The Unesco World Heritage Committee has closed out its annual session with the decision to add 25 new sites to the World Heritage List. The additions span cultural and natural sites, from Iran's Alamūt Castle to Mongolia's Xiongnu nobility cemeteries and the historic medinas of the Comoros.

The list, reserved for places of ‘outstanding universal value to humanity’, increasingly embraces a newer category of heritage: 20th-century modernist architecture. Finnish works by architect Alvar Aalto and his collaborators, the modernist city centre of the Polish city of Gdynia, and the modernist architecture of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, have all been added to the list, signalling a growing recognition of modernism as the next frontier in heritage preservation.

Finland’s Aalto works

This designation covers 13 buildings across Finland constructed between 1928 and 1988, credited to architects Alvar Aalto, Aino Marsio-Aalto and Elissa Aalto and their studio. The buildings – a mix of civic, community and residential projects in both cities and rural areas – embody the modern movement's core aim of addressing social needs through architecture. The works are rooted in Finnish tradition, yet engaged with the international ideas sweeping through architecture over the 20th century.

Five of the 13 buildings are in Helsinki: the Aalto House and Studio Aalto in the Munkkiniemi suburb, the National Pensions Institute (KELA) building in the Töölö district, the House of Culture, and Finlandia Hall in the city centre. Visitors can explore the Aaltos' legacy further through a permanent exhibition at Finlandia Hall and a design museum exhibition running through January 2027. Finlandia Hall itself – refurbished between 2022 and 2025 – now offers short-stay apartments furnished with Aalto-designed pieces.

Gdynia, Poland

Unesco’s inclusion of city-centre Gdynia, on Poland’s Baltic coast, covers its key interwar-era streets and building blocks, showcasing how modernist planning principles were applied at scale to transform Gdynia into a major seaport for the first Polish Republic between the World Wars. The listing includes villas on Kamienna Góra hill and the surrounding residential architecture, which together mark a decisive break from historicist design traditions in Poland.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

The Tashkent inscription recognises ten buildings constructed between the 1960s and early 1990s as part of the rapid reconstruction that followed the devastating earthquake that struck the Uzbek city in 1966. The buildings – which include museums, exhibition halls, hotels, a market, a metro station and residential complexes – show how Soviet-era planning merged with Central Asian spatial traditions, climate-responsive design and local craftsmanship to produce a distinctive architectural style.

The inscription makes Uzbekistan the first Central Asian country recognised for its 20th-century architectural heritage, and the buildings are now, by construction date, the youngest structures to hold World Heritage status.

A broader shift

The addition of these sites to the Unesco World Heritage List signals a wider reassessment within the heritage world of what counts as historically significant – extending protection not just to ancient monuments, but to the concrete, glass and steel of the 20th century.

The National Museum of Finland in Helsinki was always supposed to be expanded, says Samuli Miettinen, founding partner of JKMM Architects and lead designer of the museum’s gleaming new extension due to be inaugurated in spring 2027. Even the famous architect trio of Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen, who designed the original museum, which was completed in 1916 and built in the National Romantic Style, had 'drawn plans to expand the wings and add a courtyard,' he explains. There were other projects too, including a brutalist architecture extension by prominent Finnish architect Aarno Ruusuvuori in the mid-1980s, Miettinen continues, but the resources and capital were never there, and the plans floundered.

Tour the refreshed National Museum of Finland in Helsinki

'So there have been decades of plans, but now it’s finally happening,' says Miettinen of this once-in-a-generation commission located across the road from Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall and won by JKMM Architects in an anonymous competition in 2019. The expansion will see the museum gain, among other things, a new fully glazed entrance pavilion with a restaurant and art installations, new exhibition spaces for temporary shows and events, a glazed courtyard that acts a link between the old and new building and a new access route into the formerly enclosed garden and museum; the idea is that visitors and residents will have plenty of public spaces they can enjoy without having to pay for a museum entrance ticket.

About 90 per cent of the new extension is below ground, explains Miettinen, but the ten per cent that is above is a bright and airy 600 sq m sculptural pavilion with a 43m-wide saucer-shaped roof that appears to float above 5m-tall undulating glass walls. With its relatively low height and the fact that its connection routes to the historic museum building (which has also undergone a refurb and collection redesign) are all below ground, the new pavilion is low enough and discrete enough that it 'adapts well to the older construction,' says Miettinen with a smile, 'despite its controversial shape.'

The spherical structure is intended as a forward-looking 21st-century counterpoint to the ornate historic building it stands next to, and its pioneering structural engineering underlines this fact. 'The pavilion’s bowl roof weighs 1,400 tonnes and is the same diameter as the Roman Pantheon but stands on a pedestal of reinforced concrete three metres wide,' explains Miettinen, likening it to 'a water tower structure.’

The pedestal sits inside a slightly asymmetrically placed perforated golden box of bronze aluminium at the pavilion’s heart, which also conceals lift shafts, a service kitchen, and technical installations. The suspended ceiling inside the pavilion is covered in 5,000 handmade white ceramic tiles in the shape of hearts, clovers and crosses that weigh 20kg each and took a year to create – they are cast using plaster moulds and subsequently fired at temperatures above 1,100°C – and assemble into a pattern that looks at once organic and geometric.

The curved ceiling tiles and the roof’s globe-like shape radiate a celestial quality and 'reference our world, symbolising a universal message of tenderness, hope and a better future,' says Miettinen. If the original National Museum, which was built while Finland was still part of the Russian Empire, was symbolic of Finnish aspirations for independence, this pavilion and its handcrafted dynamic ceiling represent an evolution of what it is to be Finnish, says Miettinen, a less homogeneous identity in which 'people from different cultures and backgrounds can find themselves.'

Miettinen refers to the extension project as ‘quarry architecture’ as the concrete pedestal is anchored to ancient granite bedrock 30m down and much of the technical installations, storage spaces and services are carved into it too. Fittingly, as you travel down from the ground floor of this new airy, light-filled ‘public piazza’, things get darker, and the two new black box exhibition spaces (measuring 840 sq m and 270 sq m respectively) are stained with black fire protection paint inside and out.

The material palette of the project is rich yet also deliberately minimal. Brass and bronze aluminium are featured in beautiful touches; the former on the handrails in the new extension; the latter to luxuriant effect on all the bathroom stall walls and doors in the new pavilion. Timber too is used effectively in different hues; painted black on the new temporary exhibition space walls and left untouched in the museum shop lined in spruce.

On the journey down to the exhibition spaces, you can sit on informal auditorium-type seating covered in light green woven horse tail hair, 'the most durable fabric in the world,' says partner and interior architect at JKMM Päivi Meuronen. By spring, the lobby will also be filled with benches carved out of the elm trees felled to make way for the extension and then carefully charred and painted. Like all the interior architecture in the extension, and many of the design elements, these have been designed by the 15-strong in-house interiors team at JKMM led by Meuronen.

As is often the case with JKMM projects, integrated art also features prominently and is used to add layers, ornament and depth to the project. There are two nature-themed mosaics by Finnish artist Tuula Lehtinen in the foyer that feature 92,000 tiles made and glazed by hand by the artist and her team in the industrial city of Tampere, 170km north of Helsinki. Continuing with this theme of Finnish arts and crafts are the 103 bespoke white pendant luminaires placed at different heights above the restaurant and designed to 'create a smaller and more intimate scale so you don’t have the feeling that you are sitting in a big hall,' says Meuronen.

Designed after the lily of the valley (Finland’s national flower) by Finnish glass artist Milla Vaahtera in collaboration with JKMM, each one is made by hand — and therefore unique — in the historic Nuutajärvi glass factory in western Finland that has been active since the 1790s. 'Almost everybody in Finland collected these flowers when they were kids and would put them in their pocket so they could preserve their beauty,' says Vaahtera. 'We wanted to provide a humble but collective experience of beauty that people would remember from their childhood.'

kansallismuseo.fi

jkmm.fi

Wellness, to the Finns, is a concept so ingrained that they have many words for it, from sisu to sauna to luonto (a love of nature) – and from the 19th century, Helsinki attracted visitors to its seaside baths and health resorts. One of its most loved institutions is Yrjönkatu, a Helsinki swimming hall built in 1928 as Finland’s first indoor pool. Almost everyone in Helsinki has swum here, and it’s a far cry from your average leisure centre.

Step inside Yrjönkatu, the newly reopened Helsinki swimming hall classic

Forget plastic decor, the overpowering smell of chlorine and vending machines selling crisps and fizzy drinks. In what was a wholly new concept at the time, Yrjönkatu offered bathing, grooming, medical diagnostics, dining and entertainment under one roof in the middle of the city. Visitors could enjoy two pools, three saunas, and good food, and rest on beds in private cubicles overlooking the water while having their shoes polished, clothes pressed, and hair styled.

After Finland gained independence from Russia in 1917, the country went on a construction drive. Architects blended Nordic Classicism with hints of art deco to create uniform streets and spacious courtyards. Yrjönkatu, which sits on a tight urban plot, is an elegant example of both styles. Its architect, Väinö Vähäkallio (1886-1959), was heavily involved in the modernisation of Finland, but the 5,284 sq m Yrjönkatu is one of his most loved buildings.

So loved, in fact, that during its two-year renovation, locals were vocal in their feedback. ‘Don’t change its soul. Preserve the atmosphere and character that make it so special,’ was the overwhelming response. And on this, the city has delivered.

The watery blue tiles, the cabins with their slimline mattresses and sanatorium feel, the hooks and rails and lights, are all intact. New (welcome) additions are an upgraded ticket office and lifeguards’ booth, extra lockers, a modern kitchen and improved disabled access.

The 1930s recession and the Second World War put paid to some of Yrjönkatu’s more utopian concepts; the saxophone orchestra and ballroom are gone, so too the on-the-spot doctor appointments – although the third-floor locker rooms where these took place are still intact and a new gym and physiotherapy equipment have been installed. Despite financial highs and lows and this recent renovation, the inclusive spirit of Yrjönkatu is just as it ever was.

For six euros, visitors have two-hour access to a locker and the ground-floor pool and sauna; over-68s go free and there are multiple discounts for members, students and children, many of whom learn to swim here. Other areas, such as the smaller third-floor pool, the cabins and the wood-fired sauna, cost extra and can be hired privately.

On the third floor, a log-panelled private room, built in homage to the great military statesman and former Finnish president Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (1867-1951), is a nod to the bath’s glorious past. It can be exclusively hired for up to 20 people and serves as a reminder that Finns have always seen bathing spaces as those in which to conduct tricky negotiations and high-level diplomacy.

The mix of private and communal spaces at different price points is unusual for a civic swimming hall and undoubtedly contributes to Yrjönkatu’s universal and enduring appeal. Meanwhile, Yrjonkatu's iconic drink, sima, a mead-like lemonade, will be back by popular demand. It's typically drunk only in the spring, but the swimming hall was the only place in the city to serve it all year round, and now it will continue to do so.

Men and women swim on separate days, and nudity is not uncommon, though swimwear can be hired along with robes. Pre-renovation, the café at Yrjönkatu was a far cry from the waiters-and-white-napkin service of yore, but this autumn, restaurant Uimasalonki will step in (from Alvar Tallskog and Ville Tikkanen, the team that changed the fortunes of Helsinki’s White Hall) will step in. This week, the swimming hall reopens, bringing with it the uncommon but much-welcome notion that places to relax and reset rather than improve athleticism and optimise fitness are more needed now than they ever were.

hel.fi

‘Lowlu’ is the English phonetic spelling of the most important word in Finland after ‘sauna’ – and that is löyly, meaning ‘steam’. It’s also the name of a new sauna complex in north London, which has recently opened on an abandoned parking lot in Kentish Town.

Consisting of five saunas, ranging from 75-95°C, and six ice baths, from 3-15°C, Lowlu is the brainchild of British tech entrepreneur Tom Bacon and is designed by Finnish architect Sami Rintala of RintalaEggertsson. Both have form when it comes to saunas. Bacon lived and worked in Helsinki, where he noted ‘high-quality saunas are enjoyed by anyone, not just the affluent'.

Step inside Lowlu, the new sauna in London's Kentish Town

'Accessibility drives behavioural change,’ he believes, and Lowlu will follow the Finnish model where saunas are a regular part of people's weekly routine. As such, the complex is open from 7am to 9pm, seven days a week. At capacity, Lowlu holds 40, but it’s possible to book the entire site or individual saunas for groups.

For his part, Rintala has created destination saunas in 12 countries, from Oslo’s Salt to the Panorama Landscape Hotel & Forest Spa in Finland. In 2022, he worked with students at the University of Westminster to create the (sell-out) Finnish Sauna for the London Festival of Architecture.

Lowlu is built in thermally treated spruce and alder, shipped from Finland and Estonia. It took three days to assemble. Creating a permanent site in the British capital was always an ambition, not least because, according to new research, the growing UK sauna market is set to be the largest in Europe by 2033.

Lowlu’s Kentish Town site follows a sister location in Wandsworth, and sites in Ilford and Shepherd’s Bush are set to follow later in 2026. And what of the crowd? ‘So far, all ages from [those in their] twenties to sixties,’ says Bacon. ‘The healthy hedonists rather than the gym bros.’ And because of Lowlu’s proximity to the Parliament Hill Lido and the ponds on Hampstead Heath, swimmers are also in the mix.

lowlu.com

The Iconic Nordic House is a triumphant survey of some of the most spectacular houses built in the last century, taking the reader on a journey from Carl and Karin Larsson’s eccentrically colourful and warm Arts and Crafts domesticity through to the gravity-defying landscape artefacts that define the Scandinavian house in the modern era.

Explore ‘The Iconic Nordic House’

Written by indefatigable chronicler of contemporary architecture and Wallpaper* contributor Dominic Bradbury, with all-new photography by his regular collaborator Richard Powers, The Iconic Nordic House features 40 defining projects from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, as well as homes located on Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

Nordic design never really lost its inspirational power, and the assembled structures show why. From Carlsson and Josef Frank, through Gunnar Asplund, Eliel Saarinen, Arne Jacobsen, Alvar Aalto, Jørn Utzon, Sverre Fehn, Finn Juhl and more, the book includes some of the best-known examples of residential design by these influential 20th-century architects. Bradbury traces the origins of these key projects and interviews many of the contemporary architects.

Landscape plays just as much a creative role as the architects, with projects alternatively hunkering down and being absorbed by their surroundings or standing tall and contrasting with the wilderness. Both approaches can be found in the book, from Matti Suuronen’s pop icon, the Futuro House, to Studio Granda’s Hof House in Iceland, a low-lying assemblage of green roofs, weathered oak and dark volcanic stone.

It would take a heart of stone not to identify a single personal domestic dream space within these pages, testament to both the photographic craftsmanship of powers and the enduring quality of these forty examples of unique, idiosyncratic design.

'The Iconic Nordic House: Modern Masterworks since 1900,' Dominic Bradbury, with photographs by Richard Powers, £50/$65, ThamesandHudsonUSA.com

Finnish architect and wood aficionado Jaakko Torvinen was sitting in a Helsinki park with a friend one summer evening in 2023 when a man came up to him and asked if he was the designer of the city’s Pikku-Finlandia, a beautifully quirky all-wood space built in 2022 as a temporary replacement to host events while Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall (winner of a Wallpaper* Design Award in 2025) was being restored. Torvinen nodded, and the man told him he had come across the project online that very day. He said, ‘I want you to design a sauna for me,’ and rushed off.

Fast forward two years, and Torvinen has just completed said sauna, a short walk from the client’s summer house on Kaunissaari, an island in the outer Finnish archipelago, four hours by car and ferry from Helsinki. Torvinen had never heard of the island in question before embarking on the project, but he says the pine forests, dramatic boulders and sandy beaches of this former fishing village captured his imagination.

