This weekend we traveled north to the arctic circle and the city of Rovaniemi. The town planning was done by Alvar Aalto after the city was burned by the Germans on retreat from the Russian forces in WWII. Our instructor, architect Matti Rautiola, said that when he was a child every stone that was turned over would have a bullet, gun, or bone underneath it. Some stunning pieces of architecture were lost in this city destruction, including P.E. Blomstedt's Pohjanhovi Hotel (see its incredible fireplace in this image: http://yle.fi/teema/sininenlaulu/kuvat/SL_iso_Pohjanhovi_sis_208133.jpg)

We were taken to:

Rovaniemi Town Hall - Alvar Aalto

Rovaniemi City Library - Alvar Aalto

Korudi Music Hall and Art Museum - Juhani Pallasmaa

The Design Week Opening

Pilke Forest Center - Teemu Palo

Arcticum Museum - Juhani Pallasmaa

Paivi Tahkokallio's office

Tapiola Housing Area - Alvar Aalto

Villa Pauliina - ARRAK Architects

Arctic Snow Hotel

Brian will be posting photos and details of our whirlwind of experiences later today, but I wanted to post specifically about the main architectural understanding I gained from this weekend. 

The importance of human scale and the human figure in architecture has not been overlooked in our education so far -- but truly understanding what that means and how to work in harmony with the concept is surely a lifelong endeavor. What is amazing about Alvar Aalto's work is that you always feel the presence of the human scale in it. When you want to look around a corner, you can. When it is appropriate to feel cozy, such as a reading area in a library, you do.