Samu Aarnio

Research · Editorial · UX/UI · Digital implementation

Joensuu
City Hall

The evolving digital biography of a landmark building.

Joensuu City Hall and its tower
Joensuu City Hall, designed by Eliel Saarinen.

TypeDigital publication

SubjectArchitecture and history

FormatMobile-first web service

PlatformActlator

A building is never only architecture. It is also everything that has happened within it.

The project began with a practical problem: the 2016 book about Joensuu City Hall was out of print, while its original production files had disappeared. Instead of trying to reproduce the book, I began reshaping its material as a mobile-first digital publication — one that could grow beyond the original volume.

01 · From book to service

Preserving the work.
Changing the form.

The surviving partial PDFs, photographs and archival material became the basis of a new structure. Long chapters were reconsidered as visual timelines, focused stories and thematic ways of exploring the building.

Visualisation of the original Joensuu City Hall book
The original printed publication, 2016.

02 · A story before the building

The city hall
before the city hall

The digital timeline begins before Saarinen’s building. It follows the city’s search for a civic centre, the earlier city hall and the architectural competition that shaped the present landmark.

Black-and-white exterior view of Joensuu City Hall
Joensuu City Hall seen from the riverside.
Joensuu City Hall digital publication presented on iPhone
The publication is designed first for the phone — accessible in the building and beyond it.

03 · Archives interpreted

Drawings become
spaces again

Surviving competition drawings are not left as isolated documents. Detailed stories explain their context, while clearly labelled AI-assisted visualisations help readers imagine unrealised proposals as architecture.

Detailed mobile story about Eliel Saarinen winning the competition
Competition drawing and labelled AI-assisted visualisation
AI-assisted architectural visualisation based on archival material
AI-assisted visualisation created as part of the project’s exploration of archival architectural material.

04 · The building today

A civic monument
still in use

The story continues into the present. Architectural details, restored interiors, theatre spaces and museum content reveal the building not as a frozen monument but as a living cultural institution.

Second-floor staircase in Joensuu City Hall
Second-floor staircase and restored interior details.
Joensuu City Theatre auditorium inside the city hall
The city hall is also home to Joensuu City Theatre.

The digital structure

01Move through timeA chronological route from early plans to the building’s present life.

02Explore the buildingFaçades, tower, halls, details and nearby public art.

03Enter a storyFocused pages allow archival material and individual themes room to unfold.

What changed

The digital edition does not merely preserve a book. It reconnects the building’s past with the life continuing inside it today.

Role

Digital concept, research and content editing, visual identity, information architecture, UX/UI and no-code implementation by Samu Aarnio.

← Back to selected work