As the threat of war mounts, Finland’s high-tech bomb shelter system lies ready and waiting

2022-04-26T18:23:00-04:00

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 (12,900 square feet) to include such facilities.

A total of 85% of the shelters are operated privately, with most serving more practical peacetime roles as sports centers, shopping malls, and in some cases parking garages. The country’s past preparedness for other emergency situations paid considerable dividends at the outset of the pandemic, but Finnish civil defense officials maintain they aren’t looking forward to a system-wide litmus from the Russian military anytime soon.

“It’s sad to see what is happening in Ukraine,” Tomi Rask, a safety instructor at the civil defense cente...

Amos Rex, Helsinki's new underground (literally) art museum, to open this week

2018-08-28T18:29:00-04:00

In a vast expanse beneath the Finnish capital lies a soaring circus-top culture hub. Will the €50m Amos Rex art museum put the city at the forefront of Europe’s art scene? [...] “It is as if the museum didn’t quite agree to go underground,” says Asmo Jaaksi of local architecture firm JKMM, which masterminded the project, “and it’s somehow bubbling up into the square.”

"The architects hope their sloping landscape will become a spontaneous auditorium for outdoor concerts and events," architecture and design critic for The Guardian, Oliver Wainright, writes, "but even without any performances it has already become a magnet of activity in the middle of the city, whose oversized squares often feel a bit windswept."

Photo: Tuomas Uusheimo

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As the threat of war mounts, Finland’s high-tech bomb shelter system lies ready and waiting

Amos Rex, Helsinki's new underground (literally) art museum, to open this week