Bright and early on Saturday, June 25th, myself and 21 other students started an 8 day traveling adventure. With our mighty leader BB and her sidekick Robert we embarked on an incredible trip across Finland and Sweden to see some remarkable works of art, architecture and design. Saturday was spent mostly on a bus with a stop at Sankt Petri Church in Klippan, Sweden and a small town where they make candy canes.
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| Interior of Sankt Petri's |
That night, we spent on a ferry from Sweden to Turku, Finland. We stopped in two towns that were deserted because it was Midsummers so we headed towards Petajavesi Old Church. A beautiful wooden structure built in 1763. It's still in use and the original bells are still in the tower. After the church, we were back on the bus to Jyvaskyla where we had dinner, bowled and then swam in a FREEZING cold, yet gorgeous, lake then a few of us hiked up to a ski jump and gotten eaten alive by mosquitoes.
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| Petajavesi Church |
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Lake where we went swimming
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Monday was spent in Saynatsalo at the Town Hall and Experimental House, both designed by Alvar Aalto. Saynatsalo was the building I studied for the first assignment and it was such an incredible experience to witness this structure with my own eyes, the brick work is impeccable. The Experimental House was Aalto's own home and the guest wing is still owned by his descendants. We then had lunch in Jyvaskyla then boarded the bus to Helsinki.
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| Experimental House |
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| Saynatsalo Town Hall |
The first night in Helsinki we walked to the Rock Church which was built into a rock structure, the Chapel of Silence, another incredible wooden structure, and the Academic Bookstore designed by Aalto.
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| Rock Church |
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| Chapel of Silence |
First full day in Helsinki was spent walking to different areas - the Senate Square, a Cathedral, Helsinki University Library, Central Station and the Kiasma Museum. The library was a natural light filled space that I could have spent HOURS in and the Kiamsa Museum had a lot of interesting modern art pieces.
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| Helsinki Library |
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| Central Station |
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| Woven Ernesto Neto struture |
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| Exterior of Kiasma |
The afternoon was spent at Hvittrask which was a villa/studio that Gesellius, Lindgren and Saarinen all worked/lived in for a period of time. Our evening concluded with a meal of reindeer, mashed potatoes and lingonberries then an hour and a half spent in the smoke sauna and jumping in the lake at the Green Window. Such an inspiring experience. Definitely my favorite part of Finland. Our last day in Helsinki was chaotic. We had some free time in the morning which was spent seeing Finlandia Hall from the outside, visiting the Artek showroom and the Design Museum. After that we headed to the Chapel of the Holy Cross and St. Henry's Ecumenical Art Chapel. Both are incredible structures - absolutely breathtaking. The last stop in Finland was Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium where we had a very enthusiastic tour guide of a semi-creepy building. Finland was incredible, definitely one of my favorite places. The time spent within the natural environment was beyond breathtaking. Next stop, Sweden!
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| woods near Green Window |
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| Lake we jumped in after sauna at Green Window |
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| St. Henry's |
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| Chapel of Holy Cross |
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