The the three members of the Pre-Selection Jury and its Chair are appointed by the Executive Board of the Finnish Association of Architects. The Pre-selecton Jury proposes 3-5 candidates, among which the Juror selects the winner of the Prize. The members of the Pre-Selection Jury are appointed for two terms.
Chairperson of the Pre-selection Jury
Professor Rainer Mahlamäki SAFA has played a leading role in Finnish architecture for many years. He has served as professor of architecture at the University of Oulu and as chair of the Finnish Association of Architects. He has also been widely recognised for his international achievements, including in 2017, when he was presented with the Prince Eugen Medal by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden for his distinguished service to the arts.
Some of Rainer Mahlamäki’s most notable designs include the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and Lusto, the Finnish Forest Museum. He is currently working on the Żurawie hybrid development in the Polish city of Gdańsk and the Lost Shtetl Museum in Šeduva, Lithuania.
Rainer Mahlamäki established Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects with Ilmari Lahdelma in 1997. Their collaboration, however, began much earlier and dates back several years to 8 Studio Architects, first set up in 1986, and Kaira-Lahdelma-Mahlamäki Architects, founded in 1992.
Dr Harri Hautajärvi is an architect whose work also encompasses writing and research. His practice, first established in 1995, specialises in interiors, refurbishments and architectural building design. He has written and edited numerous architectural titles and his published works also encompass around 260 scientific and popular scientific articles that have appeared in everything from professional journals to newspapers and magazines.
From 2000 to 2008, Harri Hautajärvi served as the editor-in-chief of the Finnish Architectural Review. The publication, and Harri Hautajärvi himself, won numerous prizes during his tenure at the journal. His doctoral thesis, titled From bothies to holiday villages – an architectural history of Lapland (Autiotuvista lomakaupunkeihin – Lapin matkailun arkkitehtuurihistoria) won the award for best construction sector thesis in 2015. He is also one of the authors and editors that contributed to the award-winning 2021 pamphlet titled Whose city is it? Helsinki built heritage and planning policies heading for a collision (Kenen kaupunki? Helsingin kaupunkisuunnittelu ja kulttuuriympäristö törmäyskurssilla).
Hautajärvi has curated several museum exhibitions and designed exhibitions and exhibitions spaces. During the course of his career, he has also sat on a number of juries and on the boards of architecture industry bodies, including as chair.
Since her university days, Sarlotta Narjus SAFA has worked as a sustainable architectural designer on commissions secured through design competitions. Following their Expo 2000 competition win in 1998, Narjus and her partner, Professor Antti-Matti Siikala, acquired Jan Söderlund’s architectural practice. It was re-named Arkkitehtitoimisto SARC Oy, and Sarlotta Narjus went on to assume the role of managing director.
Sarlotta Narjus has served on several national and international juries for architectural prizes and design competitions and held other honorary positions within the construction industry, including the Association of Finnish Architects’ Offices, the Building Information Foundation and the Spirit of Nature prize. She has also taught at Aalto University and lectured internationally.
Her recent significant commissions include historic property restoration projects, including Töölö Campus, “the Marble Palace”, the Museum of Finnish Architecture at Puistokatu 4 and the Kaarti Infirmary development in Helsinki, along with new developments, like the city’s Keilaniemi district and the New Children’s Hospital, which received the Finlandia Prize for Architecture in 2018.
Jenni Reuter (1972–) is Associate Professor of Architectural Principles and Theory at Helsinki’s Aalto University. In her teaching, she focuses on space-making for a sustainable future, the changing role of the architect, new pedagogical models and the dynamic relationships between architecture and other artistic disciplines. Since 2016, she has curated the international Architecture Speaks! lecture series.
Alongside her scholarly career, Jenni Reuter is a practicing architect. She runs her own practice alongside a collaborative relationship with fellow architects Saija Hollmén and Helena Sandman. The trio first worked together on the Women’s Centre project in Rufisque, Senegal in 1995 and are currently working on a girls’ hostel project in Tanzania. In 2007, they set up Ukumbi, an NGO that specialises in offering architectural services to developing communities.
The work of Jenni Reuter and RHS Architects has been recognized with prizes in both Finland and internationally. Her designs have also been extensively covered in print and exhibited widely, including at the Venice Biennale. In 2017, Jenni Reuter received the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s prize for “outstanding cultural achievement”.
Jenni Reuter teaches and lectures at universities and events around the world. She also regularly sits on juries for architectural competitions and holds other influential roles within the profession.