Helsinki, Finland…Wow!

Published by

Betty Warner

on

August 22, 2022

From our balcony, the town of Helsinki, Finland. The tents are market stalls; the orange ones are food. You can see the ferry on the left, the swim club in the foreground, the Cathedral Dome in the background. From our BALCONY!

I quickly forgot my angst at missing the architectural tour at Copenhagen. Finland is the home of Eliel Saarinen, Alvar Aalto, and more. The city was laid out on pretty much bare ground by a German architect (Charles Engel) hired by Russian Czar Alexander II. Charles Engel designed most of the buildings surrounding the Senate Square to look like St. Petersburg, Russia, as the Czar requested. You can see the connection.

By the early 1900s, Finland began its “Finnish Nationalistic Style”–almost an exaggeration of Art Deco.

But my favorite of all is this masterpiece..

The Helsinki Library. Look closely and you can see the people reading and working inside. Stunning!

Still more in that modern vein:

Helsinki Music Theater (most is underground). Please note the upright pike on the right.

And so much more! Marimekko is a chain store (does anybody else but me remember Marimekko fabrics?) Neither my camera nor our internet connection can show any more, and I don’t have time to share the other wonderful things about Finland (such as their police fired a total of 7 bullets last year, and their Prime Minister is a young female who travels the city without guards or fears of terroism).

3 responses to “Helsinki, Finland…Wow!”

Pat Redmond

August 22, 2022

I still wear my Marimekko jacket purchased there in the 80’s and treasure my Aalto vase. Glad you appreciated the architecture too.
In regard to the Baltics- their tortured history is never forgotten.
Keep learning & enjoying.

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1. Betty Warner
  
  August 24, 2022
  
  I would love to see your jacket! And my guess is that Ikea glassware carries the Aalto design…is that true?
  Heading westward; see you in a couple of weeks.
  Betty
  
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Renee Betts

August 22, 2022

I lived in Boston during my first year post graduation from BMC. Those Marimekko clothes were sold at Design Research, a treasure trove of Finnish and of Scandinavian style, as I recall. It was on Brattle Street, just up from the Harvard buildings around the yard. At age 21 my budget was challenged to provide the funds to purchase all the wonderfully designed things I found in that store.

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