Education

Examples of teaching conducted at the Aalto University in Helsinki, International Workshops, and in various Schools of Architecture & Design.

NORDIC ARCHITECTURE
Type: Lecture Series "Skandinavische Architektur"
Client: Technische Hochschule Würzburg-Schweinfurt / University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt
Location: Würzburg, Germany
Status: Semesters 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025

Lecture Series on Scandinavian and Nordic Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture. A set of two-hour lectures covering wide range of topics, such as Nordic Nature & Culture, Alvar Aalto, Raili & Reima Pietilä, Golden Age, Next Generation, Ultima Thule, FIN-GER, BIG, Urban Planning & Design, Import & Export, Making Theory and Back to Beginnings. The individual assignments are conducted in workshops and jammin' session, where students can interact and peer review each others works during the Course.

ARCHITEKTURAKADEMIE FÜR KINDER / ARCHITECTURE ACADEMY FOR KIDS
Type: Private education
Size: Weekly workshops all through the year
Location: Würzburg, Germany
Status: Concept 2014, conducted 2015-2021
Teacher: Juhani Karanka, Architect SAFA

ArchitekturAkademie für Kinder offered weekly workshops to children aged 7-14. The educational methods varied, but the main focus was having fun with architecture by playing. During the Courses, the kids designed various real-life projects, public artworks, calendars, and even were nominated for a film prize in Berlin.

LUX
Type: International Architecture Workshop
Client: City of Würzburg, Church of St. Elisabeth in Zellerau
Size: 4 100 m2
Location: Würzburg, Germany
Status: Concept 2012, Project 2012
Tutor: Juhani Karanka (Finland)
Team:  Maria Aparicio Álvarez, Davide Bossi, Nicole Ruspa and E.Sebastian Saavedra-Lux

WAW 2012 - Würzburg Architecture Workshop 2012 studied the possibilities of developing the existing St. Elisabeth church in Zellerau. The team of international students decided, after extensive analysing, to demolish the church and build a new smaller one made out of massive wood in the shape of an eye, ship or praying hands. At the same time the team proposed to build new urban housing, a small kindergarden and service spaces with extensive high quality green outdoor areas to accommodate the present day wishes and needs of the users.

AKW - Alternativ Kultur Zentrum
Type: International Architecture Workshop
Client: City of Würzburg
Size: 20 000 m2
Location: Bürgerbräu, Würzburg, Germany
Status: Concept 2010, Project 2010
Tutor: Juhani Karanka
Team: Ornella Cosentino, Peter Heinemann, Christian Kettenring, Carlos Lobo and Javier Pardo

WAW 2010 - Würzburg Architecture Workshop 2010 worked on developing ideas for the former Bürgerbräu Old Brewery area in Zellerau. The team used different academical research and design methods to come up with a user simulated urban and architectural plan that included the reuse of existing old buildings, landscaping the natural environment and new human scale housing.

NENÄPÄIVÄ
Type: National Public Radio Appearance
Size: Morning show
Location: YLE-Pasila, Helsinki, Finland
Status: Broadcasted 06.11.2009
Team: Juhani Karanka & Antti Ahlava

With my colleague from Aalto University. Antti Ahlava, we were invited to talk about the controversial hotel design to the city center of Helsinki by Herzog & de Meuron. Of course we defended their modern proposal against the architectural establishment at that time. As you can see from the selfie, I was well prepared with proper personal hygiene protection as it was the time of the bird flu pandemic in the world.

PARADISE
Type: International Architecture Workshop
Client: City of Würzburg
Size: 5 000 m2
Location: Heidingsfeld, Würzburg, Germany
Status: Concept 2007, Project 2007
Tutors: Juhani Karanka (Finland) and Rainer Gumpp (Germany)
Team: , Nuno Castro Caldas, Pedro Goncalves, Sanna Greenberg, Fadi Hamouda, Frederico Reis and Maria Tiedemann

WAW 2007 - Würzburg Architecture Workshop 2007  studied the conversion of the "Grönert" factory area in Heidingsfeld. The team experimented with different design approaches, film being one of them. As an end presentation, instead of using traditional presentation drawings and boards, the young people showed a revolutionary movie explaining their design to save the planet and make it a paradise for everyone.

BEST TEACHER PRIZE
Type: Prize
Client: Aalto University (former University of Technology of Helsinki TKK)
Size: Champagne glass on top of curved block of wood
Location: Aalto University
Status: Prize 20074

Best Teacher Prize 2004. Designed by Antti Mentula, the students of architecture and landscape architecture awarded this delicious thanks for the Academic Year 2004 at the Aalto University. Unfortunately couldn’t keep it as the Prize is annually awarded to a new teacher who excels in working together with students.

MONOLITH
Type: International architecture workshop
Client: City of Würzburg
Size: 10 000 m2
Location: Mozart Areal, Würzburg, Germany
Status: Concept 2003, Project 2003
Tutors: Juhani Karanka (Finland) and João Santa-Rita (Portugal)
Team: Thorsten Fischenbeck, Marco Manzke, Kirsten Riebel, Yara Vaello, Andrea Ramos, Alassandro Solci, Daniela Kircher, Maciej Boetryk, Eduardo Rodrigues, Ricardo Silva Carvalho, Ines Carvalho, Artur Simones Dias, Michele Megna, Rudolfo Gamenivo and Israel Paez

WAW 2003 - Würzburg Architecture Workshop 2003  studied the conversion of the "Mozart Gymnasium" in downtown Würzburg. The students idea was to demolish the existing 1950's buildings and cover the whole block with concrete and then carve out the pathways and spaces for housing, working and services as well as for the urban green.

URBAN LASAGNE
Type: International architecture workshop
Client: City of Würzburg
Size: 62 000 m2
Location: Heuchelhof, Würzburg, Germany
Status: Concept 2001, Project 2001
Tutors: Juhani Karanka (Finland), Roland Hagmüller (Austria) and Diogo Seixas Lopez (Portugal)
Team: Alexandra Delgado Jiminez, Matilde Gimeno Torcal, Mario Mölter, Martijn Oosterhuis, Christina Palmero Martin, Johannes Schröder and Tanja Wagner. 

WAW 2001 - Würzburg Architecture Workshop 2001  studied the conversion of the Main-Post Area at Heuchelhof, Würzburg. Our project, Urban Lasagne, proposed a Medieval urban design with modern architecture.

ACADEMIC TEACHING
Type: Full-time Lecturer in Architecture, Urban Planning & Design 
Location: Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland
Status: Active from 1999 to 2012

For twelve years (2000-2012) Juhani Karanka held the position of Full-time Lecturer for Urban Planning & Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture at the Aalto University in Finland. The academic period included PhD research work and teaching of basic and advanced Courses for students of architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, traffic planning, landsurveying, urban geography, industrial design, philosophy and psychology. The higher education teaching for interdisciplinary teamworking was based on PBL-methods (problem-based learning), and it was rewarded with several best practice prizes awards.

ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL DEGREE
Type: Master in Science of Architecture with Distinction
Location: Tampere University of Technology TUT, Tampere, Finland
Status: Studies between 1983-1999

Academic and professional studies in Architecture took sixteen years (1983-1999) to complete. In reality the active study time was nine years, as in between life intervened in the form of parenthood, economic depression, and designing commissioned buildings or working in architectural offices. Finally managed to make my Master in Science of Architecture (and to graduate with Distinction) at the Department of Architecture at the Tampere University of Technology TUT. The Master Degree included two majors; one in Urban Planning and one in Public Building Design.

As far as it is known, this is the only architect, who managed to graduate from a University by making a doll's house and coining the motto: "Form Follows Fun."