In the history of building, Otto-Iivari Meurman is one of the names that keeps returning.
The record lists Otto-Iivari Meurman as Finnish architect (1890–1994).
Otto-Iivari Meurman was born at Ilmajoki in 1890. His recorded nationality is Finland.
Modernism rejected ornament and historical style, arguing that a building should express its structure and its function - a claim contested ever since.
He is recorded as architect and urban planner.
An architect is judged by how a building is used a century after the drawings.
Recognition followed: Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland, Cross of Liberty, 4th Class, Medal of Liberty, 1st Class and Memorial medal of the War of Liberation.
That the work was built in Finland shaped it: climate, materials, planning law and who holds the budget all decide what can actually be built.
Otto-Iivari Meurman died in 1994, aged 104. The buildings remain, still in use by people who never knew the name - which is the particular afterlife architecture offers.
Achievements
- Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland
- Cross of Liberty, 4th Class
- Medal of Liberty, 1st Class