Step inside Puusauna and discover its incredible story

Puusauna, which means wood or tree sauna in English, is a traditional log cabin with intricate dovetail joints, here given a contemporary twist thanks to a handmade zinc roof, large windows, sophisticated wood detailing and treatments, and the use of real trees. The last inhabit both indoor and outdoor spaces, occasionally for aesthetic reasons, but mostly as part of the building’s ingenious structure. ‘In traditional log buildings, the horizontal frame settles as the wood shrinks over time,’ says Torvinen. ‘Here, I separated the roof structure from the log frame so that the roof rests on the upright tree trunks, which won’t shrink, and becomes a sort of canopy.’

Inside, the building is a wood-fired two-storey, or ‘loft’, sauna on one side, and a bright, minimalist tea room, inspired by trips to Japan made by both the client and Torvinen, on the other. From both spaces, there are undisturbed views of the sea, while from the sauna’s upper deck, you feel as if you are sitting amid the canopy of the rare birch forest outside.

The use of whole tree trunks, cut and minimally treated – replete with branches and knobbly bits – as columns is something that had already been explored to great effect in Pikku-Finlandia, but Torvinen (who is also doing a PhD on naturally shaped wood in architecture and design) has taken things one step further here in some cases by using more of the tree to gracefully support a cabinet in the tea room and as a sculptural piece that accompanies the winding staircase upwards in the sauna.

There are numerous other thoughtful handcrafted elements throughout the project implemented by builder Hirsityö Heikkilä. The wall logs in the tea room, for example, were laboriously hand-hewn, leaving unmistakable ‘hit’ marks, while the sauna walls were charred black to create a more intimate space, as well as being a nod to the black interiors of traditional smoke saunas. An oversized bench was made by Torvinen and is complemented by simple wooden stools designed by the Helsinki-based studio Company and manufactured by Finnish brand Nikari. Delicately marbled end-grain tiles, made from a piece of silver birch that had been discarded for structural use due to fungal issues, were used for the tea room floor; its alluring marbled pattern melded well with the scattered granite tiles around the wood-burner.

Also in the tea room are several pieces of furniture by Teppo Lakaniemi, whose Tebian brand specialises in functional-meets-artistic pieces designed by him and manufactured across Finland. The chunky chair by the window, the elegant day bed, the small steps and the side table are all part of existing collections, but the cabinet on the wall and the storage seating box beneath were designed by Lakaniemi, in collaboration with Torvinen, and custom-made for Puusauna.

On the tea room walls are three works by photographer Päivi Tuovinen and three by visual artist Toni R Toivonen, made especially for the project. Toivonen’s powerful and enigmatic pieces are created by setting animal carcasses on brass sheets and allowing the substances released during the rotting process to oxidise the metal. It’s fitting to have these works in this space, says Torvinen, because ‘in the past, saunas in Finland were places where you gave birth but also where dead people were washed and prepared for burial, so they were buildings that witnessed the whole cycle of life’. In Puusauna, functionality meets poetry in the most beguiling of ways.

jaakkotorvinen.com

Discover all the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2026 winners in the February issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News + from 8 January 2025. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

In the last 12 months, the most talked-about restaurants weren’t just about what was on the plate. Design took the lead, with new openings using architecture and interiors as part of the experience rather than polite scenery. Across cities and continents, former embassies, fortresses, office blocks and coastal sites were reworked into dining rooms with a clear point of view. The following Wallpaper* edit offers a snapshot of the spaces that redefined restaurant design this year.

The best restaurant design of 2025

Call Me Ten

Tucked within the refined, residential enclave of Vasant Vihar in New Delhi, Call Me Ten emerges as a 6,000 sq ft Japanese restaurant and bar. Designed by Renesa Architecture Design Interiors, the site is defined by a materially restrained but expressive language. Natural limestone plaster and stone aggregates anchor the space, while soft curves and muted tones create an interior that feels both serene and theatrical. Subtle nods to Japanese aesthetics run throughout, from Shoji-inspired partitions that diffuse light with gentle translucency to a layout informed by tatami logic, encouraging intimacy and order. Polished concrete floors lend contemporary clarity, offset by pockets of deep-toned, hand-crafted mosaic tiles. Complementing the design, the menu reinterprets Japanese tradition through a modern izakaya lens, pairing dishes such as miso black cod and pork belly with inventive, Asian-inflected cocktails.

Call Me Ten is located at 58, Market, Basant Lok, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, Delhi 110057, India

Read our full review of Call Me Ten

Carbone London

Once Eero Saarinen’s modernist vision of American diplomacy, the former US Embassy reopened this year as The Chancery Rosewood. Appropriately, the Grade II-listed building now hosts Carbone, one of America’s most beloved restaurants, marking the brand’s first European outpost. Originating in New York’s Greenwich Village, Carbone is as renowned for its Italian-American classics as its A-list following. In London, designer Ken Fulk channels Rat Pack-era glamour across a two-level space rich in theatrical flourish: Carbone-blue panelling, hand-painted murals, burgundy velvet banquettes and marble mosaics set the scene. MoMA-calibre artworks, live music and an indulgent, ‘a piacere’, or ‘as you like it’ culinary approach complete an experience rooted in spectacle.

Carbone London is located at 30 Grosvenor Sq, London W1K 2LG, UK

Read our full review of Carbone London

Cento Raw Bar

Michelin-recognised Cento Pasta Bar has long been one of West Adams’ most elusive reservations; now, its sibling Cento Raw Bar opens next door, offering Angelenos a second, distinctly different experience from chef and co-owner Avner Levi. Designed by Brandon Miradi, also behind Somni, the space is defined by thickly plastered walls and ceilings, brushed into undulating waves that lend a quietly surreal, oceanic rhythm. The motif continues in curved ceilings, minimal metal barstools and custom tableware, while sculptural light fittings by Ukrainian studio ClayP add tactility overhead. At the centre, scallop-shaped seafood towers piled high with oysters, shrimp and lobster set the tone, alongside jewel-toned cocktails. Dessert leans playful, with mosaic cheesecake and a nostalgic chocolate cake finale.

Cento Raw Bar is located at 4919 W Adams Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016, United States

Read our full review of Cento Raw Bar

Dévo Marseille

Designer Axel Chay’s totemic tubular steel forms have long embodied Marseille’s creative pulse; now, he and his wife Mélissa channel that energy into Dévo, a new restaurant and wine bar in the Préfecture neighbourhood. Named after the American new-wave band, it marks the duo’s first fully designed and art-directed space. Cocooning yet animated, the interior pairs contemporary lines with vintage patina: lime satin curtains sweep across concrete floors, offsetting a zinc bar and steel stools inspired by Italian cafés and Spanish vermuterias. Cinematic details abound: mirrored artworks by Aurélien Ciller, plaster seagulls in flight and bespoke lighting by Axel’s brother Aimeric. In the kitchen, chef Ferdinand Fravega serves relaxed Provençal dishes, paired with a 100-strong list of independent and natural wines.

Dévo Marseille is located at 22 Bd Paul Peytral, 13006 Marseille, France

Read our full review of Dévo Marseille

Elmina

In Washington DC, Elmina is the debut bricks-and-mortar venture of Ghanaian-American chef Eric Adjepong: a restaurant that celebrates modern Africa while acknowledging the complexities of its past. Its name carries weight, referencing the port that became the site of sub-Saharan Africa’s first European slave-trading post. Dreamt up by local studio Drummond Projects, the 3,720 sq ft, three-storey space reads as a fluid, immersive journey, with each space defined by material and colour references, unified by a sculptural curving stairwell and enriched with bespoke artworks, artisan textiles and warm, tactile finishes throughout. The food itself is deeply rooted in tradition, a love letter to Adjepong’s ancestors and recipes he grew up with. Experiences on offer span a five-course tasting menu, a chop bar selection and a hearty brunch, with standout dishes including the comfortingly smoky jollof duck pot.

Elmina is located at 2208 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009, United States

Read our full review of Elmina

Restaurant Esperit Roca

Set within a 19th-century fortress on the hills outside Girona, Esperit Roca evokes the beauty of raw materials with a rugged yet refined touch. Part of a remote gastronomic complex by the Roca brothers, which also houses a 16-bedroom hotel, the restaurant overlooks the mountains, woodland and sea of northern Catalonia. Designed by Girona-based Andreu Carulla, the interiors are pared-back and elemental, shaped from stone, concrete and wood in muted greys and greens. Locally quarried piedra de Girona limestone forms sculptural counters, lamps and monolithic sinks, echoing the fortress itself. Midcentury-inspired furniture, agricultural textiles and pockets of greenery reinforce the connection to place. In the kitchen, Joan and Jordi Roca deliver concept-driven tasting menus that reinterpret local produce with rigour, poetry and surprise. Don’t miss the tasting menu that offers two main courses and six desserts.

Restaurant Esperit Roca is located at Carrer Major, Entrada 1, 17481 Sant Julià de Ramis, Girona, Spain

Read our full review of Restaurant Esperit Roca

Finlandia Bistro

Alvar Aalto’s modernist landmark, Finlandia Hall, now houses a new restaurant that allows guests to dine in surroundings that gently echo the architect’s enduring design language. In contrast to the hall’s light, open spaces, the bistro is warmly cocooned in deeper tones, soft fabrics and tactile textures. Designed by Fyra, the interior blends Finnish modernist classics with contemporary pieces from Finnish Design Shop, alongside bespoke built-ins. Deep blue curtains recall Finlandia Hall’s cobalt accents, while wood and brass details nod to Aalto’s modernism. Led by head chef Mikko Puuronen, the 64-seat restaurant serves Nordic-inspired dishes with subtle Mediterranean inflexions.

Finlandia Bistro is located at Mannerheimintie 13e, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

Read our full review of Finlandia Bistro

Jncquoi Fish

‘Where food meets fashion meets hospitality’ underpins Jncquoi, the Lisbon lifestyle hub launched in 2017 by Paula Amorim and Miguel Guedes de Sousa of the Amorim Luxury Group. While the brand’s first hotel, Jncquoi House (designed by Vincent Van Duysen), will open in 2026, its newest restaurant, Jncquoi Fish, already signals the next chapter. Beneath a neo-Moorish façade, the space unfolds in Van Duysen’s restrained language of marble, limestone and ceramics, with dark clay floors by Viúva Lamego and bespoke furnishings and lighting made in Portugal. Tables cluster around the open kitchen, where chefs António Bóia and Filipe Carvalho celebrate Atlantic seafood through refined Portuguese flavours, from caviar-topped cod fritters to blue lobster rice, complemented by an astute, terroir-driven wine programme and assured, indulgent desserts.

Jncquoi Fish is located at Av. da Liberdade 189 1, 1250-096 Lisboa, Portugal

Read our full review of Jncquoi Fish

Milló

On the ground floor of the ADNBA-designed Millo Offices in Bucharest’s business area, Milló explores how contemporary design can converse with history. Responding to the building’s art deco undertones, local studio AÉ02 shaped an interior defined by light, texture and material warmth. At its centre hangs a dramatic ‘volcano of light’: an illuminated feature suspended above the main dining table, shifting in tone throughout the day. LED strips trace the ceiling edges, sharpening geometry through light and shadow, while the bar counter pairs stainless steel with cherry Levanto marble, concealing a discreet DJ booth. The Mediterranean-leaning menu – think baked artichoke, saffron risotto and miso-marinated cod – completes the experience, encouraging guests to linger from midday through to midnight.

Milló is located at Strada Ion Câmpineanu 19, Bucharest 030167, Romania.

Read our full review of Milló

Rubra

Hotel restaurants rarely transcend the orbit of the properties they inhabit, but on the northern edge of Banderas Bay, Rubra decisively breaks that pattern. Part of W Punta de Mita, the restaurant is led by Daniela Soto-Innes, who was named World’s Best Female Chef in 2019. At just 28, she was the youngest chef to earn the accolade. Designed by Ignacio Urquiza with interiors by Ana Paula de Alba, Rubra takes the form of a sand-toned concrete monolith, its restrained architecture softened by creeping greenery and expansive views towards the Sierra Madre. A pergola of wooden lattices filters light across an open, fluid dining room, blurring indoors and out. Soto-Innes’ ‘tropical cooking’ draws from seasonal produce, much of it grown on site, shaping menus that favour citrus, herbs and vivid coastal flavours, from scallops dressed in kombu aguachile to flower-crowned tuna tostadas.

Rubra is located at Carr. Federal la Cruz de Huanacaxtle - Punta de Mita Km 8.5, Desarrollo Costa, 63734 Corral del Risco, Nay., Mexico

Read our full review of Rubra

At Wallpaper*, movement is second nature, and savouring it is an art. Whether on assignment or off-duty, our editorial team is perpetually combing the globe, visiting places that are mind-expanding and spirit-lifting. This year, we paused to gather the places that truly stayed with us. Consider this selection of travel highlights, handpicked by our staff, as a starting point for the year ahead, compiled to spark curiosity and fuel your future travel plans.

As such, follow the sun to Mexico, Greece, Spain and Italy, or embrace the stark beauty of Finland and Iceland. Looking for adventure? Uzbekistan, Egypt and Kenya deliver. For a spiritual reset, Japan and South Korea offer ritual and depth. From European mainstays such as Vienna and Lisbon to American icons including Miami and Joshua Tree, let’s get globetrotting.

Amanohashidate, Japan

‘Last April, adding a few days to a long-haul work trip felt like the responsible thing to do, particularly when long-haul now extends to a 16-hour dog-leg to Osaka via Doha, which is how I came to visit one of Japan’s most revered destinations, Amanohashidate, site of a 3.6km sidebar known as ‘the staircase to heaven’ that cuts across Miayazu Bay in Kyoto prefecture. Amanohashidate itself is a quiet village with a national landmark at its heart and a well-run ryokan (Monjusou) to relax in, but the surrounding area is blessed with no less significant points of interest. Ine is a ‘floating village’ of 230 fishing cottages, protected as a heritage site, that offers good walking with splendid sea views and great coffee in one of its repurposed properties. Sometimes all you need is sea air, the odd stroll and the chance to indulge in something as silly as matanozoki, or peering between your legs atop Kasamatsu Park, at which point the now-inverted sandbar appears as a bridge across the sky.’

– Bill Prince, editor-in-chief

Athens, Greece

‘This past autumn, I celebrated a milestone birthday in Athens. The city feels as though it was shaped by accumulation rather than careful urban planning, its layers of typeface, texture and attitude stacked across eras, politics and glitzy inconsistencies. Visually, Athens is unrelenting: everything speaks loudly and constantly, and nothing is treated as too precious. Even the Acropolis feels unresolved, its original fragments scattered between the exquisitely built Acropolis Museum and far beyond Greece’s borders. I enjoyed long lunches with generous pours of Assyrtiko from aluminium jugs, and late nights drifting into hot spots like SMUT, where Athens’ spontaneity really kicks in. I chose Athens as my favourite of the year because it thrives in chaos, offering moments of beauty and excitement, and rewarding those who stay longer, pay attention and arrive hungry.’

– Gabriel Annouka, senior designer

Brittany, France

‘On something of a nostalgia trip to the south coast of Brittany, France – the destination of my first-ever trip abroad – now with my own teenagers in tow, I was relieved to find it a still-lovely, laidback and low-key escape with none of the hussle or hassle a beach break during the summer holidays can entail. The sea was utterly clear – too freezing for me, even in July, for more than one cold plunge, but perfect for kayaking or admiring endlessly from coastal walking paths. Bike hire in this cycling-obsessed nation was ubiquitous and the paths plentiful and well sign-posted; they even continued across estuaries, courtesy of short ferry hops on which bikes were not just bienvenue but (bafflingly for a Brit used to transport-network shortfalls) positively encouraged. And a day’s hire extended through to the evening, allowing ample time for a thoroughly civilised French lunch break en route with (savoury) galettes and (sweet) crêpes galore. Pancakes for all courses is a concept close to my heart.’

