Office

We have a long tradition of urban design, but we master the whole scale of built environments from cities to buildings, from public hospitals and day care centres to private homes. We aim at holistic design and the widening of perspectives.

We often wonder how we could benefit from existing resources. We are interested in historical layers, their restoration and reuse in new functions and contexts. Architecture is a living part of a city. It requires constant care and critical thinking, so we don’t lose some of its essential values and qualities. We work conceptually, draw by hand and by computer, build scale models and visualize our ideas. Apart from working with our hands, we value learning through thinking.

Our employees are active in teaching and research both at home and abroad. The office and its partners have worked professionally and academically in over 30 countries. Works by Harris-Kjisik Architects have been widely published in professional literature and journals and have been seen in major exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale. The office has won more than forty prizes in architectural competitions, both nationally and internationally, and many of these successes have led to direct commissions as a result of our continuous search for new innovative ideas and solutions.

Harris & Kjisik

As a young man, Trevor Harris (b. 1949) dreamt of a career in theatre. After an interview for the drama school he met someone who took him to listen to a fierce crit at the local architecture school. ”Screw the theatre, this is life” Harris thought when he realised that architecture was the stage of real life.

In the beginning of the 1970s, Harris, whilst undertaking an internship in Finland he met Hennu Kjisik (b. 1948) when both acted as competition assistants to the very successful group of architects known as Katras. When they started doing competitions on their own they immediately got a prize on their first try. Kjisik then spent the early 1980s in Africa but after that, in 1985, the office was officially established. After having largely concentrated on urban design the office now covers the whole field of architecture and the growing office now also has two younger partners, Henna Iinsalo and Hannu Louna.

Areas of expertise

Urban life

Our practice has 30 years of experience of urban design and planning. We are regarded as pioneers in the field but we still continually look for new ways of thinking as well as recreating existing models and solutions while aiming at continuing the discussions on what the roles of the different actors in the field will be in the future. Our vision is sustainable, green, and sociable.

Cure and Care

We want to promote healing and improved everyday life when we plan hospitals, and other buildings for cure and care. In our design decisions, we always consider the wellbeing of both the human being and the natural environment.

Inspiring learning environments

Day care centres and schools are the springboards for tuning a child’s curiosity about the world around them. So the design of a school or a day care centre is not just about solving the puzzle presented by the room schedule. We are interested in the users, their identities and needs. Logic meets humanity. We are keen to dive into the scale of the children, we want to design spaces for the future.

International cooperation

The office has had activities in more than twenty countries outside Europe. We have had commissions from United Nations’ organisations and international development banks, as well as bilateral development partners.

Clients

Afrikan kehityspankki
ARA – Asumisen rahoitus- ja kehittämiskeskus
Asuntosäätiö
Autismi- ja Asperger-liitto
Bouwcollege Utrecht
Carea Oy
DOMUSS Real Estate Development
Eesti TV ja Radio
Espoon kaupunki
Fira Group Oy
HUS-Kiinteistöt Oy
Helsingin ja Uudenmaan sairaanhoitopiiri
Helsingin kaupunki
Huittisten kaupunki
Hämeenlinnan kaupunki
Jyväskylän Matkakeskus Oy
Jyväskylän kaupunki
Järvenpään kaupunki
Kanta-Hämeen sairaanhoitopiiri
Kehitysvammaliitto
Kotkan kaupunki
Kristiinankaupungin kaupunki
Kuopion kaupunki
Lahden kaupunki
Lappeenrannan kaupunki
Lieksan kaupunki
Loviisan kaupunki
Länsimetro Oy
Maailmanpankki
Napa-Koli Oy
Nurmijärven kunta
Oulun kaupunki
Pirkanmaan sairaanhoitopiiri
Port de Bruxelles
Rakennusliike Evälahti Uusimaa Oy
Seinäjoen kaupunki
Sipoon kunta
Sivakka-yhtymä Oy
Skanska Oy
Sponda Oy
Suomen Ulkoministeriö
Suomenlinnan hoitokunta
Tampereen kaupunki
Turun kaupunki
Tuusulan kunta
Plancenter Ltd.
UNESCO
Uudenkaupungin kaupunki
Vantaan kaupunki
YIT Rakennus Oy
Ylöjärven kaupunki
Ympäristöministeriö
yksityiset asiakkaat
Ääneseudun kehitys Oy

Awards and exhibitions

2018

Finnish State Award for Architecture (Harris and Kjisik)

2017

Knight 1st Class of the Finnish Order of the White Rose (Kjisik)

2016

The O.I. Meurman prize for urban planning achievements in design work and teaching (Harris ja Kjisik)

2016

Cure and Care – Healing Spaces then and now, The Museum of Finnish Architecture (Kjisik and Louna)

2015

“The Visionary Pen – 30 years of Urban Utopias” – sketches by Trevor Harris (exhibition was part of the Helsinki Design Week)

2010

Oskari Vilamo prize for the best doctoral thesis of the year in the field of technology (Kjisik)

2008

Knight 1st Class of the Finnish Order of the White Rose (Harris)

2007

Espoo-medal (Kjisik)

2006

Venice Biennale – Office’s Helsinki Eastern Harbour scheme representing Finland

2004

Venetsian Biennale – Riga Maskavas project.

Team since 1985

Marta de Abreu Hartman
Olivier Adam
Harri Ahonen
Hannin Alnimri
Iris Andersson
Matti Anttila
Mats Biström
Mia Bungers
Beatriz Cerdan Rovira
Hugo Castaneda Chavez
Kelly Corcoran
Christopher Delany
Kathleen Dieme
Dali Gaysanova
Sudar Oli Gunasekaran
Paula Halonen
Leif Högfeldt Hansen
Anni Hapuoja
Barbara Heier
Jenni Hölttä
Marketta Isola
Elina Jaara
Maxime Jacot
Henna Iinsalo
Ip Kwan Yui
Iines Karkulahti
Catarina Ketonen

Jari Kiuru
Janne Kivelä
Lauri Klemola
Kaapo Komulainen
Lauri Kontiainen
Karin Krokfors
Panu-Petteri Kujala
Marcela de Lara
Laia Lara Sans
Juha Lehtonen
Olli Louhivuori
Hannu Louna
Minna Lukander
Annamari Löfgren
Vera Lönnqvist
Paula Marttila-Gomez
Maria Mateos
Mikko Metsähonkala
Joseph Mulcahy
Tuula Mäkiniemi
Heljä Nieminen
Taru Niskanen
Aimo Nissi
Charlotte Nyholm
Jukka Ollikaine
Tomi Oravainio
Pekka Pakkanen

Teemu Palo
Petteri Piha
Varvara Protassova
Aino Raatikka
Ville Rantanen
Tiina Rasi
Eric Rawlins
Anni Reinikainen
Jim Roche
Katriina Rosengren
Petri Rouhiainen
Michel Roux
Nicolas Roux
Liisa Ryynänen
Jukka Sulonen
Jonna Taegen
Juha Taponen
Hannu Tikka
Ilkka Törmä
Merve Ünlü
Werneri Vähä-Impola
Sofia de Vocht
Johanna Vuorinen
Päivi Wallenius
Yuxin Wu
Robin Wycherley
Can Özcan