The the three members of the Pre-Selection Jury and its Chair are appointed by the Executive Board of the Finnish Association of Architects. The Pre-selecton Jury proposes 3-5 candidates, among which the Juror selects the winner of the Prize. The members of the Pre-Selection Jury are appointed for two terms.
Chairperson of the Pre-selection Jury
Architect Pirjo Sanaksenaho (b. 1966) is Professor of Building Design at the Department of Architecture of the Aalto University and heads the Research Institute for Health Care Facilities (SOTERA). She also partner at Sanaksenaho Architects together with Matti Sanaksenaho. The main works of the practice include Villa CIPEA in Nanjing, China, and St Henry Ecumenical Art Chapel in Turku and the extension of the Finnish Student Health Service building in Helsinki.
Sanaksenaho has also held several positions of trust in her field: she served as Member of the National Council for Architecture and Arts Council of Uusimaa in 2007–2009 and their Vice-Chair in 2010–2012 as well as Member of the Delegates Council of the Finnish Association of Architects.
Architect and Artist Professor Sari Nieminen has designed schools and day-care centres that have featured in many publications and exhibitions. Her main works include Sakarinmäki school (Sipoo, 2005, FLN Architects), a school extension (Helsinki, 2014), an extension to Puistokoulu school (Jyväskylä, 2010) and the Ranta nursery (Helsinki, 1999). Nieminen has taught both architecture and interior architecture. She has won prizes in numerous competitions.
She has also served as a jury member for many architectural competitions and as an expert, and in positions of trust, for example, as a deputy member of the Copyright Council under the Ministry of Education and Culture, Member of the Administrative Board of the Museum of Finnish Architecture, the editorial board of the Finnish Architectural Review and an advisor for the Architectural Design Sub-committee of the City of Helsinki Building Control.
Architect Eero Lundén FRSA (b.1982) runs an architectural office with a ten-strong team in Helsinki. His team is currently working on the design of a school campus in Pieksämäki and collaborating with the Danish-based COBE on the new station terminal in Tampere. in 2012, Lundén reived the Reima Pietilä Prize together with Toni Österlund. Lundén focuses on exploring the potential of new digital design methods in reshaping construction and architecture. Examples of his work include the timber pavilions in Turku and Shanghai and a sculpture created for the Venice Biennale. Lundén holds degrees in architecture from the University of Oulu and Columbia University in the City of New York. He has lectured and taught at architectural school both in Finland and abroad. Lundén is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Architects, UK.
Janne Pihlajaniemi (b.1970), architect, D.Sc. (Tech.), is Professor of Architecture at Oulu School of Architecture. He is also a partner in M3 Architects, together with Kari Nykänen and Henrika Pihlajaniemi. Since 2000, M3 Architects have worked on a wide range of projects, from building design and urban planning to lighting design. Janne Pihlajaniemi’s main works include St Andreas Church in Oulu (2004), the Metsola children’s home (2007) and Talvikangas school (2016). He has served on the juries of architectural competitions and holds several positions of trust, including the vice-chairmanship of SAFA in 2007–2008, and as a representative of Finnish schools of architecture on collaborative Nordic and EU bodies.