PROJECTS AND ENGAGEMENTS

Scientific engagements

  • PhD thesis on corporate architecture in Finland carried out in 1999-2005. Read the abstract of the study.
  • The Nordic-Baltic multidisciplinary research project "Industry & Modernism". Member in a group of nine researchers from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Lithuania. Funding for 2003-2005 from The Councils for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences in the Nordic Countries (NOS-H). The leader of the group was docent Anja Kervanto Nevanlinna, University of Helsinki.
  • Teacher of an Internet course on industrial heritage, arranged by the Finnish network for the History of Science and Technology, called TORUS, using the Web-based learning environment Discendum Optima. The course has been carried out in September - November, 2003, and February - April, 2005.
  • Member of the coordination committee of the Culture2000 project "Industrial Heritage between Land and Sea" (2003-2006) with participants from France, Italy, Greece, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Finland.
  • Member of the TICCIH European Agency, KOINETWORK E.G.E.I. (Agency for the Internationalisation of Cultures and Companies)
  • Co-editor of the Journal "Industrial Patrimony", published by KOINETWORK E.G.E.I..
  • Co-editor of the Journal "Tekniikan Waiheita", published by the Finnish Society for the History of Technology.
  • The correspondent of the TICCIH-Finland.
  • Member of the steering group of the database project on industrial heritage sites of TICCIH-Finland, 2002-2003.
  • Finland's coordinator of the Nordic-Baltic project "Industrial Heritage Platform" in 2001-2002
  • The part time curator of the Vaasa Museum of Labour, 1999-2005. .


    Documentation projects

  • The building documentation of the industrial site in Oravainen, Finland, 2003. The documentation work includes archive studies, photographing, field study and interviews. The documentation resulted in a report. The documentation project was financied by Oy KWH-Mirka Ab, who owns the premises.
    Industrial activites on the site date back to the 18th century, when a blast furnace and metal works were established by the Kimo River. In 1885, a textile mill started in the premises of the abandoned metal works. The textile production was ceased in the early 1980s and the production of coated abrasives took over the buildings. The premises are today occupied by Oy KWH-Mirka Ab for industrial use.

  • The leader of the documentation project of the flax spinning mill "Oy Almedahl Ab" in Malax, Finland, 2002-2003. The documentation was carried out by a group of five persons including archive studies, photographing, video recording and interviews. The final report of the project was publishd in 2003 in Swedish. Even a documentation film about flax spinning was produced. The outputs of the project are merchandised by The Malax museiförening (The Museum Association of Malax). The project was financed by Oy Almedahl Ab, the municipality of Malax and the Foundation of Savings Bank of Malax.
    The flax spinning mill was started in 1971 by a Swedish company who moved the equipment from Sweden to Malax, Finland. The mill was a subsidiary of the Swedish company Almedahls AB, which is owned by Investment AB Latour. The Almedahl flax spinning mill in Malax was the one in Finland. The production was ceased in February 2003.

  • The teacher of the study circle on history of the Vaasa Cotton Mill at Vasa Arbetarinstitut (Arbis), Finland, in 2002-2003. The aim of the study circle was to collect memories, photographs and material objects connected to the Vaasa Cotton Mill. The result of the study circle was a small scale exhibition which circulates in cultural institutions in Vaasa. The material and information collected at the study circle will be used in other projects that will make known the history of the cotton mill.
    The Vaasa Cotton Manufactory was established in 1856. In 1963, the company was bought by Oy Finlayson-Forssa Ab, a large Finnish company which owned cotton mills also in Tampere and Forssa. The mill in Vaasa was closed down in 1979 and the real estate company Palosaaren Yrityskeskus Oy, owned by the municipality of Vaasa, took over the premises. Most industrial premises and dwelling houses in the factory area are preserved and restored for new use. A part of the premises forms the Vaasa Science Park where the University of Vaasa and Vaasa Polytechnics have their teaching, research and administration activities.

  • The building documentation of the ABB industrial premises and the site in "Strömberg Park" area in Vaasa, Finland, in 2002. The aim of the documentation work was to find out the building phases of more than 30 buildings on the site of about 70 hectars. The historical, architectural and environmental evaluation of every building and of the whole site was an integral part of the documentation work. T.Mikkonen was assisted by Katarina Andersson, especially in the evaluation phase.
    The documentation was used as background material for a renewal of the town plan, where the whole site was designated as cultural historical site. Six buildings, a bicycle shelter and facades of some buildings were listed by the town plan. Furhtermore, 13 buildings are mentioned to have historical or other values, and the preservation of those buildings is highly recommended. The documentation work was carried out by the Ostrobothnian Museum in Vaasa and financed by the ABB Facilities Oy, Helsinki. The documentation report was published in Finnish language in 2002 and is at sale at the Ostrobothnian Museum.
    The industrial activities of the electro-mechanical company Oy Strömberg Ab were partly moved to Vaasa in the early 1940s due to the strategic reasons. Well-known architects, such as Alvar Aalto, Egil Nicklin, Viljo Revell and Bertel Liljequist, were hired to design the factory buildings, dwelling houses and to make the general plan for industrial and housing areas. The industrial site has a unique character, while the buildings are placed in curved rows within the natural forest. The documentation and the evaluation project of the buildings and the site was the first large scale object in the field of post-war architecture.

  • The visualisation of the production process of the Liepsna Match Factory in Kaunas, Lithuania, by the means of multimedia facilities. The material was collected during the international course organised by the Industrial Heritage Platform project in 2001. The multimedia CD, "Strike a Light", was produced by the Vaasa Museum of Labour in 2002.


    Updated: 5 December 2008