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On an island within the Finnish archipelago, a sleek, pebble-shaped sauna seems to delicately balance atop a small rock formation. Called Kivi Sauna, the structure was designed by Helsinki-based design and architecture studio Sotamaa.Image courtesy of Sotamaa The firm’s design process was guided... View full entry
Steven Holl Architects, in collaboration with Newil&Bau, has opened a new multifamily development in Finland's capital called Meander Housing. The September 12th inauguration marks the end of a journey that first began in 2006 and underwent a period of dormancy before being constructed in just... View full entry
Founded in Sweden in 2014 as a public Facebook group, [Architectural Uprising] is a collective of citizen design critics who object to what organizers call the “continued uglification” of developments in Nordic cities, and push for a return to classically informed design. [...]
The movement’s size and persistence, however, has earned it a seat in the discourse. “When [historians] talk about architecture during these years, [the Architectural Uprising] will be part of that history”
— Bloomberg
A new report in Bloomberg tells of the staying power of social media-driven architectural criticism. Projects lambasted by the popular (mostly) Scandinavian group include Oslo’s new National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design by architect Klaus Schuwerk and estudio Herreros’ Munch... View full entry
Some of Northern Europe’s leading architecture firms have signed an open letter lamenting the lack of “serious development” laden in Autodesk’s proprietary design software, an aging suite of tools the authors claim is asking usurious prices despite neglecting years of industry-wide... View full entry
Electric car company Polestar has overseen the construction of KOJA, a treehouse designed by Finnish designer Kristian Talvitie which they say balances architectural beauty with a commentary on the climate emergency. KOJA. Image © Polestar Originally awarded an honorable mention at the... View full entry
As Finland mulls its possible entry into NATO, residents can feel a sense of safety thanks to the decades-old network of more than 54,000 bomb shelters mandated by the country’s Rescue Act, which requires any currently in-use buildings with a floor area of at least 1,200 square meters (... View full entry
An exciting new development is coming to one of the Nordic region’s most up-and-coming small cities as Studio Daniel Libeskind gets set to drop the puck tomorrow on a new ice hockey arena in Tampere, Finland. Located along the intersection of a downtown railway axis, the mixed-use development... View full entry
A Finnish architect with hopes for Olympic gold has unveiled her designs for a new log villa whose inspiration she says came to her during training for this year’s games in Tokyo. Finland-based manufacturer HONKA is now offering an Olympic windsurfer’s designs for a cottage as part of a series... View full entry
A new study out of Aalto University in Finland shows that building with wood can be economically feasible. The research team analyzed statistical data from real estate sales in the Finnish capital of Helsinki and two suburbs between the years of 1999 and 2018. Of these, timber-built homes... View full entry
Finland is updating its tentative list in line with the World Heritage Agreement [...]
At the request of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish Heritage Agency has produced a proposal for the tentative list, “The Architectural Works of Alvar Aalto – a Human Dimension to the Modern Movement”, which has been created in close collaboration with experts from the Alvar Aalto Foundation and ICOMOS Finland.
— Alvar Aalto Foundation
According to an announcement by the Alvar Aalto Foundation, the tentative list of Alvar Aalto-designed modern Finnish buildings and districts to be nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage List includes these 13 sites: Studio Aalto; The Aalto House; Finlandia Hall; Social Insurance Institution Main... View full entry
Located in the Arctic Circle, Finland, the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel draws inspiration from the nearby SantaPark Arctic World, the local Nordic nature and culture. Studio Puisto chose to do away with the typical hotel building, and instead designed a village of 32 units. Each structure contains... View full entry
In Finland, the number of homeless people has decreased significantly. The reason: The country applies the "Housing First" concept. Those affected receive - without prerequisite - a small apartment and advice. 4 out of 5 affected people create the path to a stable life. And: It is cheaper for the state than homelessness. — kontrast.at
While local and federal governing bodies across the country have tried to implement plans to "end homelessness" with little in terms of success, something seems to be working in Finland. According to a report by Kathrin Glöse of Kontrast, "in 2008 the Finnish government adopted a new policy... View full entry
The proposal, entitled "Atlas," designed by JKMM Architects, was selected for 1st place out of 185 entries. The project was in response to a two-stage anonymous design competition for the extension of the National Museum of Finland, which was organized by The Finnish Heritage Agency, the National... View full entry
Is a city a brand? Recently in Helsenki a new marketing campaign has launched positioning the Finnish capital a "City as Service" or CaaS. According to this new "digital lifestyle subscription service" the aim for the initiative is to attract highly skilled tech professionals to the city. ... View full entry
In his 50-year career, Aalto completed some 300 buildings, most of them in Finland. That’s an embarrassment of riches for a country of just 5.5 million people. About half of them are landmarked, and 14 of them, including Säynätsalo Town Hall, have “national monument” status—meaning they are covered by the country’s Act on the Protection of Buildings. Yet many of Aalto’s structures have outlived their original purposes. — The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal just published a captivating long-read by Fred A. Bernstein about the challenges of preserving Alvar Aalto's sizable built body of work when some of the aging buildings no longer serve any practical purpose or become too costly to maintain, including celebrated structures... View full entry