Jacqueline Hassink - The Paimio Sanatorium: An Interpretation

The Paimio Sanatorium (1929-1933), situated in a 310 hectare forest, was built to house 286 tuberculosis patients. In 1960, the illness became treatable through medication and today, the hospital specializes in long-term diseases. Alvar Aalto designed the building when he was thirty years old and it was his international breakthrough. The building was designed to facilitate all the needs of the patients. Fresh air and light were the only cure for tuberculosis at that time. Aalto not only designed the building, but also the furniture, the light fixtures, special colors (Paimio yellow), curtains, drink glasses, doorknobs, a heating system, etc.  Jacqueline Hassink has created an interpretation of the building focusing on the human architectural qualities that Aalto mastered. She emphasizes the role of the forest throughout the building, the windows, the Paimio yellow color, and the light fixtures.

Born in 1966, Dutch artist Jacqueline Hassink lives in New York. Her work has been shown internationally at the Huis Marseille Foundation for Photography (Amsterdam), Fotomuseum Winterthur (Winterthur), Scalo Gallery (New York), Galerie Deux (Tokyo), Metropolitan Museum for Photography (Tokyo), Victoria & Albert Museum (London), Rencontres Arles (Arles), and the Photographers’ Gallery (London). Her published monographs include The Table of Power (Menno Van de Koppel, 1996), Queen Bees (Menno Van de Koppel, 1999) and more recently Mindscapes (Birkhäuser, 2003). In 2002, Hassink was the winner of the Prix No Limit at the Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles.