Ms. Mesiniemi’s experience in the profession of architecture has been acquired through a wide variety of international education and work experience. During her studies for her first Master of Architecture at the University of Ouluu, Finland, she was awarded a grant to work in an architectural office in Nicosia, Cyprus. While in Cyprus, Ms. Mesiniemi completed the schematic design for an out patient hospital for the Aglandija Municipality.
Throughout her studies, experience in several Finnish architecture offices was acquired. Her involvement with the Architecture Office Hormia, Co. included working on several large-scale school renovations as the project architect. During her tenure with the office, she was awarded first prize for a Finnish National Architecture Competition ” Jyvaskyla-Lutakonniemi” as a member of a working group. In addition to working for a well-established Helsinki architecture office, Ms. Mesiniemi worked for the city of Espoo, Finland in the Building Planning Department. Work for the City of Espoo involved leading design teams on projects ranging from renovating master plans for a technical college to landscape design for the transportation authority of Espoo.
After completing her master’s thesis “Ridali-Operational Plan for a Carmelite Monastery” at the University of Ouluu, Finland and graduating as the youngest Architect in Finland, Ms. Mesiniemi received another prestigious award, The Valle Scholarship. The Valle Scholarship provided Ms. Mesiniemi a full year of graduate studies in Architecture at the University of Washington, Seattle and a second Master of Architecture Degree. After the completion and publication of her second Master’s Thesis ”The Renovation and Addition of the Condon Hall Law Building” she continued her profession in the United States.
She has been involved with the high-end residential construction on the Maine coast as well as participated institutional projects (such as University of Maine facilities, Native American tribal buildings and child/youth care centers), while employed with local architectural firms. While working since 1996 in Maine, she has also been an active participant in Finnish Architectural Competitions. Some of the entries have been a design for the Finnish Pavilion at the Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany; the renovation of Alvar Aalto’s Defense Corps building in Jyvaskyla, Finland and the Vuosaari, Finland middle school. A sauna pavilion she collaborated on with partner, William Hanley, may be seen published in the June 2003 issue of ARK, The Finnish Architecture Review. Ms. Mesiniemi is an active member of the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) and the International Union of Architects (UIA).