Olivia Mathilda "Wivi" Lönn 20 May 1872 - 27 December 1966 was a Finnish architect and the first female architect in Finland to establish her own office.
Education
Lönn started in 1892 in the construction department of Tampere Industrial School, from where she graduated as machinists and construction masters. She was the second female student at the school. The first female student at the Tampere Industrial School (now known as Tampere University of Technology) was Signe Hornborg, who is also notable for being the world's first formally educated female architect. She was accepted to the school in 1888, paving the way for women like Lönn to pursue careers in architecture.
Lönn completed only the first year of the two-year course. She was the best in his course and the teacher recommended transferring to the Helsinki Polytechnic College in the fall of 1893. Lönn studied in Helsinki for three years and graduated as an architect in 1896
Career
Lönn was working in an architectural office when she received an invitation from a Finnish girls' school in Tampere to come and design a new building for the educational institution. Thanks to the order, Lönn decided to establish her own office in Tampere. She thus became Finland's first female architect who worked independently. The main production of Lönn's career takes place at the beginning of the 20th century, and there was so much work that she had to hire assistants, many of whom were women. Lönn always did the creative design work herself.
Winnings of architectural competitions
Lönn participated in several architectural competitions. She won six invitational competitions, which were e.g.
Alexander School (1903) design competition
Mikkeli Suomalainen yhteiskoulu's (1907) design competition
Design competition of the Tampere School of Commerce (1911).
Lönni's career is reflected in her school work, and she is known to have made more than 30 school plans. In addition to schools, she designed numerous mansions, residential buildings and industrial properties
The most famous buildings designed by Lönni are:
Tampere central fire station
New Student House, Helsinki
Estonia Theater Tallinn, Estonia
Valuation
In 1956, Wivi Lönni became the first woman to be awarded the title of Professor by the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA
Lönni has been commemorated with numerous statues, and several streets in different Finnish cities have been named after her.
Tampere central fire station
New Student House, Helsinki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wivi_L%C3%B6nn
For the Rules of this Open series and the current List of caches see the GC Open #01 listing.