Saija Hollmén, D.Sc.(Arch), has served as a Professor of Practice in Humanitarian Architecture and as Vice Dean for Impact and Art and Creative Practices at Aalto University’s School of Arts, Design and Architecture.
Hollmén is the Director of the transdisciplinary professional post-master’s WiT Programme for Global Sustainability and Development, which focuses on the resilience of human settlements in the Global Majority context. She is the academic lead and co-founder of the WiTLAB (Aalto World in Transition Research LAB), addressing global sustainability and environmental–humanitarian challenges through cross-disciplinary research and pedagogy.
Hollmén is responsible for the Interplay of Cultures master studio, dealing with architectural design and planning in cultures outside Europe, hosted by the WiTLAB at the Department of Architecture at Aalto University. Her research, focusing on cultural locality and interdisciplinary pedagogies in architectural education, is informed by her practice in architectural design, heritage and planning in the Global South.
Hollmen is the Chair and co-founder of the award-winning Ukumbi NGO, and partner of Hollmén Reuter Sandman Architects, which aim at providing architectural services for communities in need. Ukumbi’s architectural projects in several African countries seek to improve the lives of the less privileged. Their work has been widely exhibited, for example, in the Venice Biennale in 2002, 2004 and 2016. Ukumbi was also awarded the Finnish State Award for Art in 2009 for its work for culturally sensitive and respectful architecture.
