Olivia Mathilda Lönn was born in the village of, near Tampere on May 20, 1872. Her father was Wilhelm Lönn, a local brewer, and her mother Mathilda Siren. After graduating from the Industrial School of Tampere she moved to Helsinki. From 1893 to 1896 she studied architecture at the Polytechnic University of Helsinki. During the same period, she won first prize in several architectural competitions. During her life she developed a close friendship with Hanna Parviainen, with whom she collaborated many times.
Later career
Her graduation from the university was followed by the establishment of her architectural office, making her the first independently practising female architect of Finland. In 1904 she won the first architectural prize in a contest of the School of Economics of Tampere. From 1909 to 1913 Wivi Lönn and Armas Lindgren designed and built the Estonia Theatre in the Art Nouveau style, and the Uusi Ylioppilastalo. In 1913 she moved to Jyväskylä, where she developed several architectural projects, among them a school, a factory, and several other buildings. In 1913 the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, designed by her, was also completed. , Eliel Saarinen, and Albertina Östman, 1896 In the 1910s she designed the mansion in Jyväskylä of Alvar Aalto, a well-known Finnish architect. The project was finished in 1915. In the 1920s she cooperated with in many architectural projects in the area of Jyväskylä, such as nursery schools, health care stations, a church and a library. At the same time she designed and built the headquarters of the Young Women's Christian Association in Helsinki. In 1945 the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, designed by her, was also completed. In 1956 she became the first woman to be awarded the honorary title of the "Professor" by the Finnish Association of Architects. Wivi Lönn died on December 27, 1966 in Helsinki. In 2010, sculptor Sonja Vectomov unveiled a remarkable statue of Lönn at the center of a private park facing Lönn's own erstwhile mansion, the outline of which appears on its pedestal.
Notable buildings
She also designed the now dismantled main building of Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory in 1945.
