years earlier used similar words to describe the most famous of Finnish architects, Alvar Aalto. In the second edition of his highly influential book Space, Time and Architecture he introduced Aalto as a great synthesist who was able to reconcile seemingly opposed principles: standardization with humane approach, scientific reasoning with artistic imagination, and the latest mechanical processes with the local elements of a region.
(...)