120509 in Helsinki

The weather continues to be unseasonably warm, it was above freezing (barely) all day today, but seasonably wet and dark. We did not see the sun at all today. Jouni Hanninen took us to Hvittrask today. This is a famous old home built by three well know Finnish architects around the turn of the century. The architects had their office in this house and lived here for several years. They were so close, that two of them exchanged wives after a couple of years.

The interior of the house is totally unique. Each room was designed by one or more of them and is different from the other rooms in the house. The bedroom below is a good example with a multi-colored fireplace in the corner, custom built furniture, vaulted ceiling, and decorative painting. And of course like all good Finnish houses it is on a lake with a big sauna at the side of the lake.

The most famous of the three archtects was Eliel Saarinen. He designed several buildings here in the Helsinki area including the main train station downtown before moving to the United States. He is primarily known for the Chicago Tribune building and the Cranbook School in Michigan. His son also became an architect and designed the arch in St. Louis among other things.

Tom Lassiter, Lanshu Wong, Tom Powell and Wei-Yan Shih take a break from working to see some of Finland.

After spending a couple of hours walking around Hvittrask, we got in the car and drove to Espoo and Helsinki. We drove by the Nokia corporate headquarters in Espoo. It is a beautiful glass and steel complex of three buildings on the coast line. We also drove by some of the fancier homes in the Helsinki area, on the coast or near it of course.

The design of the buildings here is something to see. No bland square or rectangular buildings to be seen anywhere. Even the water towers are unique. Last week we saw one in Tuusula that looked like a large building on stilts. Today we saw one that looked like it was designed by Jules Verne for the set of the War of the Worlds.