Chico, Helsinki is NOT boring if you can come to appreciate the beauty of Finnish design. Around the turn of the last century (1900ish), there were 3 famed Arts & Crafts era architects (around 1900), and one came from Helsinki! They were Charles Rennie MacIntosh from Glasgow, Scotland, Frank Lloyd Wright from Chicago IL/USA and Eliel Saarinen from Helsinki, Finland.
One of my favorite places I have EVER toured was Saarinen’s studio, Hvitträsk in Helsinki, coming home w/a poster of the Helsinki central rail station he designed. I live in the MidWest, so able to also visit Cranbrook—the idyllic educational complex he designed in Bloomfield Hills, MI/USA—as well as Wright’s studio in Chicago.
As I recall, Saarinen split his time between Hvitträsk and Cranbrook. His style, like Wright’s, was quite diverse and this Finnish architect had enormous influence! His son Eero became a famous American architect designing Dulles Airport. Cranbrook Art Academy produced many major (industrial) midcentury designers Another side of Helsinki to discover… I recall the old heart of the city as being both beautiful and tranquil.
Chico, Helsinki is NOT boring if you can come to appreciate the beauty of Finnish design. Around the turn of the last century (1900ish), there were 3 famed Arts & Crafts era architects (around 1900), and one came from Helsinki! They were Charles Rennie MacIntosh from Glasgow, Scotland, Frank Lloyd Wright from Chicago IL/USA and Eliel Saarinen from Helsinki, Finland.
One of my favorite places I have EVER toured was Saarinen’s studio, Hvitträsk in Helsinki, coming home w/a poster of the Helsinki central rail station he designed. I live in the MidWest, so able to also visit Cranbrook—the idyllic educational complex he designed in Bloomfield Hills, MI/USA—as well as Wright’s studio in Chicago.
As I recall, Saarinen split his time between Hvitträsk and Cranbrook. His style, like Wright’s, was quite diverse and this Finnish architect had enormous influence! His son Eero became a famous American architect designing Dulles Airport. Cranbrook Art Academy produced many major (industrial) midcentury designers Another side of Helsinki to discover… I recall the old heart of the city as being both beautiful and tranquil.