– Bridget Downing, executive editor

Cairo, Egypt

‘In November, I visited Cairo and spent a few warm, autumnal days watching the light shift over the Art D’Égypte installations, set in the sand beneath the pyramids of Giza. I was particularly drawn to SolidNature and Studio PROBA’s organically shaped, naturally coloured stone sculptures. Seeing them positioned against the pyramids was both wondrous and surreal: two forms of stone, prehistoric in material yet composed millennia apart, held in quiet dialogue with one another. The experience was utterly mesmerising, leaving me feeling incredibly small in the face of such magnificence and scale. Other highlights across the city included losing track of time in the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) and wandering through the calming gardens of Adam Henein’s gallery house.’

– Olly Mason, head of interiors

Évora, Portugal

‘When my sister moved to Lisbon in 2024, I dreamily imagined endless weekends of wandering, but life got in the way and it never quite happened; until this summer, when we managed to bring both our families together for ten scorching days in Alentejo, a more off-the-beaten-path part of Portugal, around 90 minutes east of Lisbon. We stayed in gloriously serene countryside, awash with olive groves and vineyards, occasionally popping into the medieval, walled UNESCO city of Évora for ice cream (Pezagno, delicious!). On one visit, we explored the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), a 16th-century chapel within the Church of St Francis, built by Franciscan monks as a memento mori to inspire reflection on the transience of life. Its walls and columns are clad with thousands of strikingly arranged human skulls and bones, previously buried in Évora’s medieval cemeteries. Above the door, an inscription reads: “We bones are here, waiting for yours.” At the entrance to this macabre chapel is a simple modern mural by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira – a counterpoint to its meditation on mortality.’

– Anne Soward, production editor

Helsinki, Finland

‘While others escaped to hotter climes, last February, I decided to embrace the cold and wintry feel of Europe and headed further north, to Helsinki. It was one of the best travel decisions I ever made. The day was short, but the city was fun, and the cultural offerings were plentiful and welcoming. Helsinki was frozen – not that you would be bothered with the right clothes and shoes, especially in the city centre, where pavements are heated so that the snow doesn’t build up. A short ferry ride, breaking through the icy waters, took me to the magical Suomenlinna sea fortress - thank you, Laura Iloniemi, for the tip! I also explored the numerous art offerings the city has to offer, from the Amos Rex museum to the Temppeliaukio church of the rock. I stayed at a timber-framed hotel by the water, Solo Sokos Pier 4, paid a visit to the renovated Finlandia Hall, and enjoyed sticky Korvapuusti (Finnish cinnamon rolls) and warm and creamy salmon soup. As travel reviews often conclude, “would definitely recommend.”’

– Ellie Stathaki, architecture and environment director

Hydra, Greece

‘This year I’ve been lucky to visit great European capitals including Vienna, Paris and Athens, but somehow it’s my day on the small Greek island of Hydra that was most memorable. Big cities are filled with great things to do and see, but Hydra offers an escape from it all, with no cars, no museums, and practically no phone reception. And yet it still has everything you might possibly need on a nice autumn day: a lunch at a taverna followed by a dip in the sea, and a walk along the coastal path, suspended between the blue sky and the Mediterranean.’

– Léa Teuscher, sub-editor

Joshua Tree, USA

‘In May, I made the three-hour journey from Los Angeles into the Mojave Desert to Joshua Tree. It had long been on my list to visit, likely prompted by endless interviews with musicians who enthused about the desert’s mystical energy. There are no shortage of incredible architectural stays to book in the area, but after much deliberation, I settled on this geodesic dome, far enough away from civilisation to get the full experience (the drive back from dinner in the pitch black was a little hairy) but just twenty minutes from Joshua Tree National Park and the must-sees of the Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms. I loved every single thing about this trip. From the weird roadside stops along the route – a desert crochet museum? A shrine to fifties hairdressing? A park filled with many, many statues of Christ? – to dinner at The Copper Room, drinks at Mas o Menos and obligatory live music at Pioneertown institution, Pappy & Harriet’s (the nearby Red Dog Saloon was a little quieter when Pappy’s is packed). I can’t wait to return.’

– Charlotte Gunn, director of digital content

Kyoto, Japan

‘I loved visiting Kyoto this year, and discovering its rich history, gorgeous food and beautiful surroundings. The highlight, though, was being able to get to know some of the locals, who were as generous with their time as they are cultured, intelligent, and extremely kind.’

– Hannah Silver, art, culture, watches and jewellery editor

Lake Como, Italy

‘Until last year, I had never been to Italy; now, I can say I’ve been three times. A run of good fortune took me to Milan for Salone de Mobile, and Venice for an immersive exhibition hosted by Golden Goose. In addition, to mark the beginning of the summer season, I was invited to Lake Como to stay at Il Sereno’s new listening suite, designed by Patricia Urquiola. The lake in the foothills of the Alps took my breath away. It was scenery I had not seen before, and I was captivated by its beauty. There was an effortless air of Old Hollywood glamour and relaxed sophistication coupled with the calming nature of the lake, which makes the location entirely unique. I cannot wait to go back.’

– Tianna Williams, staff writer

Menorca, Spain

‘The Menorca Experimental hotel had been on my bucket list for years, and I finally made it there for a short break in September. Designed by Dorothée Meilichzon, the interiors strike a balance between playful colour and subtle Art Deco references, incorporating local designers and materials. It felt considered yet relaxed. The weather was still warm enough for sea swims in some of the clearest water I’ve seen in Europe, and it was easy to find quieter spots that felt untouched. There’s a quiet, understated rhythm to the island that encourages you to slow down, making it a perfect mid-season reset.’

– Cindy Parthonnaud, acting photography editor

Mérida, Mexico

‘I spent 10 days in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula this summer and enjoyed soaking up Mérida’s rich history, intense summer heat and xtabentún, the local firewater. The city is about 30 miles inland, meaning those craving a swim-up bar or large beach resort won’t find it here. Instead, they’ll discover a mix of unhurried streets, bustling markets, pretty boutiques and innovative cuisine that spotlights traditional Yucatec cooking. My husband and I checked in at Hotel Cigno, an elegant boutique property located in Mérida’s historic heart, before hiring a local guide to take us to Uxmal, one of the Mayan world’s most important sites, and an azure blue cenote, a naturally occurring limestone sinkhole that peppers the area. There was still an opportunity to hit the beach, though: an hour-ride taxi will take you straight to the coast, where you can take in tranquil waters, white sand beaches, bright-pink salt lakes and – my favourite – droves of flamingos.’

– Anna Fixsen, U.S. editor

Miami, USA

‘I came to Miami for the Grand Prix – where Lego had built ten fully drivable cars – but stayed for the art deco architecture, palm-lined boulevards and viscerally cinematic sunsets. Miami’s expansion in the 1920s and 30s left it with a remarkable concentration of art deco buildings, which I completely fell in love with. A stroll down Ocean Drive – one of the finest showcases of the style – took me hours, slowed by pastel façades and kitsch vintage cars that demanded to be photographed. Little Havana, shaped by Cuban émigrés after the 1959 revolution, is home to cigar shops, graffiti tributes to Celia Cruz and Old’s Havana Cuban Bar & Cocina, which, with its yellow walls and mojito production line, is an institution. So, too, is Delilah – swathed in pink velvet and favoured by A-listers – though in an entirely different vein. Miami is a place I’d return to in a heartbeat.’

– Anna Solomon, digital writer

Nesjavellir, Iceland

‘My yearly travel mainly comprises the movement between Milan, Paris and New York for fashion week (and the freneticism and overstimulation these trips bring), so when I’m not working I seem to be attracted towards the vast and the desolate – Lanzarote has become my go-to escape, and this spring I loved losing myself in its strange, moonlike landscapes once again. Though it was another otherworldly (and volcanic) island that was my favourite trip of 2025: Iceland, which I visited with 66 North last month (the outerwear brand was founded on the island a century ago). I have been a couple of times before, though each time it is surprising in its vastness and scale: speeding across the snow-covered mountain ridge Thórsmörk – named after the Norse god Thor – on off-roading buggies was a truly cinematic experience (and the perfect release). We spent the second night at the Ion Adventure Hotel, a Brutalist box on stilts that looks out over the geothermal fields of Nesjavellir – in the silence, it was my best night’s sleep of the year.’

– Jack Moss, fashion and beauty features director

Seoul, South Korea

‘About two hours from Seoul, in the mountains of Wonju, Museum SAN (Space Art Nature) heralds an architectural feat by Tadao Ando: a 25-metre-wide subterranean dome beneath the museum’s flower garden, topped with an oculus rising more than seven metres high. Titled Ground, it was commissioned to accompany Antony Gormley’s exhibition Drawing on Space.’

– Jason Hughes, creative director

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

‘I spend much of my year bouncing around beautiful design-led hotels. But at least once a year, I make it my mission to step out of this bubble as a reminder of why I love to travel in the first place. And this year, my trip to Uzbekistan was a welcome reset. It’s not a destination known for luxury, but with tourism on the rise, you can feel the energy in Tashkent’s creative pockets and across Samarkand and Bukhara, which just hosted its inaugural biennale. From the staggering detail of the Islamic architecture to the small, genuinely local boutique hotels, there’s an incredible history and a rawness that was not just compelling, but a reminder that stepping away from the familiar is not just refreshing, but important to keep your curiosity alive.’

– Lauren Ho, travel director

Tokyo, Japan

‘Tokyo had been calling for some time, and this October I was finally able to answer. Japan’s capital is an urban sprawl of ritual, contrast, beauty and tradition, where even the smallest details feel deliberate and meaningful. It was my first visit, and I tried to stay fully present, absorbing as much of the city’s energy as possible; yet I still feel I barely scratched the surface. There are countless moments I hold onto, but one stands out: waking to a bright, clear morning and, from my hotel room on the 34th floor of Fairmont Tokyo, spotting Mount Fuji in the distance. It appeared as a majestic presence on the horizon, wishing the city a good day.’

– Sofia de la Cruz, travel editor

Vienna, Austria

‘Vienna is a really great city for a short getaway, especially for those interested in design. The city is filled with hidden gems, such as the interiors and ambience of Café Prückel, located just across the street from the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). Be sure to check out the numerous storefronts designed by Hans Hollein throughout the city, including the iconic façade of the Retti candle shop. One of the highlights for me was the Roman Catholic church depicted above, built in the late 1970s by architect Viktor Hufnagl.’

– Sebastian Jordahn, head of video

Watamu, Kenya

‘Earlier this year, I travelled to Kenya and spent time in Watamu, a coastal town known for stunning white-sand beaches, coral reefs, mangroves and a large marine life. I was there for a private yoga retreat with a yoga company called Pana and stayed in a one-of-a-kind treehouse, Watamu Tree House, near Watamu Beach. Our treehouse retreat, built by the family who runs it, rises through the landscape, from the ground to the top floor, with shimmering coloured glass mosaics. Each day in Watamu began with yoga in the studio at the top of the building, which offered quiet and perspective. Practising yoga above the ground, with the sea nearby and trees in the distance, felt grounding. Fresh vegetarian meals formed the core of each day, as each meal came with coconut water and juices made fresh each morning.’

– Jamilah Rose-Roberts, social media editor

The annual Wallpaper* Design Awards issue features an honour roll of outstanding places, products and people; celebrating the power of design to lift spirits and improve lives. The City of the Year award spotlights the urban locations, making an impact in design, architecture and contemporary culture.

Discover the nominated locations below, and stay tuned for the winner, which will be announced in the next issue of Wallpaper* magazine on 8 January 2026.

Wallpaper* Design Awards 2026: City of the Year shortlist

Accra, Ghana

Ghana’s capital is entering a defining chapter, its creative momentum gathering pace after years of long-stated ambition. This year (2025), the team behind Limbo Accra established a new intellectual anchor for the city with Limbo Museum in Labone: a 600 sq m, two-storey transformation of an unfinished structure into a cultural hub, research lab and exhibition space where architecture and art converge. Across town, the opening of Dot.ateliers | Ogbojo by DeRoche Projects and TAELON7, serves as HQ for a writers’ and curators’ residency dedicated to rest, reflection and cross-continental exchange on Accra’s outskirts. Meanwhile, Lesley Lokko’s African Futures Institute (AFI) continues to evolve and push the trajectory further. And yet, as Ghanaian architect Alice Asafu-Adjaye reminds us in her Wallpaper* local’s guide to Accra, the engine of this rising power city remains its people: ‘You hear us before you see us,’ she says, whether in music, debate or conversation – a vibrancy that continues to propel Accra’s evolution.

New architecture: Backyard Community Club, by DeRoche Projects; Dot.ateliers | Ogbojo, by DeRoche Projects and TAELON7; Limbo Museum, by Limbo Accra.

Hotels and restaurants: Ghana Club; Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, by Page and Looney and Associates; La Villa Boutique Hotel; Santoku, by Hubert de Givenchy.

Cultural draws: Dikan Center, founded by photographer Paul Ninson; National Theatre, by CCTN Design; Nubuke Foundation, by Nav_s Baerbel Mueller and TAELON7.

Busan, South Korea

Newly named World Design Capital 2028, Busan is gaining momentum, using design to build on its traditions of civic resilience and cooperation. Under the banner Inclusive City, Engaged Design, the bid reflects a place intent on shaping more connected futures and deepening its cultural landscape, from the vast Eco Delta Smart City plan, a zero-energy, water-smart district built on digital urban systems, to a surge of architectural ambition now reshaping the skyline. Under construction, Kengo Kuma’s Busan Lotte Town Tower rises over the waterfront, Snøhetta’s long-awaited Busan Opera House edges toward reality, and OMA is reimagining hillside living through its Slope Housing model. Seoul may have taken our Best City award in 2024, but Busan, with its blend of ambition and intention, may well be next in line.

New architecture: Cheongsapo Daritdol Observatory; Heungkuk Tower Busan, by Mecanoo; Millac The Market / LJL Architects and 2K1 Architecture.

Under construction: Busan Lotte Town Tower, by Kengo Kuma and Associates; Busan Opera House, by Snøhetta with Ilshin Architects; Busan Slope Housing, by OMA.

Hotels and restaurants: EL 16.52, by JOHO Architecture; Mogua Hotel; Sakae, by Studio Gaia.

Cultural draws: Busan Cinema Centre, by Coop Himmelb(l)au; SCRAB, by JeongChoi Works; Space Lee Ufan, by KAGA Architects & Planners.

Delhi, India

Delhi’s creative momentum is set to accelerate in 2026 with the launch of the Delhi Design District this spring. Born from the collaboration between Wallpaper* and StoneX, the cultural hub, whose facade is inspired by the Rosetta Stone, will be home to multisensory art experiences, installations shaped by various Indian dance forms, and seven galleries that reflect human emotions. Its arrival will co-exist neatly with the annual India Art Fair, hosted every February. Meanwhile, the city’s gallery landscape continues to evolve, led by long-standing heavyweights like Nature Morte alongside a widening constellation of experimental spaces. As Delhi continues to see urbanisation and population growth, its current redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station will enhance civilian connections to buses, metro and airport alongside nearby areas.

New architecture: Pendentive House, by AKDA; Yashobhoomi Convention & Exhibition Centre, by IDOM + CP Kukreja Architects.

Under construction: Central Vista Redevelopment; Delhi Design District building; New Delhi Railway Station redevelopment.

Hotels and restaurants: Call Me Ten, by Renesa Architecture Design Interiors; The Lodhi, by Kerry Hill; Zura Restaurant and Bar, by Studiio Dangg.

