Considered one of Alvar Aalto's most important works, it came as little surprise that news of a Finnish district's plan to sell the architect's Paimio Sanatorium was met with shock and attempts at appeal. 

Architects from the Finnish Association of Architects formed the Pro Paimio Committee and, along with the Alvar Aalto Foundation, have been working to ensure that any future owners commit to preserving the original architecture, interiors and furnishings in their entirety. 

The Sanatorium is a protected site and any buyer will have to abide by the restrictions this implicates. However, those advocating on behalf of the key work of modern architecture are concerned that certain new usages could wreck the original interior, which was uniquely tailored to the needs of tuberculosis patients for whom the facility was built. 

"Paimio is an integrated oeuvre d’art of architecture: only when all these parts are kept together, do they show the beauty and wisdom of this masterpiece of modernism," a petition by the Alvar Aalto Foundation recites.

Thus far, four bids have been made by the original end date of the bidding period, August 23rd, which has now been extended to the end of November.

The director of the Hospital District, Leena Setälä, said the various bidders have plans to use the building in the areas of wellbeing, rehabilitation, architecture or tourism; no major social or health companies are among them. Tommi Lindh, Managing Director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation, is concerned the offer extension is a reflection that none of these bids are worthwhile offers. 

The district has previously been criticized for neglecting to consult experts such as the Alvar Aalto Foundation and the Finnish Heritage Agency before putting the Sanatorium on sale, and the current news continues to cause concern. According to Lindh, the Sanatorium is "a textbook example of unskilled management of a significant building."