After taking a flight directly from Seattle to Copenhagen (only 9 hours!) via the arctic jet stream over Canada and Iceland, I flew into Helsinki and navigated by metro to the apartment the school had arranged for us to sublet for the 2 months we will be here. In a region called Voosari, our apartment building is one of many high-rise flats located throughout the ‘burb’ on the Metro line. The housing is reasonably dense but surrounded by parks and pedestrian walks with very nice bike sheds and a sauna in every apartment.
Housing complexes where I live in Voosari
We met for classes the very next morning at the Helsinki University of Technology on a campus in Otaneimi that was designed by Alvar Aalto. Many of the buildings are quite stunning, down to the very small details like door handles and light fixtures all designed by Aalto. Over the last few days we have visited many works of Architecture, including a number of chapels. In Finland, the predominant religion is Lutheran and a good deal of public money goes to building beautiful churches, even though I have learned the Finns rarely attend church. In fact, during the summer when most Finns are on holiday at their summer cabins, there are almost no services held. Most of the designs are won through competition, and so the chapels are designed by the countries best architects and some by up and coming young architects as well. Here are some of the highlights:
Juha Leiviska, Myyrmaki Church
Siren & Siren, Otaniemi Chapel
hey looks and sounds like you are already having a awesome time. I will be checking often for updates .love ya, nols
I like that photo of the housing complex. The composition between the sky, the buildings and grass is very nice and layered. Too bad that center light post is like a big ol’ eye magnet.