Cultural draws: Nature Morte; Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya, by Sikka Associates Architects; Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts, by Shiv Nath Prasa.

Detroit, USA

Detroit is booming – again. Michigan Central, once a symbol of the city’s collapse, now anchors a high-energy mobility campus and sets the tone for a skyline shifting in real time. Downtown, Bedrock’s Hudson’s Detroit, designed by SHoP Architects, rises like a new marker of ambition, while the revived Book Tower blends contemporary living and culture into its restored historic shell. Neighbourhoods are keeping pace: Little Village is accelerating thanks to the Curis-led arts centre Shepherd and a flurry of creative openings, while Core City’s experimental housing and live-work compounds have turned it into a compelling urban laboratory. The numbers reinforce the sentiment: the city gained 12,500 new residents last year, and since 2011, Design Core Detroit has organised Detroit Month of Design, a yearly, city-wide festival that spotlights local creatives and projects.

New architecture: Bedrock’s Hudson’s Detroit, by SHoP Architects; Lantern complex and PASC building, by OMA.

Under construction: Stanton Yards, by SO-IL and OSD; NoMad Detroit.

Hotels and restaurants: Barda restaurant, by Undecorated; Shinola Hotel, by Gachot Studios; The Siren Hotel, by ASH NYC.

Cultural draws: Downtown Detroit and Library Street Collective, founded by Anthony and JJ Curis; Shepherd art Centre, by Peterson Rich Office.

Helsinki, Finland

As Helsinki Design Week 2025 marked its 20th anniversary, the city leaned into a question it knows well: why does the world’s happiest country stay so content? The Scandinavian nation has been designated the happiest in the world for the last eight years by the annual WEF report. The answer is arguably written across the city itself: modern yet rooted, social yet quietly reflective. Its design heritage and forward-looking attitude form a kind of civic formula, visible everywhere from a new wave of design-led hotels to its constellation of spas, singular restaurants and cultural institutions. Helsinki tends its past while engineering its future: the refreshed Finlandia Hall reasserts Aalto’s legacy, while the forthcoming Museum of Architecture and Design will unite more than 900,000 artefacts under one roof. It’s a city refining its identity with calm assurance.

New architecture: Finlandia Hall, refreshed by Arkkitehdit NRT; Lagmansgården, by Anttinen Oiva Architects.

Under construction: Museum of Architecture and Design, by JKMM.

Hotels and restaurants: Finlandia Hall Bistro, by Fyra; Finlandia Homes, featuring Alvar Aalto’s original designs; Jackie, by Joanna Laajisto; Solo Sokos Pier 4, by Anttinen Oiva Architects.

Cultural draws: House of Culture Vallikallio, by Alvar Aalto; Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, by Steven Holl; Oodi, by ALA Architects.

São Paulo, Brazil

Long considered one of Wallpaper*’s original design destinations, hard-working São Paulo is not a city that rests on its laurels. While residential projects remain a defining lure (from Studio Arthur Casas’ Pacaembu House, which won a Wallpaper* Design Award in 2024, to the confident work of established studios), large-scale regeneration is gathering pace; Planta Inc’s revival of the city’s modernist heritage signals a renewed respect for its icons, while Sol Camacho’s transformation of Pacaembu Stadium casts tropical modernism in a refreshed light. Hospitality is keeping pace, with Rosewood, Soho House and W drawing travellers hungry for the city’s creative energy. And this year’s 14th International Architecture Biennale pushed the conversation further, challenging architecture to confront climate change and the extreme events reshaping our urban future.

New architecture: Ibaté Building, by Studio Arthur Casas; Roca São Paulo Gallery, by Fernanda Marques; Pina Contemporânea Museum, by Arquitetos Associados.

Under construction: Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), by Metro Arquitetos.

Hotels and restaurants: Pulso Hotel Faria Lima, by Arthur Casas; Rosewood São Paulo, by Philippe Starck; Santokki Restaurant, by Tadu Arquitetura,

Cultural draws: Edifício Itália, by Franz Heep; Ibirapuera Auditorium, by Oscar Niemeyer; Porto Seguro Cultural Space, by São Paulo Arquitetura.

Explore the shortlist for Life-Enhancer of the Year and Launch of the Year in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2026.

You may not be familiar with the name Helene Schjerfbeck – but if you’re an admirer of Nordic modernism, you will be. Schjerfbeck (1862-1946) was the mother of the movement, shaping its visual language through her portraits and leaving a lasting imprint on Finnish and Nordic design.

Today (5 December 2025), The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York became the first major US institution to present a solo exhibition of Schjerfbeck’s work. ‘Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck’ will be on view until 5 April 2026. To mark the occasion, The Met has collaborated with Finnish Design Shop – the leading online retailer of Finnish and Scandinavian design – on a special launch: the ‘Tones of Modernism Collection’, a limited-edition series of furniture and interior objects.

Though Schjerfbeck was a painter, her influence extends beyond the realm of fine art. The restrained, contemplative and emotionally charged aesthetic of her work – known as the ‘Schjerfbeck look’ – shaped Finland’s emerging modernist identity, influencing design houses such as Artek and Iittala. The Met’s collaboration with Finnish Design Shop honours this interwoven legacy, inviting contemporary designers to interpret Schjerfbeck’s sensibility through objects.

‘At Finnish Design Shop, we believe that art and design share a common language,’ says CEO Noora Tirkkonen. ‘We see it as our mission to bridge these worlds, making art and design accessible to a broader audience. It’s a vision that follows in the footsteps of Finnish design legends Alvar and Aino Aalto, who – together with the founders of Artek – set out more than 90 years ago to unite art, design and architecture.’

‘Tones of Modernism’ brings together five acclaimed Finnish brands – Artek, Iittala, Lapuan Kankurit, Nikari and the natural cosmetics label Hetkinen. In addition to their modernist heritage and commitment to craftsmanship, each was selected for its ability to interpret Schjerfbeck’s work in design form.

Highlights include Artek’s iconic Stool 60 – an enduring symbol of Finnish design – reissued in custom, muted hues. Meanwhile, Hetkinen introduces exclusive room fragrances and hand soaps created specifically for the exhibition, prompting not only the question of what Schjerfbeck’s art might look like as an object, but what it might smell like.

Through these pieces, which carry the hallmarks of both Schjerfbeck’s art and Finnish design tradition, Finnish Design Shop aims, as Tirkkonen notes, to ‘continue the legacy of Helene Schjerfbeck’s art by bringing an element of the quiet, tranquil beauty of her work into people’s homes.’

Somewhere between a cosy home and a holiday cabin in the woods, this new care institution, set within the pine forests of the Finnish west coast, heralds a new era in residential healthcare for the Scandinavian country. Welcome to Lagmansgården, the brand new residential institution for young people in need of health and foster care and special needs education, designed by Helsinki-based architecture studio Anttinen Oiva.

Discover new care institution Lagmansgården in Finland

The project was conceived following extensive research by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), which determined how important architecture and nature are to the wellbeing and nurturing of vulnerable young people in need of support. The complex, which is the first of its kind, comprises a school and accommodation – 20 rooms across four building units. There are also recreational areas, administrative spaces, and a communal kitchen with a dining hall.

The focus was on crafting an architecture that draws on natural materials, with an emphasis on the sensorial experience and access to natural light and the surrounding green spaces. As a result, large openings are framed by the structure's dominant materials, namely, exposed cross-laminated timber (CLT) and plywood.

'This has been a really important project for all of us in the design team, to create supportive architecture that feels homelike and calming while respecting the safety requirements this type of building requires,' says architect and studio partner Selina Anttinen. 'Lagmansgården represents a holistic and human approach to institutional care and special education that unites sustainable architecture, a reflective approach, and the restorative impact of nature.'

Anttinen continues: ‘A sense of community and safety, and a feeling that you can shape your own environment play a major role when creating an enjoyable space for young people. At Lagmansgården, youths participated by, for example, designing and crafting selected furniture pieces.'

Beyond the important effect of the design and the use of timber on the wellbeing of residents, the Lagmansgård building is also particularly eco-friendly, due to the material’s strong sustainable architecture credentials.

Additionally, the structure includes geothermal heating, and a solar power plant provides renewable energy.

aoa.fi

A new book by long-term Wallpaper* staffer, writer and editor Léa Teuscher explores the diverse expressions of library design across the world. '[They are] symbols of the power of learning, they can be the key to democracy, or become battlegrounds for culture wars,' she writes in the book's introduction. 'Or, they might be safe spaces where public debate thrives and creative gatherings abound.'

In her new book, 150 Libraries You Need to Visit Before You Die, for Lannoo Publishers, Teuscher has collected the world's best, from architect-designed temples of culture to historical palaces of books, to grassroots initiatives that bring reading to the people.

Here, she picks fifteen libraries from the book, to give us a taste of the global diversity of the genre.

Craigieburn Library, Australia

Australian architects Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp of FJCstudio designed the Craigieburn Library in 2014, using locally sourced rammed earth, which they chose for 'its thermal properties and for its symbolic resonance, embedding the building in the very ground from which it rises'. The steel and timber roof structures are lightweight and conceived as a series of interlocking pavilions. On the grounds is also an art gallery and café. When it opened, the Craigieburn Library was honoured as the IFLA Public Library of the Year for the way it created ‘a sense of belonging for all, as both a learning centre and a gathering place for the city'.

Beijing Library, China

'This glass-lined library by Snøhetta boasts the world’s largest reading space, a forest of soaring ginkgo columns and a valley of books,' writes Teuscher. From an architectural perspective, the Beijing Library features the world’s largest climatised reading space and China’s largest load-bearing glass system, while inside, it is built as a landscape with volumes shaped like hills separating its spaces. Its high-tech design also comprises the largest automated book storage system in the world and the highest attainable sustainability standard in the country.

Muyinga Library, Burundi

'Muyinga’s first library tells an important story about how to think and build differently,' writes Teuscher. Designed by Belgian practice BC Architects and Studies, the Burundi library is part of an inclusive school for deaf children and was built from earth blocks masonry and baked clay tiles, employing a local labour force and supporting the local economy. A superb example of welcoming design that serves a social function, the Muyinga library also features a large sisal hammock, woven from plants found on the construction site and accessed through a bookshelf that also serves as a ladder.

Drummondville Public Library, Canada

Canada's Drummondville library is connected to the city's history and winter sport mission. Designed by Chevalier Morales with DMA Architectes, the building's aesthetic nods to the city's steel and hydropower heritage, and its silhouettes are inspired by the neighbouring outdoor ice rink, of which the reading rooms have a view. 'An innovative pairing of sport and culture, this award-winning, immensely popular library is proudly of its time and of its place,' writes Teuscher.

Yuyarina Pacha Library, Ecuador

The Yuyarina Pacha children's library was born from the efforts of a reading club organised by local associations Laboratorio Creativo Sarawarmi and Witoca, and designed in 2024 by Quito-based practice Al Borde. 'A space for knowledge, this rainforest library is a symbol of the ability of rural communities to take charge of their own development and learning,' writes Teuscher. The building reflects local techniques, with a structure made of chonta, an Amazonian palm known for its durability and strength, a steep thatched roof and a glass skylight.

Cloud Cave Library, China

Designed like 'a portal to another dimension,' this library is part of the redevelopment of Haikou's coastline and was designed in 2021 by MAD Architects. Nicknamed 'The Wormhole' for the architects' intention to create ‘a journey transcending time and space', the 10,000-book library features a smooth, curved concrete structure with cave-like rooms. ‘Architecture, art, humanity and nature meet here, opening up a journey of visitors’ imaginations to explore and appreciate the meaning that different beauties bring to their lives,’ says MAD’s Ma Yansong

Oodi, Finland

This multifunctional space by ALA Architects opened in 2018 and its offering, including a cinema, workshops with 3D printers, a video games room and a reading room embodies what a contemporary library should be. ‘Everyone is welcome at Oodi, and equality is the most important of the library’s values – together with freedom of expression,’ says its director Anna-Maria Soininvaara.

L'Animu Porto Vecchio, France

'Nestled among olive trees, this building by Dominique Coulon & Associés symbolises the importance of the local public library in France,' writes Teuscher. This library opened in 2021, the same year the French government declared libraries 'an essential public service’. The architects created a building that complements the surrounding landscape, informed by the location of the olive trees and rocks found on site, and includes a garden, shaded terrace and summer bar.

Oscar Niemeyer Library, France

'A once dormant hall has been turned into a stylish cultural hub now bustling with readers,' says Teuscher of this building, one of two volcano-shaped Oscar Niemeyer structures in Le Havre. The space was originally conceived in the late 1970s as a cultural hall among the modernist apartment blocks of Auguste Perret. Niemeyer gave permission in 2006 to transform the building into a public library, a transformation led by Françoise Sogno and Deshoulières Jeanneau to update the space with natural light and a winter garden.

Library of Birmingham, UK

'Uniting the ‘written and the spoken word’, this library and theatre is an ode to the circle, wrapped in a delicate filigree façade inspired by the city’s crafts and industries,' writes Teuscher of the Mecanoo-designed Birmingham library. The design references the city’s jewellery heritage and steel industry and it is based on eight rotundas, including a golden room on the roof which is home to the library’s Victorian Shakespeare Memorial.

City of Parramatta Library (Phive), Australia

In the Western Sydney suburb of Parramatta, this library was completed in 2023 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, and inspired by local flora, with a roof shaped to maximise sunlight and communicate with the surrounding infrastructure. ‘The carefully sculpted final volume gives the impression of literally bending under the passage of the sun across the sky,’ explains Gautrand. The library includes a children’s centre, a theatre, and a Keeping Place dedicated to local Indigenous artefacts and reserved for the Aboriginal Dharug people.

Shanghai Library East, China

'Evoking a scholar’s rock in a Chinese garden, this beautifully detailed, art-filled cultural hub appears to float above Shanghai’s Century Park,' writes Teuscher. Designed by Danish studio Schmidt Hammer Lassen (SHL), it was completed in 2022 to ‘embrace the idea of collection to connection – a space to bring people together'. The shape is a nod to the Taihu stones that Chinese scholars used for inspiration and meditation, and the exterior is clad with panels imprinted with photographs of marble swirls. The library holds a whopping 4.8 million books, as well as play spaces, outdoor reading rooms, and panoramic views of the city.

Tama Art University Library, Japan

A masterpiece by Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate Toyo Ito, this library is made of concrete arches seemingly floating above the university campus. ‘A light and rhythmic space is achieved by placing arches with tapered footings continuously in different directions; but the interior space as a whole has a sense of tranquillity and transparency,’ says Ito.

Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, USA

The interior of Yale University's Beinecke Library features a six-storey, glass-enclosed tower of books, holding around 180,000 rare volumes. A Skidmore, Owings & Merrill project from 1963, the design is based on a grid of translucent Vermont marble panels that act as windows while protecting the precious collection from direct light. 'Design fans will want to check out the Florence Knoll and Marcel Breuer furniture, as well as the Isamu Noguchi sculpture garden,' says Teuscher.

Mariam's Library, Tanzania

'Built in only 34 days on a tight budget, Mariam’s Library shows that low-cost libraries can be as impactful as big landmark projects,' writes Teuscher of this Zanzibar library, part of Kuwait-based Parallel Studio's Parallel Gives – a volunteer-supported initiative dedicated to community service. Built from perforated bricks, the structure is conceived to stay cool and offer shade, while the corrugated roof filters the light above. '[The focus is] how to contribute to the global community, how architecture can positively affect human development, and how we can inspire our colleagues to spread such kindness,' says Parallel Studio founder, Mai Al Busairi.

‘The world doesn’t just become better on its own – it’s made better:’ a fitting opening statement to the seventh edition of 'Designs for a Cooler Planet' (until 28 October 2025), an annual exhibition at Helsinki’s Aalto University that asks participants to create tangible solutions to pressing global issues. It comes as part of the Finnish capital’s design week, and invites submissions from students, staff, and researchers across the university’s subject departments.

‘We try to select a really diverse showcase that reflects the uniquely multi-disciplinary approach at Aalto,’ says Enni Äijälä, the exhibition’s art director. ‘The common denominator is the agency and determination to effect positive change for the planet.’

'Designs for a Cooler Planet': inside the show's pioneering exhibits

One project in the show has already been fully realised: Tiny House Shadow, the real-life residence of the university’s professor of sustainable construction, Matti Kuittinen. The black, timber-clad property (shown in the exhibition as a scale model) was designed by Kuittinen in a way that significantly minimises the material and carbon footprint of typical housing.

More than half of it is created out of recycled matter, while the rest is made from materials that were specifically chosen for their low emissions: the living room floor, for example, is crafted from old fishing nets, while the structural framework is forged from fossil-free steel. As a result, the house uses 85 per cent less material and 43 per cent less land compared to a traditional single-family house, leading to a 53 per cent smaller carbon footprint per resident

At the heart of the exhibition, there’s also a finished prototype of Kasvu, a 9.4 sq m living unit developed by Daniela Alatorre, Pekka Heikkinen, and Laura Zubillaga, a trio of educators from the university’s wood programme. Championing the possibilities of modular construction, the unit is created out of lightweight, flat-packable timber components that could be prefabricated in a factory and transported to a desired site without any need for heavy machinery. Its structural and non-structural elements have also been purposely separated so that, over time, they could easily be removed for maintenance or readaptation.

Tiina Nypelö, a professor from the university’s school of chemical engineering, has been working with academics from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden to cultivate what they call ‘myotecture’ – a sustainable form of construction that employs yeast biomass. So far, the group has been able to feed the biomass through a 3D printer to make building blocks and interior wall panels, swatches of which are displayed in glass cases.

Some of the projects presented in the show are more conceptual, such as the Beacon project by a team from Aalto University’s school of engineering. It proposes using biochar – a carbon-negative by-product of biofuel production – to stabilise the foundations of roads, bridges and other types of infrastructure erected on Finland’s soft, clay-rich soil. The team says that biochar would not only serve as an eco-friendly alternative to conventional strengthening materials like cement, but its carbon-sequestering abilities mean it could also turn sites into CO2 ‘sinks’.

Then there’s the ‘Ceci n’est pas une porte’ (‘This is not a door’) project by various members of the university’s art, design and architecture school. Together, they produced a series of ‘absurd’ storybooks that reveal the often ridiculous obstacles that architects and builders have to bypass to avoid wasting construction materials.

For Äijälä, showcasing these theoretical ideas is as imperative as presenting those that are already in the making. ‘The goal is to keep opening up research and education – making sure new ideas and findings do not stay behind closed doors, but are brought onto a public stage to spark dialogue and wider change,’ she says. ‘I believe that significant change begins when we dare to dream big and design alternative future visions – the exhibition gives us the freedom to imagine and demonstrate those possibilities. Before we can change anything, we need to know what “good” looks like.’

The exhibition runs until 28 October 2025 at Aalto University

JKMM has won the competition for Finland’s new Museum of Architecture and Design in Helsinki. The results of the highly anticipated, anonymous, global competition were announced this morning – with Helsinki-based JKMM scooping the top spot, followed by second prize winner Cossement Cardoso; third prize winner Lopes Brenna; and a collective of Finnish architects, and Atelier Orda, also earning mentions. This morning's big reveal concludes the competition cycle, which began in 2024 –and signals the start of works for the museum's build.

Kumma: Finland’s new Museum of Architecture and Design in Helsinki

The design, titled Kumma, outlines a dramatic, yet minimalist building, which, as the brief demanded, is located on the waterfront in Helsinki’s historic South Harbour over some 10,050 sq m. The project's mandate includes bringing together a collection of over 900,000 artefacts within a single cultural institution with international appeal – the central mission of which is 'democratising the tools of design.'

JKMM's proposal was picked over 624 submissions – the jury had a hard job deciding on the winner. The architects worked with collaborators Akukon (acoustic and AV design), Granlund (HVAC Engineering, Energy Calculation), MIR (visualisation), Pentagon Design (service design), and Ramboll Finland (structural design, carbon footprint calculation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, electrical and lighting, geo design).

The building is set to sit on the vacant site of a former dockyard in central Helsinki – and in particular, an area that is a designated buffer zone of the Unesco World Heritage Site of The Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. Sustainable architecture was also a key part of the design, an especially important element for Helsinki, a capital that has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 (the recent, 2025 Wallpaper* Award-winning, environmentally friendly renovation of Alvar Aalto's Finlandia Hall is part of the same approach). JKMM's design was selected for demonstrating exemplary sustainability, accessibility and inclusivity.

Kaarina Gould, CEO of the Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design, said: 'This announcement is a pivotal moment for Finland’s new Museum of Architecture and Design, marking the conclusion of years of work to fundraise and lay the groundwork for a new museum, and the beginning of work to develop a new landmark on a hugely significant site for Helsinki. We also invite the museum's audience to join in this work by participating in our workshops and exhibitions.'

Who are JKMM?

If you are not familiar with Finnish studio JKMM, get to know it. The Helsinki-based architecture practice is headed by directors and friends Asmo Jaaksi, Teemu Kurkela, Samuli Miettinen and Juha Mäki-Jyllilä, who co-founded it in 1998, and is one of the country's biggest in both size and creative ambition.

Past works have included the internationally acclaimed Amos Rex art museum in Helsinki, Tammela Stadium in Tampere, University of the Arts Helsinki, Dance House Helsinki, Chappe in Southern Finland, and Finland’s contribution to Expo 2020 Dubai. Meanwhile, the team are currently working on more high-profile work in their home country – namely, an Annexe to the National Museum of Finland, also in Helsinki, due to open in 2027.

Their work is known for its considerate balance of minimalism and functionality, bridging effortlessly contemporary and historical settings and connecting architecture, people and context. 'In our buildings, we have wanted to focus on how museum, or for that matter any arts space architecture, relates to the immediate experience of place, adding both a sense of rootedness and also something wholly new that brings about vitality to the local community. This, I feel, is especially important for cultural buildings, as they are the very things that give places identity by bringing people together, but only if people feel welcome and can take ownership of them,' partner Jaaksi told us at the opening of Chappe in 2023.

What's next for the project?

This win means JKMM Architects receive €60,000 in prize money for the winning design. The studio's design will hold the institution's collection of over 900,000 artefacts, which include anything from objects and correspondence, to models and photographs – all linked to internationally-famed Finnish practitioners in the design world, such as Aino and Alvar Aalto, Eero Aarnio, Maija Isola, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Paavo Tynell, and design brands such as Marimekko, Nokia and Fiskars.

Samuli Miettinen, founding partner and principal designer at JKMM Architects, said: 'I hope that the planning and realisation of the new Museum of Architecture and Design can show the way for how new things can be built responsibly and with skill. Architecture and design are deeply human – they are born from dreams and longing, and they gain their meaning in the places where we can experience and live together.'

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with the museum opening planned for 2030.

Home, as the saying goes, is where the heart is, and for Finnish-Karelian multidisciplinary artist and sculptor Anna Pesonen, that place will always be Finland. Though her creative career has taken her through Paris, Tokyo, Mallorca, and now London, the pull of home is strong. Best known as a stylist, image director and consultant for clients including Maison Margiela, Nike, and Rimowa, Pesonen recently extended her practice into sculpture, debuting Discourse: a marble series unveiled at Design Miami 2023. Last year (2024), a residency at Alvar Aalto’s Paimio Sanatorium brought her closer to her roots.

Born in Järvenpää, just outside Helsinki, Pesonen describes the Finnish capital as the ‘alternative little sister’ to other Nordic cities. ‘What I love about Helsinki is that while it’s very international and aware of what’s happening elsewhere, it still has its own distinct spirit,’ she says. The long, dark winters, she notes, are what fuel Finland’s creative depth: ‘They give us the time and space to imagine alternative worlds.’

It’s the city’s modern yet steeped in tradition, social yet contemplative personality that Pesonen finds most inspiring. ‘You have this amazing mix of nature at your doorstep, but also world-class music at clubs and institutions. You can eat classic Finnish dishes in 1930s modernist restaurants, where the old spirit lingers, or enjoy just about any cuisine you like. The pace is different, everything feels close by, and that makes me feel free.’

Here, she shares her favourite addresses – just in time for Helsinki Design Week 2025 (5-14 September) and beyond.

What to see and do in Helsinki, Anna Pesonen’s tips

Where to eat and drink

Ateljee Bar

‘Now that I’m a tourist in my own homeland, I love the classics even though we also have fantastic new places. Climbing the snug spiral staircase to this rooftop bar with 360-degree views of the city is an experience in its own; you often bump into a friend. My favourite part is that the atmosphere doesn’t feel pompous like bars at a height usually do.’

Ateljee Bar is located at Solo Sokos Hotel Torni, Yrjönkatu 26, 00100 Helsinki, Finland.

Kosmos

‘A family-run institution since 1924, Kosmos used to be a cultural hub for artists, writers, and politicians alike. When I return to Helsinki, I gravitate towards these kinds of unapologetically old-school restaurants – those which feel untouched by trends and where traditional Finnish food, art, and design converge. It feels very Kaurismäki-esque, similar to Elite and Sea Horse (also in town).’

Kosmos is located at Kalevankatu 3, 00100 Helsinki, Finland.

Putte’s Bar & Pizza

‘A great, relaxed restaurant for delicious pizza right in the centre of Helsinki. The walls are full of art, and the downstairs area sometimes turns into a club. I always go hoping to bump into my friend Antto (Melasniemi): chef, artist and owner.’

Putte’s Bar & Pizza is located at Kalevankatu 6, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

What to do

Cinema Orion

‘This is one of Helsinki’s oldest cinemas. Its beautiful art deco theatre makes visiting worthwhile even during a short stay in Helsinki. Cinema Orion screens international arthouse films and showcases Finnish films that struggle to gain distribution elsewhere. They recently had a film programme curated for each star sign, which I loved.’

Cinema Orion is located at Eerikinkatu 15, 00100 Helsinki, Finland.

Kulttuurisauna

‘Saunas are a daily part of life for Finns, but I notice the essence of this ritual being diluted abroad – phones, chatter, or loud music aren’t part of it. Hearing the silence and letting your mind wander is what matters. Kulttuurisauna, a minimalist public sauna, offers a great way to experience authentic, modern Finnish sauna culture in the city centre. It sits on the edge of Merihaka – a 1970s brutalist housing district, which itself is worth a visit for any concrete lovers.’

Kulttuurisauna is located at Hakaniemenranta 17, 00530 Helsinki, Finland.

Sibelius Monument

‘In 1967, Eila Hiltunen (a fellow Finnish-Karelian sculptor) unveiled a sculpture for the late composer Jean Sibelius, which feels especially meaningful to me. Sibelius once lived by the same lake where I grew up, and he helped build the artist community that shaped my childhood. Nearby, there’s a cosy café and some buildings with amazing ‘funkkis’ decorations on their façades.’

Sibelius Monument is located at Sibeliuksen puisto, Mechelininkatu, 00250 Helsinki, Finland.

SIC

‘As part of the city’s Drifts Festival 2025, I’m participating in a group exhibition at SIC Gallery. My latest work, Heed the Echoes of the Forgotten, will be on view there until 10 September. The sculptor is dedicated to the preservation of kelkettely, an endangered Karelian vocal tradition.’

SIC is located at Vanha Helsingintie 24, 00700 Helsinki, Finland.

Temppeliaukio Church

'This round iconic church, built directly into solid bedrock, is one of my favourite spaces in Helsinki. I love the light, the organ and the violet-blue pews, which I used to think felt so out of place there. I used to live around the corner and often hung out on the rocks above the church; from there, you see its sculptural form from a new perspective.'

Temppeliaukio Church is located at Lutherinkatu 3, 00100 Helsinki, Finland.

Where to shop

Kruuna

‘Antique shop Kruuna offers a great selection of Finnish design, including ceramics and glassware from iconic designers like Tapio Wirkkala, as well as some internationally lesser-known artists such as Kyllikki Salmenhaara and Paavo Tynell.’

Kruuna is located at Maurinkatu 8-12, 00170 Helsinki, Finland.

Théhuone

‘I go to Théhuone to stock up on tea as they have a selection of 400 varieties. There’s also a small cafe with a tatami within the shop.’

Théhuone is located at Eerikinkatu 10, 00100 Helsinki, Finland.

annapesonen.com

An hour from Helsinki by train, Turku is a scenic city of around 200,000 people, famed for its many Alvar Aalto buildings, its university, and its stunning archipelago. It may be Finland’s oldest city, founded in 1229, but Turku is growing and looking to the future. More than a decade after it was named a European Capital of Culture (in 2011), increased numbers of people are visiting and moving to Turku. In line with Finland’s commitment to sustainability, the city is embracing these changes with climate considerations at the forefront.

Turku: a city looking to the future

‘I believe Turku is an excellent example of a successful Nordic urban environment where city planning has long been well balanced with carbon neutrality goals,’ new mayor Piia Elo tells Wallpaper*, adding that the city aims to be carbon neutral by 2029. ‘Access to nature is integral to our city’s identity. Therefore, the city is planned with the wellbeing of both people and nature in mind, not solely for economic growth. Turku grows ambitiously, but always responsibly: sustainability is ingrained in everything, from minor details to major visions.’

Now embarking on her new role, Elo is leading the city into a period of change, which includes encouraging students from the University of Turku to stay after graduation and facilitating discussions about introducing a tram system. ‘It’s both exciting and wonderful. I love my city and am very proud to be the mayor of Turku. Of course, it’s also challenging, for example, in trying to provide the same level of service to every corner of the city,’ says Elo.

From its historic shipbuilding industry to contemporary cleantech expertise and tourism, Turku is leveraging its abundance of resources for the future, and climate change plays a significant role. While shipbuilder Meyer Turku is creating non-polluting cruise ships for Royal Caribbean, summer visitors from southern Europe are increasing, partly perhaps in search of a cooler escape in the face of rising temperatures.

Saaristo, Finland’s archipelago, is renowned for its pristine natural beauty. The changing light reflects on the water throughout the day, with the horizon line broken by reeds, trees, and islands. These islands and islets, varying in size, are dotted with beautiful houses and occasional hotels.

The classic Nordic architecture – painted wood homes with porches and verandas abound – holds plenty of appeal, as does the ready access to seclusion. The rising popularity of wood-burning saunas, prized for their mental and physical health benefits, also draws visitors, as most summer houses (mökki) include one, with public options available in and around the city.

Villa Järvelä, a popular local waterside sauna, attracts tourists seeking health benefits and is a favoured spot for those looking to avoid alcohol. Many city homes feature saunas, but Villa Järvelä offers an authentic local experience, including ice swimming alongside traditional wood-fired and electric saunas.

‘Our archipelago is unique – it’s arguably the most beautiful in the world with its 40,000 islands and islets,’ says Elo. ‘We are actively promoting it for sustainable tourism, targeting those who appreciate quiet, clean, cool, and untouched nature. It’s a place to escape and connect with nature, before returning to the vibrant city of Turku for cultural experiences at venues like Fuuga [concert hall].’

Situated on the Aura River, Fuuga is undergoing redevelopment as part of a long-term masterplan to transform the waterfront. Turku also boasts a burgeoning culinary scene, with Michelin-starred restaurant Kaskis and many other fashionable, high-end eateries lining the Aura. The former industrial landscape is being transformed into a contemporary cityscape that complements its medieval architectural heritage.

Not long ago, the city celebrated the work of Aino and Alvar Aalto, which includes the world-famous Paimio Sanatorium, completed in 1933, on its outskirts. The impeccably preserved former tuberculosis hospital revolutionised ideas about health and recovery through its architecture and design.

Today, the site is a modernist visitor attraction (with a restaurant, exhibition space, and a few renovated guest rooms), and plans are underway to collaborate with a wellness brand to create a retreat within its distinctive buildings and grounds, enhanced by Aino’s intuitive designs. The city also offers many tours of other buildings designed by Aalto, while an array of his product designs can be bought from the Finnish Design Shop, where you'll also find Nordic-focused brands such as Mack, Kvadrat, Hay, and 1616 / Arita Japan.

Essentially, Turku is drawing on its history to shape its future. It feels poised for something different – from its industries to its architecture, design, music, and festival culture. With sustainability at its core, the city is not redefining itself but instead progressing with the times.

visitfinland.com

Since its creation in the 1930s, Finnish jewellery brand Kalevala has held a key role in Nordic culture. Swedish designer and artist Martin Bergström is the latest creative to help shape the brand – joining sculptor and jewellery artist Björn Wecström – and has looked to Finnish nature and flowers to inspire a new collection.

‘I'm fascinated by the power of the sprout, or what is known as germination (the process by which seeds grow),’ says Bergström. ‘It's so fantastic how a seed can sprout and totally smash through an asphalt road. Nature always finds a way and it can be both inspiring and scary, how a tiny organism can make such a big impact. I want the pieces in the collection to be strong yet soft; to wear them is to be a part of them.’

The ‘Itu’ collection, made in Kalevala’s Helsinki factory using recycled premium-quality silver and gold, draws on Bergström’s sculptural sensibilities in its curving forms and textured surfaces. Encompassing necklaces and earrings, it is a gentle nod to the organic patterns in nature.

‘What I find especially fascinating is seeing how the organic themes are transformed into jewellery by the skilled hands of Kalevala’s goldsmiths,’ Bergström adds. ‘The spirit of Finnish nature, the moon cycles and historical elements endlessly inspire me. The collection features a rich variety of jewellery, multiple interpretations, each drawing from the same core theme in its own way. I want the jewellery to come alive when worn, to be loved and treasured.’

The jewellery draws on the heritage of the brand. Founded by women, it began with an initiative from writer Elsa Heporauta, who wanted to build a statue to honour a Finnish woman at a time when statues were reserved for men. To fund the project, artisans made and sold jewellery, the proceeds of which then went to support women and children upon the outbreak of the Winter War (with the Soviet Union, lasting for the winter of 1939-40). Almost a century later, the spirit of community remains, with a third of all profits supporting disadvantaged women in a range of initiatives.

‘Kalevala has been a pioneer in the jewellery industry for 88 years,’ adds Aino Ahlnäs, creative director of Kalevala. ‘The “Itu” collection pays homage to that long-standing spirit of courage while introducing something fresh to our range. With its rich textures and playful combinations of materials, the collection is designed to be worn, cherished, and perhaps one day, passed on. The inherent themes of “Itu” resonate with turning points in life – growth, hope and transformation.’

kalevalashop.com

The Tokyo Station Gallery in Japan is marking 110 years since the birth of Tapio Wirkkala with a retrospective exhibition. ‘The Sculptor of Ultima Thule’, now showing, wanders the whimsical world of the Finnish designer and sculptor, who chronicled the landscapes of Lapland through design.

Born in 1915, Wirkkala worked with Finnish glass artisan Iittala before founding his own studio in 1966. His work was diverse, using materials and mediums ranging from postage stamps to urban environments. Wirkkala is best known for his plywood sculptures; in 1967, he created one called Ultima Thule, which, he said, symbolised the edge of the known world.

This was a preoccupation of the artist’s, and one that led him to the furthest reaches of northern Finland: without going to see it first, he bought a plot of land in Lemmensuu in the Sápmi region of Lapland, which became his family retreat, as well as a constant source of inspiration. In 1972, in design magazine Domus, Wirkkala said the following of Lapland: ‘Many are the paths of silence. Paths in the silver forest. They are reindeer paths that never lead anywhere. They weave in and out among fallen trees, trees which no one will ever raise, or end the banks of a lake. The waters and hills have no direction, they are infinite.’

The Sápmi plot is an old farm dating back to when the indigenous Sámi established their first permanent residences, populated by traditional timber buildings. To this day, it lacks basic amenities such as roads, running water and electricity; Wirkkala had to transport materials by reindeer.

‘The Sculptor of Ultima Thule’ traces the life led by Wirkkala and his wife, ceramic artist Rut Bryk, in Finnish Lapland. It was simple, with days spent fishing, fetching water, chopping wood and, of course, working. During the summer, when the sun set only for a few hours, Wirkkala could design day and night. ‘Tapio was constantly drawing and sculpting wooden models with his knife,’ his daughter, Maaria, who is also an artist and still spends time at Lemmensuu, recalls. ‘The test versions of the new glass design or other products would arrive by post, transported by boat across the lake from collaborators all over the world, to be checked and redeveloped.’

Wirkkala drew inspiration from Lapland’s nature, especially the changes that came with the seasons: among his most famous creations were glasswork series that resembled snow and ice. His iconic series, also called Ultima Thule, which was initially designed for Finnair, appears as if made of melting ice.

Wirkkala died in 1985. The Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation was established in 2003, with its collection now housed at the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA) in southern Finland. ‘The Sculptor of Ultima Thule’ is produced in collaboration with EMMA, and showcases more than 300 of the artist’s works, including glass pieces, sculptures, sketches and archive materials. The retrospective is a love letter to Lapland – a place that, Wirkkala said, ‘[loaded him] like batteries’ and was ‘like a rope [he could] grasp when [he felt] sinking’.

‘The Sculptor of Ultima Thule’ runs until 15 June 2025
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emmamuseum.fi

From the Japanese Genmaicha dotted with popped brown rice to the time-consuming but deliciously foamy West African Ataya, the world of tea is truly full of wonders. And it’s certainly not stuck in time: today, a new generation is discovering the beauty of bright-green matcha and fragrant masala chai. For her latest book, 150 Tea Houses You Need to Visit Before You Die, writer and editor Léa Teuscher – a long-time Wallpaper* staffer – explores what’s brewing, whether it’s in a cool café in Istanbul, a historic tea plantation in Darjeeling, an elegant hotel in London or a beautiful Kyoto ochaya. Here she picks ten tea houses serving great drinks and homemade blends in elegant, often architect-designed spaces, around the world.

Ten contemporary tea houses to visit now

Basao Tea, Xiamen

Designed by Norm Architects, this beautiful minimalist space is the flagship tea room of Basao Tea, a brand established in 2011 in Xiamen, Fujian. It is named after a Japanese zen monk who once wrote: ‘Having learned the ways of silence, within the noise of urban life, I take life as it comes to me, and everywhere I am is true.’ Its pared-back space aims to help visitors enjoy quiet contemplation and the calming sounds of tea being prepared, poured and enjoyed. Sit at the large stone tea counter to take part in a Chinese gongfu tea ceremony, or learn about more contemporary ways of tea making, like Basao’s nitrogen-infused cold brews. The tea sommeliers can also guide you through the company’s collection, which ranges from hand-rolled Nepali tips to Hangzhou’s ‘dragon well’ tea. Basao also has branches in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Basao Tea is located at 8 Jianye RdSi Ming Qu, Xia Men Shi, Fu Jian Sheng, China; @basaotea

Bellocq Tea Atelier, New York

Bellocq is known for its single-estate full-leaf teas and signature botanical blends, as well as its famous yellow tea caddies now found in the tea rooms of some of the world’s leading brands, from Tiffany & Co to Cartier. Designed by co-founder Heidi Johannsen Stewart, and her husband, architect Scott Stewart, its studio and tea room is located in a brick warehouse in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint, and celebrates the luxury of taking time to enjoy a fine cup of tea. Distilling inspiration from botanical traditions while embracing innovation, the brand focuses on sustainable production practices, sourcing teas from exceptional gardens that reflect the unique terroirs of China, Japan, Taiwan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India and South Africa. Bellocq’s Earl Grey, for example, is made with an exceptional base leaf and, uniquely, the essence of Sicilian bergamot extracted from the entire fruit.

Bellocq Tea Atelier is located at 104 West St, Brooklyn, NY 11222, United States; bellocqtea.com

Cafe Svenskt Tenn, Stockholm

Leading Swedish interiors brand Svenskt Tenn was founded in 1924 by Estrid Ericson, an entrepreneur and a great tea lover who is said to have drunk five cups of tea every day. Fittingly, the brand’s beautiful shop in central Stockholm is also home to a café serving a wide range of teas, with everything from delicate, grassy Japanese green teas and Indian Darjeeling, to its own flavoured blend of Chinese keemun/Yunnan. The teas were selected by chef Petter Nilsson’s team at Petri, a fine dining restaurant that is known for its focus on tea pairings, so expect some pretty special drinks here, such as rare jungle teas from the Monsoon Tea Wat Ket in Thailand and Dongfang meiren (‘Oriental beauty’) from Nantou County in Taiwan. These can be accompanied by dishes such as smoked salmon on French toast, or rhubarb cheesecake, canelés and chestnut tartlets.

Café Svenskt Tenn is located at Strandvägen 5, 114 51 Stockholm, Sweden; svenskttenn.com

Casa de Chá, Brasilia

Designed between 1965 and 1966 by legendary architect Oscar Niemeyer, the Casa de Chá was conceived as a meeting point on the monumental Three Powers Plaza, the site of the three branches of the Brazilian government. It is a unique spot with floor-to-ceiling windows hiding under a long flat white roof, in the great modernist architecture tradition. Inside, you will find classic pieces such as Jean Gillon armchairs and a menu by local chef Gil Guimarães. Drinks include Itamaraty Chai (black tea with star anise, cloves and pepper), a house maté, and the Congresso infusion, with hibiscus, apple, clove and cinnamon. We’d recommend sampling these with a slice of corn cake or, if really hungry, a Niemeyer tartine with Parma ham and umbu jelly. Refurbished in 2019 by Bloco Arquitetos, the café is actually part of the local university and a training ground for its hospitality students.

Casa de Chá is located at Praça dos Três Poderes Três Praça dos Três Poderes - Brasilia, DF, 70802-140, Brazil; @casadecha.df.senac.br

Ksana matcha, Bangkok

Located in cosmopolitan Pathum Wan, this cave-like specialist matcha tea room offers a unique haven of tranquillity away from chaotic central Bangkok. Sourced from Japanese heritage farms in Uji and leading tea estates in Shizuoka, the powdered green tea is served here on simple wooden tables in a cocooning white cave designed by local practice JUTI architects. Ksana matcha uses the finest-quality tea leaves to create four teas, including Coastal Breeze, with umami flavours that evoke the fresh serenity of a coastal morning, and Smoky Peaks, a hōjicha with a hint of hickory. Also on the menu are traditional Japanese wagashi sweets, such as yuzu and yokan jelly. Ksana has just opened an equally slick new outpost in the nearby Central World mall.

Ksana Matcha is located at 2nd Floor, One City Centre, Unit R2-02, 548 Phloen Chit Rd, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; ksanamatcha.com

Osulloc Tea Museum, Jeju

Set on an organic tea farm on the island of Jeju in South Korea, this stylish tea room and museum designed by Seoul-based practice Mass Studies was set up by the South Korean brand Osulloc, which started growing tea here only in 1979, after painstakingly transforming the rocky land into tea fields. It has since won a string of prestigious prizes for its teas, including Illohyang, a first-flush green tea handpicked in early April, and Sejac, the brand’s signature green tea. You can try them at the museum’s teahouse, which also serves blended teas, such as Samdayeon Jeju Tangerine, and lots of pretty tea-flavoured treats, such as matcha tiramisu and Jeju green tea cheesecake. Osulloc also has teahouses in Seoul, including a flagship location in the Bukchon district.

Osulloc Tea Museum is located at 15 Sinhwayeoksa-ro, Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea; us.osulloc.com

Oxi Tea Room, Melbourne

Known for its exquisitely detailed themed afternoon teas, this serene tea room in downtown Melbourne celebrates the tea terroirs of Kenya and Taiwan, the home countries of owners Mehboob and Andy. From Kenya come teas such as Nandi Gold, a fruity black tea with hints of roasted hazelnuts, while from Taiwan are sourced crisp Alishan and delicate dong ding oolongs. The 30 premium whole-leaf teas are paired with meticulously crafted menus, and an interactive app guides diners through a culinary journey, revealing the stories behind each dish. Designed by local practice Alta Architecture, Oxi Tea Room is well known for its themed afternoon teas, with past inspirations ranging from local honeys to artists such as Yayoi Kusama. All feature pastry chef Johnny Ping’s eye-catching creations, including surprising bites such as cheesecake with plum, blueberry and tofu.

Oxi Tea Room is located at T4/158 Victoria St, Carlton VIC 3053, Australia; oxitea.com.au

Steep LA

Located in Los Angeles’ Chinatown, this teahouse, bar and eatery was co-founded by Samuel Wang and Lydia Lin, for whom tea is a family tradition. While Samuel grew up drinking oolong with his dad, Lydia’s favourite is pu-erh tea, which her family enjoys while eating dim sum. Their menu focuses on premium teas handpicked from China and Taiwan, which cover five out of six major Chinese tea categories: black, green, white, oolong and pu-erh – the latter including a refreshing Green Tangerine tea with notes of citrus and freshly cut grass. Come 5pm, Steep LA introduces its After Dark program, offering tea-infused cocktails such as Winter’s Whisper, with Jiaziyuan oolong tea. There is also a food menu with noodle bowls and snacks and a boutique selling pieces by local designers and craft makers.

Steep LA is located at 970 N Broadway #112, Los Angeles, CA 90012, United States; steepla.com

Théhuone, Helsinki

As you’d expect for a boutique and tea room located in the Design District, the décor at Théhuone is pure Scandinavian minimalism. Tea is served in sleek white porcelain cups and transparent teapots, which are perfect to watch flowering teas unfurl. There’s only a handful of tables and a seating area with floor cushions by the window from which to enjoy a selection of over 400 teas, carefully selected by sisters Nina and Nea, who founded the tea room in 2005. Flavoured teas such as classic Earl Grey and cherry-flavoured Sencha Sakura are particularly popular here, as are rare pu-erh varieties from Yunnan and the finest oolong teas from Taiwan. In keeping with the pared-back décor by local studio Pure Design, which lets the teas do the talking, there is no food menu – but drinks do come with little biscuits, mochis or a piece of green tea chocolate on the side.

Théhuone is located at Eerikinkatu 10, 00100 Helsinki, Finland; thehuone.com

To Tsai, Athens

Owned by specialist Ceylon tea importer Mlesna, To Tsai opened its doors in 1993. Inspired by Japanese architecture, the sleek space by Georges Batzios Architects is divided into a boutique and a tea room, where tea is served in a variety of teapots (porcelain, cast iron or clay) depending on its origin. It’s a real treasure trove of hard-to-find teas, such as an organic orange pekoe, grown near Etseri in the mountains of Georgia, and mastic tea, a tea flavoured with natural mastic oil (a key Greek ingredient), from Dimbula, Sri Lanka. Another local favourite is mountain tea, or Sideritis scardica, grown on an organic farm on Mount Olympus – a delicious infusion with notes of mint, chamomile and citrus.

To Tsai is located at Al. Soutsou 19, Athens 106 71, Greece; tea.gr

The UN World Happiness Report is released annually in March, and Finland is something of a fixture at the top of the table. The Scandinavian nation has been designated the happiest in the world for the last eight years, leading us to wonder: what formula has it perfected that makes its inhabitants so content?

To collate the World Happiness Report the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford asks a sample group from 140 countries to rate how good their life is, from one to ten. Fins averaged a score of 7.736. The study credits things like access to nature and strong social support as contributing factors to the score, while Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, says his nation’s happiness rests on the three pillars of nature, trust and education. But Fins also benefit from a good outlook, living their lives (as lore has it) by the philosophy of ‘sisu’, which translates as ‘grit’, ‘determination’ or ‘resilience’.

From where we’re standing, Finland has a lot to shout about, home to an ever-growing cohort of design-led hotels (and their idyllic spas), unique restaurants and pioneering cultural institutions. Here, we shine a light on where to stay, eat and go when visiting this Nordic nation for your best chance of imbibing some Finnish cheer.

The hotel: Solo Sokos Pier 4

Helsinki’s new arrival, designed by local studio Anttinen Oiva Architects, is constructed completely from timber. The ‘sustainable space’, which is situated within the city’s harbour's Katajanokan Laituri, boasts proximity to nature, uses domestic raw materials, and shares a building with the headquarters of Finnish forestry company Stora Enso. Wallpaper* recently spent the night at 164-room Solo Sokos Pier 4, reporting a soothing ambience permeated by the smell of pine and enhanced by the beauty of the Finnish seascape.

sokoshotels.fi

The restaurant: Finlandia Bistro

Finlandia Hall, built by Finnish modernist icon Alvar Aalto in 1971, has become a national landmark. The concert and congress venue, located in Helsinki’s Töölö Bay, has recently undergone a refresh, including the opening of Finlandia Hall Bistro, which allows diners to eat in surroundings that nod to Aalto’s heritage. Moody, cocooning interiors by Fyra are dressed with modernist pieces as well as contemporary items by the Finnish Design Shop. The food is also a tribute to Finnish craftsmanship, this time of the gastronomic variety, platforming local ingredients and flavours.

finlandiatalo.fi

The bar: Jackie

Set in the heart of Punavuori, Helsinki, stepping into Jackie is like stepping back in time. The space is steeped in the design language of the 1960s and 1970s; designer Joanna Laajisto was apparently given a playlist of Italian lounge and French disco music to inspire her. Come here for pizza until 11pm and drinks until 3am on weekends, when DJs play vintage-inspired hits in the sophisticated setting, all leather upholstery and walnut furniture.

jackie.fi

The spa: Panorama Landscape Hotel and Forest Spa

A couple of things spring to mind when one thinks about Finland, and one of them is rolling around in the snow (after heating yourself to boiling point in a sauna, of course). A particularly good place to do this is the Lähde Forest Spa at the Panorama Landscape Hotel, home to three saunas and five hot and cold pools fed by a natural spring with views over Lake Syväri. The hotel’s striking suites are designed by Finnish architect Sami Rintala, and blend into the bewitching landscape of Tahko in eastern Finland.

panoramahotel.fi

The museum: Sara Hildén Art Museum

This gallery is a fixture in the Finnish city of Tampere. It hosts a revolving door of exhibitions (such as Jean-Michel Othoniel’s solo show in 2024 and, showing until 18 May 2025, a retrospective of Finnish painter Heikki Marila) with a focus on international modern and contemporary art, as well as the permanent collection of the Sara Hildén Foundation, which contains more than 5,000 works including those by Joan Miró, Francis Bacon, Paul Klee and Alberto Giacometti. The building is an attraction in itself, designed by Pekka Ilveskoski Architects in 1979 on the beautiful shores of Lake Näsijärvi.

sarahildenintaidemuseo.fi

The two Finlandia Hall apartments have been restored to their former glory –so if you always dreamt of spending the night at an Alvar Aalto modernist architecture masterpiece, now is your chance. Launched as Finlandia Homes, the two properties within the Finnish master's epic Finlandia Hall were recently reopened, following a meticulous and sustainable architecture makeover that won the building a Wallpaper* Design Award. They are now bookable, offering tantalising stays in midcentury style.

Stay at the modernist Finlandia Hall apartments: welcome to Finlandia Homes

Part of the project to sustainably revitalise the iconic piece of 20th-century architecture, Finlandia homes saw the apartment interiors thoroughly refreshed. Elements that were lost or replaced over the decades were now reconstructed to Aalto's original designs. This includes fixtures and built-in areas, such as the wardrobes.

At the same time, the specialists at the Finnish Design Shop swooped in and dressed the interior with the modernist goodies that best complement the space's original character – elevating the interiors. Across the two properties, there are: a Hay’s ‘Kofi’ coffee table, Lundia’s ‘Classic’ display cabinet, &Tradition’s ‘Flowerpot’ lamps, Finarte’s ‘Palsta’ cushions, and the Lucius candleholder was designed by Company, among many others.

Located overlooking the adjacent Hesperia Park, Finlandia Homes were named after Aalto’s two wives – architect Aino Aalto (1894–1949) and architect Elissa Aalto (1922–1994) – and are titled 'Aino' and 'Elissa' respectively.

Artworks in both residences, like the furniture, were hand-picked. 'The artworks, sourced from HAM (Helsinki Art Museum), were selected to reflect the perceived personalities of Aino and Elissa as they have been passed down through generations. The art in the Aino apartment is more subdued and features blue tones, while the Elissa apartment showcases bolder, red-toned pieces,' says Finlandia Hall's Riitta Kilo in an interview to the Finnish Design Shop team.

finlandiatalo.fi

The Finlandia Hall bistro has opened its doors, offering visitors to the modernist architecture marvel by Alvar Aalto an important foodie dimension – allowing Finlandia Hall guests the opportunity to eat among sophisticated environs that elegantly nod to the master's design legacy.

Dining at the Finlandia Hall bistro

Subtly contrasting with the hall's open, bright and airy spaces and predominantly light colours, the bistro is cocooned warmly in moody, darker tones, wrapped in soft fabrics and tactile textures. Its interior, designed by specialist agency Fyra and dressed in a mix of pieces that blend Finnish modernist heritage and contemporary items by the Finnish Design Shop, as well as some bespoke, purpose-made, built-in elements, pays clear homage to Aalto's architecture.

Finlandia Hall's cobalt blue elements are echoed in the bistro's deep blue curtains, while wood and brass elements nod to modernist styles. Key examples of furniture include the portable ‘Como’ table lamp by &Tradition, new Artek lighting, and Iittala’s ‘Nappula’ candleholders.

The designers at Fyra write: 'The furniture, textiles, and lighting work complete the ambience, with the preserved surfaces serving as a foundation for the design. A central focal point is the extensive bar top, anchoring the space. A curved, upholstered sofa element divides the area, while the use of textiles adds softness, enhances acoustics, and fosters an inviting atmosphere.'

The food offering is led by head chef Mikko Puuronen, sous chef Juho Lindström, and restaurant manager Mirva Heino. The 64-seat restaurant entices with an a la carte menu filled with Finnish and wider, Nordic-inspired dishes. It blends local flavours with Italian, French, and Spanish cuisines – just as Aalto did with his architectural references for the overall building.

The warming rainbow trout soup, followed by the blueberry and white chocolate parfait makes for the perfect experience – combining comfort and indulgence with a strong sense of place.

Fyra is also behind Finlandia Hall's new shop with its custom-made new furniture, and the café on the ground level. Its pastry and sweets menu is matched by its long views of the nearby Töölönlahti Bay.

finlandiatalo.fi

Stepping inside the timber hotel Solo Sokos Pier 4, a delicate fragrance reminiscent of Finnish forests gently hits. The new Helsinki hotel certainly makes good on its sustainable architecture's unspoken promise. The refreshing scent of a box-fresh wooden design? Check. A calm and soothing, wall-to-wall environment in timber? Check. Birdsong subtly humming in the background? Check, check, check. Indeed, as cliché as such features may sound in the context of the building's wood architecture, its environment is everything you expect it to be in the best possible way.

A night at a timber hotel: experiencing Solo Sokos Pier 4

The new player in the Finnish capital's hospitality scene is situated within the Helsinki harbour's Katajanokan Laituri, a recently opened timber-framed building designed by local studio Anttinen Oiva Architects. It contains the headquarters of Finnish forestry company Stora Enso on one end and the 164-room Solo Sokos Pier 4 Hotel on the other – both span four floors.

The round, timber gymnastics of the lobby area – which is shared between hotel and office space – and the overall spatial planning is the work of Anttinen Oiva, but hotel spaces, such as hotel rooms, a separate restaurant, and conference facilities, were created by interiors outfit Franz Design. Not that you could immediately tell, as the envelope and its contents were carefully curated to work seamlessly, following the theme of natural wood and light, neutral tones throughout.

A specially created signature scent is present throughout the hotel. The rooms are minimalist, and the walls – alternating glazing and wood – are punctuated by specially selected pieces by local artists. A well stocked, curated fridge places an emphasis on sense of place (beer from a Turku brewery and blueberry juice make this an unmistakeably Finnish experience).

A café off the main lobby and the Harbore restaurant on the opposite side of the building (also where the hotel breakfast is served) enjoy expansive waterside views. Once the ongoing works on the seaside promenade just outside are completed, guests will be able to enjoy the simple, seasonal Nordic and Finnish ingredient mix on the menu with a backdrop of the nearby port's majestic ferries and people on leisurely strolls, making this an ideal spot for a drink outside during the mild summer months.

A rooftop terrace offers more outdoor space, with a planted garden and a dedicated bar. Meanwhile, on the lower ground floor, a gym is accompanied by a flexible wellness space. Eschewing rigid booking systems and classes (those are on offer as well, however, if needed), guests can pop in for an independent yoga or meditation session – or to enjoy the most Finnish of pastimes, a sauna.

The ground floor's state-of-the-art conference facilities make this a flexible destination – equally open to business and family travel. This timber hotel's sense of luxury lies in its sustainable, design-led origins – an element Solo Sokos Pier 4 is rightly proud of.

sokoshotels.fi

Yrjö Kukkapuro, Finnish grand master of design, died last week aged 91. Almost everyone in Finland has sat on a Kukkapuro chair – in a school, hospital, office or home. Over his seven-decade career, he created comfortable, functional best sellers that tapped into the trends of the time, and even in his eighth decade managed to create pieces that looked arrestingly modern.

I interviewed Kukkapuro in 2020, days before the first lockdown, at his studio on the outskirts of Helsinki. He was frail but had a twinkle in his eye; his daughter Isa translated while keeping watch on her mother, Irmeli, who was pottering at her mood board. (Irmeli passed away in 2022.) The devoted couple built the studio on a plot of land given to them by Irmeli’s father in 1968 and they worked side by side for 52 years.

How many chairs did he create? ‘About 100,’ he answered, ‘although I haven’t counted. Perhaps I should.’ That will be Isa’s job now, and organising the archive is no mean feat. When I visited, rows of colourful chairs were randomly stacked, piles of papers overflowed from box files, sketches and models were scattered on every surface.

Life in the atelier was always unconventional. Friends, assistants and collaborators came and went with frequency. Isa’s bedroom was a small annexe off the tiny open-plan kitchen; Yrjö and Irmeli slept in a bed partitioned off behind a bookcase and the bathrooms were two fibreglass pods with basic showerheads.

Kukkapuro studied furniture design at Helsinki’s Ateneum Arts Museum in the 1950s and was the only one on the course who knew how to make prototypes. This was thanks to a childhood in eastern Finland building boats with his father and sewing with his mother, who was a tailor. On graduation, he set up a workshop, called it Moderno, and created range after range of settees and beds. Over the years, this stretched to six pieces and became Kukkapuro’s breakthrough collection. It is still in production today.

Of all the classics he created, the 1964 ‘Karuselli’ chair (in which he is seen seated, top) is perhaps his most famous. The late Terence Conran hailed it the most comfortable chair he had ever sat in. Kukkapuro was obsessed with posture and comfort, which explains why his chairs are still so popular, and to make ‘Karuselli’, he wrapped himself in chicken wire, made a plaster cast of his body in a lounging posture, and then tested it on several plywood versions until he got it right. (An alternative, apocryphal story exists about the origins of the ‘Karuselli’: one night, rather worse for wear after some heavy drinking, Kukkapuro supposedly fell in the snow and used the impression his body left there as its inspiration.) Whatever his modus operandi, ‘Karuselli’ was an instant success.

Other highlights include the 1980s ‘Experiment’ collection of chairs, tables and sofas with armrests and legs in Mondrian colours, some of which are produced in limited editions by Helsinki gallery Lemmetti. In the 1990s came the ‘East West’ collection, a series of chairs that combined clean lines with lacquered bamboo and Chinese joinery. When I was at Kukkapuro’s studio, a new prototype of the ‘Simple’ chair was wheeled out. Kukkapuro, in his trademark canary yellow beret, walked around it, blew through his lips and shook his head. It was too high and the steel arms needed to be reworked in ash. It was sent back to manufacturer Avarte’s facility in Shanghai to be tweaked.

‘Kukkapuro’ was lucky enough to enjoy his great success. He won many prizes, and took trips abroad for lectures and exhibitions. He, Irmeli and Isa would pile into the Mini Clubman, pack a tent in the boot, and hit the road. Museums such as the Victoria and Albert in the UK and the Museum of Modern Art in New York have Kukkapuro works in their permanent collections. Next year, the studio, with its concrete, wave-like roof is to be turned into a museum. ‘To create best sellers, it’s the dream,’ he said. ‘They will go on longer than me.’

yrjokukkapuro.com

Last month we previewed the imminent arrival of Aalto University’s Nokia Design Archive. Today the site opens to the public, with 700 curated entries and 20,000 items in a repository you can browse through via an interface that links the various strands of company history, conceptual design and presentations together.

‘What we had at the time were phones with black and white screens that could take calls and send a text message. At the time, we were asking: could the mobile phone be something more? What are our wildest dreams for what a phone could do?,’ remembers Professor Anna Valtonen, lead researcher on the Design Archive and a former designer at Nokia.

We’ve sifted through a few of our favourites from the dawn of the mobile multimedia age.

The Nokia Design Archive can be found at Aalto.fi

One summer in the 1990s, I went to see the work of Alvar Aalto in Finland, on a sort of pilgrimage. I was a young architecture writer at the time, then married to a young architect; many architects and design enthusiasts continue to do this today. The Finnish modernist architecture master’s buildings have such a profound connection to their location that it feels important to experience them in person and to be immersed in the landscape that inspired them.

I was particularly moved by visiting Säynätsalo Town Hall (1949–52) just outside Jyväskylä in central Finland. This intimate, yet proudly civic building seems to have merged with the landscape: grass grows on the steps leading up to the entrance and the building wraps around a small courtyard as if it were putting a warm arm around you.

Alvar Aalto: a brief history

It is Aalto’s combination of modernist vision with a sensitivity to nature and humanity that defines him as an architect. Unlike many Modernist architects whose reputations have ebbed and flowed, Aalto’s work has never fallen out of fashion and has been a constant influence, from his early projects in the 1930s through to his death in 1976. Born on 3 February 1898 in Kuortane, Finland, he studied architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology, graduating in 1921. Early in his career, Aalto worked in various architectural firms and began developing his distinctive approach, blending functionalism with organic, human-centred design.

In 1929 he joined the important Modernist organisation CIAM and went to the second congress in Frankfurt where he met older architects such as Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy. But in the same year he won a competition for the Palmio Sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis and already started to break away from strict Rationalist principles by defining his own approach, exploring the psychological impact of architecture on vulnerable people by prioritising comfort, light and nature.

Palmio, which is now a heritage centre, was completed in 1933 and is also notable because it shows Aalto extending his vision to every detail of the building including interior equipment, furniture, lamps, door handles, glassware and porcelain. Curved tubular steel was the material of choice for Modernists such as Marcel Breuer, but Aalto used the Palmio project to develop his interest in timber, a material that was all around him in Finland and had a warmth that softened the interior.

In the late 1920s he had developed a technique of compression-moulding laminated wood in collaboration with master joiner Otto Korhonen at his furniture factory in Turku. The first chair he developed in 1929 had a moulded plywood back with steel legs, but in 1933 he went a step further to produce a chair entirely made from bent plywood, the Palmio Chair which was specially designed for the Sanatorium.

Aalto was a great collaborator and worked closely with his first wife, Aino Marsio, who was also an architect, until her death in 1949. In 1952, he married his second wife, Elissa Mäkiniemi, a designer and architect who led projects in the Aalto office including Säynätsalo Town Hall. He also worked with Finnish designer Oiva Toikka on glassware and with various craftsmen to integrate custom-designed furniture and textiles into his architectural spaces. In 1935, in partnership with Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl, Aalto founded Artek to promote his furniture designs and Modernist principles. The company, which is today owned by Swiss furniture company Vitra, became a platform for Aalto’s iconic pieces, like the bent plywood chairs, and played a crucial role in advancing Finnish design internationally.

Aalto’s work has influenced numerous architects, including Tadao Ando, Sverre Fehn, and Jørn Utzon. Finnish architect and theorist Juhani Pallasmaa has written extensively about him and has said that ‘Aalto's architecture is not just a matter of form and function, it is a question of emotion’. It is the emotional connection forged with his work, whether a building, a wooden stool or a glass vase, that makes Aalto’s work as contemporary as it was nearly a century ago.

Alvar Aalto: Key works

Paimio Sanatorium (1933)

A legendary piece of Finnish modernist architecture, Piamio is now open to overnight guests. In keeping with Alvar Aalto’s vision for his landmark sanitorium, built in 1932 as a tuberculosis clinic, most rooms have single beds and en suite bathrooms, and guests eat homegrown food in the canteen. The rooms are the first stage of a renovation that will include a museum, event and exhibition space, and a further 140 rooms. It was a groundbreaking project when it first opened and remains a key example of wellness architecture to this day.

Savoy Restaurant (1937)

This Helsinki culinary classic was commissioned by two of furniture company Artek's co-founders, Ahlström's CEO Harry Gullichsen and his wife Maire Gullichsen. They went to Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino for the interior, which are now listed – while the food on offer is now led by renowned Finnish Chef Helena Puolakka. The space is located on the top two floors of a house built by the Ahlström family back in 1937.

Villa Mairea (1939)

In 1939, Aalto – in collaboration with his wife, Aino – designed Villa Mairea, an experimental private home in rural southwestern Finland. In its grounds, he integrated a kidney-shaped concrete swimming pool that has since become iconic – thought to be the first kidney-shaped pool in the world. It was unusual for its free-flowing form, curved bowl basin, and lack of any sharp angles or corners.

House of Culture (1958)

The midcentury gem that is the House of Culture in Helsinki is one of Alvar Aalto's masterpieces – an iconic event space conceived as a place for performance and the arts and imbued with the modernist architecture master's signature organic curves, sensitivity and use of brick. Completed in 1958 and an icon in architecture history, the place has seen gigs by the who-is-who of 20th-century music, including Queen and Led Zeppelin. Over the years, however, it fell in need of a refresh - and now, this landmark piece of architecture has got a new lease of life by a team led by Design Agency Fyra and including established Finnish architects JKMM, who worked on the interiors, for client ASM Global Finland, its new operator.

Aalto University (Aalto University Campus) (1950s–1960s)

Named after the famous modernist, the university's original campus layout in Otaniemi, outside Helsinki, was designed by Aalto and his first wife Aino Aalto (1894-1949) - but the main building of the former Helsinki University of Technology on the Otaniemi campus was created with his second wife Elissa Aalto (1922-1994). Its use of red brick was bold at the time, and references old Finnish industrial architecture. Its characteristic Assembly Hall, with its rounded shape and organic, soft lines in the interior of the auditorium is an Aalto classic.

Finlandia Hall (1971)

Finlandia Hall is a large concert and congress venue in Helsinki’s Töölö Bay, built in 1971. It has since become a landmark, not only for its architect’s oeuvre but also for the city and Finland’s wider cultural scene. When Aalto conceived this public project in the early 1960s, it was part of a wider masterplan of its bay area. Most of it never materialised, but the hall did, clad in marble, inspired by Venetian Palaces and the ancient architecture of Italy and Greece – coupled with the boldness and futuristic outlook of its modernist architecture genre.

It is near-impossible to talk about Finnish architecture without touching on the work of modernist Alvar Aalto. His design for Finlandia Hall, a large concert and congress venue in Helsinki’s Töölö Bay, was built in 1971. It has since become a landmark, not only for its architect’s oeuvre but also for the city and Finland’s wider cultural scene. When Aalto conceived this public project in the early 1960s, it was part of a wider masterplan of its bay area.

Most of it never materialised, but the hall did, clad in marble, inspired by Venetian Palaces and the ancient architecture of Italy and Greece - coupled with the boldness and futuristic outlook of its modernist architecture genre. The architect’s knack for blending functionalism with a human-centred approach, his specific take on organic design, shines through the building, which sits by the water, gentle yet majestic.

The need for a 'new' Finlandia Hall

Yet, by 2019, nearly fifty years after its creation, Finlandia Hall was due a refresh. On one hand, the ageing structure has been increasingly requiring updates and fixes; at the same time, Finland was introducing tighter environmental sustainability standards across its built environment sector and an older scheme like this was falling short.

Chief Design Officer for the City of Helsinki Hanna Harris points out that the heating of buildings is behind more than half of Helsinki’s emissions, so transforming and updating existing fabric is as critical to lower Finland’s energy consumption, as integrating smart energy-saving choices in new ones. Now a listed monument and beloved city icon, Finlandia Hall is leading the way, revealing its refresh by Arkkitehdit NRT, a deep yet delicate restoration of its fabric and functions set to bring it to the 21st century.

The works included the refurbishment of the façade’s Italian marble, updating the technical systems, and improving accessibility and energy efficiency. Surfaces and furnishings (including 2150 lightning fixtures), most of which were designed by Aalto and his office in the architect’s typical organic style and natural materials, were painstakingly restored to their former glory.

The interiors also received a refresh, comprising the venue’s large auditorium and several multi-functional meeting halls which were designed to be adaptable to different sizes of events and uses. Mostly a faithful restoration, the scheme included the transformation of old storage and dressing rooms into exhibition space, and a new cafe, shop and restaurant (these will be open in summer 2025).

‘Finlandia Hall is a flexible building. Aalto has thought about the problem of simultaneous events and has solved it very elaborately. Despite this flexibility, trying to make changes to it turned out to be very difficult, due to its concrete construction. In the end, however, we happily achieved what we set out to do,’ says architect and Arkkitehdit NRT CEO Teemu Tuomi. ‘The most important act for sustainability in old buildings is to make them work as well as possible for the client.

When the building is optimal and effective in its use, it will become long-lasting and that way sustainable. In the renovation, we renewed the building's “infrastructure” to serve event visitors for the next decades. Of course, many other sustainability elements were implemented, for example, improving insulation, heat recovery, recycling and repairing thousands of building parts.’

‘Everyone who had a sneak-peak before the official opening has been left speechless with admiration,’ says Johanna Tolonen, CEO at Finlandia Hall. After the opening, the aim is to allow everybody who wants to walk inside, to be able to experience this beloved landmark. ‘Finlandia Hall has always been a gem and a source of pride for the nation, but the threshold for entering without an invitation to an event or a concert ticket in the past has been high.

With new services, we want all city residents and visitors to enjoy the dazzling beauty of Finlandia Hall from morning to evening. The new café is open from early morning, a bistro is available in the evening, and visiting the shop or touring the new exhibition from our comprehensive Finnish art collection will inspire your day,’ Tolonen continues.

Blending expert sustainability strategies with a mandate to open up its precious, historical architecture to all, Finlandia Hall is ready for the next chapter in its thoroughly future-proofed, long life.

finlandiatalo.fi

We’ve reached the point in tech history where early mobile phones are little more than museum pieces, alien and strange to today’s consumers for their absence of function and unconventional form. Throughout the first phase of mobile history, the company that was king of formal invention and bold new ideas was Finland’s Nokia.

Now the Aalto University in Helsinki has launched the Nokia Design Archive, an online portal that lays bare two decades of the company’s history, including hitherto unseen sketches, concepts and marketing material alongside some of the most legendary, long-lasting and fondly remembered handsets of all time (depending on your age).

The Nokia Design Archive will go live in January 2025, but we’re presenting a sneak preview of some of the 700-plus exhibits, which date from the early 1990s through to 2017. Nokia can trace its history back to pulp mills in 1865, before evolving into a multinational that did everything from supplying power to making rubber boots.

The portable telecoms boom of the 1990s was a pivotal time for Nokia, which had acquired a number of key players in the nascent mobile tech sphere. After the 1982 Mobira Senator car phone, Nokia's first mobile phone was the 1987 Mobira Cityman 900. What followed was two decades of innovation and then ten years of decline, as Nokia shaped and reshaped the form factor of the mobile as well as helped develop the networks, software and protocols that are still used today.

Although the Aalto University has curated 700 exhibits, the actual repository is around 20,000 files, amounting to around 960GB of data. All of this has been licensed from Microsoft Mobile, following the American giant’s acquisition of Nokia in 2014 and the ill-fated pivot to the Windows Phone OS. This lasted barely three years, before the Nokia name was once again moved on – it’s now in the safe hands of HMD.

‘In Finland we have a tradition for being open with big data sets,’ says Anna Valtonen, lead researcher on the Nokia Design Archive. ‘The focus is often on numerical, empirical stuff, but what about people? What about how humans perceive things? How are ideas adopted into society? From a scientific perspective, this is the kind of qualitative empirical material we need more of.’

‘Especially in these times of change, it is important to understand how we can grasp the world around us and imagine what we could be,’ Valtonen adds. According to Kaisu Savola, a postdoctoral researcher in the University’s Department of Design, ‘Nokia was in a similar position in the 1990s as Samsung or Apple are today. These large corporations shape our lives with their products.’ The Nokia Design Archive taps into this often-hidden side of tech history, exploring the utopian ideals of pre-social media mobile connectivity.

The Nokia Design Archive goes live on 15 January 2024

Aalto University, Aalto.fi

We could learn a lot from the Finns, not just from their intrinsic embrace of design as part of everyday life, but in their approach to life full stop. You’ve probably read already that they are regularly (perhaps spuriously) voted the happiest population on the planet. Here’s a mere smattering of remarkable facts gleaned about life in Helsinki from just two days spent covering Helsinki Design Week 2024 (6 to 15 September). During summer holidays, every day, all children under the age of 16 have access to free, state-funded, hot meals served in playgrounds at lunchtime. There is a tunnel system under Helsinki with a plan to house and support the entire urban population in case of catastrophe, complete with water, electricity, wifi, libraries, playgrounds, an art gallery and enough food supplies for three years. Taxes might be exorbitant but state welfare is deemed good enough not to elicit much grumbling. Oh, and apparently Finns call mozzarella Moomin flesh, which is amazing.

We’re here to talk about design, not Moomins, and, true to Finnish design sensibility, Helsinki Design Week is not an event that takes place only at a trade fair. Over two days we are shown Alvar Aalto buildings, of course. But we are also shown a new playground that teaches children about digital culture, a new four-storey hotel and HQ for the forestry company Stora Enso, built predominantly from wood, a new housing development by American architect Steven Holl, a new wooden toy company, and a new combined research and exhibition space at Aalto university. We are taken to new restaurants and introduced to a new architectural competition for a new Museum of Design and Architecture that is spearheading the redevelopment of a new museum quarter on the old harbourfront. We are introduced to the new creative directors of heritage Finnish design brands. The message is loud and clear: there is a surge of progress taking place in Helsinki, and design is the driver.

For all the optimism, not everything is rosy in Helsinki. There are 50 per cent more hotel rooms in the capital today than in 2019 – a huge number of new properties were greenlit before the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and, thanks to the latter, tourism is suffering. Because of the war and necessary detour around Russian airspace, Vantaa’s monopoly as an Asian transit hub has all but dried up. That beautiful paragon of an airport feels like a ghost town. Finland might now be part of Nato, but its 1,340km border with Russia looms large on the horizon and in the consciousness of Finns.

At dinner one night a director of the digital design agency Reaktor (winners of this year’s Helsinki Design Award) explained that the economy is nimbly transitioning from manufacturing to technology. Yet, such is the scale of the country, he said, Finland can only ever act as a laboratory for hatching excellent brands that wealthier companies elsewhere will buy to catapult into a different value league. This stayed with me as we took in design week and all its novelties. Economics aside, is being a design-driven laboratory for the rest of the world such a rum deal? At least the Finns have happiness on their side.

Helsinkidesignweek.com

Highlights from Helsinki Design Week 2024

Aalto University

15-years ago the business, technology and design universities in Helsinki merged to create the Aalto University, pioneering trans-sectoral education and research in the process. A new building opened on the campus last week dedicated to AI, augmented reality, brain research, communication and staged events. It is also home to the sixth edition of student work under the title ‘Designs for a Cooler Planet’, on show for design week. These are more than speculative projects. In many cases, thanks to the collaborative nature of the Aalto educational approach, interesting concepts are able to be prototyped and tested for viability at greater scales. Here we learn about textiles made from banknotes taken out of circulation, alternative packaging solutions, natural dyes and shimmering sequins made entirely from wood. If Finland is the laboratory of the world, then Aalto University is the laboratory of the future.

Aalto.fi

Iittala

In the red brick depths of Kulttuuritalo, the Helsinki Hall of Culture (designed by Alvar Aalto and opened in 1958), Iittala staged a magnificent, evocative showcase. Titled ‘Kaamos’, the show consisted of ten monumental glass sculptures in the blacked-out belly of the building, lit by a circular projection of the sun or the mouth of a furnace. Iittala’s new creative director Janni Vepsäläinen has caused a stir with her dynamic handling of the heritage glass company since her appointment last year. Iittala resides in the homes and hearts of most Finns, so changes come with great responsibility and high stakes. From where we stand, we applaud Vepsäläinen for reigniting passion into a brand that has fire at its heart and alchemy in its soul, and it is clear she cares deeply about the origins and the future of Iittala. ‘Kaamos’ stirred hearts and souls; capturing the elemental ‘endless shades of twilight’ as summer’s sun slowly loses its luminescence. ‘Glass doesn’t exist without light,’ Vepsäläinen said casually at the opening, suggesting material intelligence and a gift for aphorism in a beat. Where so many long-cherished brands in design are now being run by money men in grey suits, how exciting it is to have a youthful firebrand and enlightened creative at the helm of Iittala.

Iittala.com

Helsinki Design Museum

A merger earlier this year between the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Design Museum in Helsinki heralded the call for an anonymous architecture competition to design a home for what will be on completion (slated for 2030) one of the world’s largest museums dedicated to design and architecture. In the same location where the ill-fated Guggenheim project was once meant to sit, this more rational project is spear-heading the redevelopment of Helsinki’s South Harbour. Meanwhile, a light yet rigorous show ‘FIX: Care and Repair’ is on at the design museum’s current abode, demonstrating the myriad ways in which attitudes to upkeep impact our belongings, buildings and lives at large.

Designmuseum.fi

Finnish Design Shop

Celebrating their 20th anniversary of ‘shipping Nordic happiness around the world’ to 170-odd countries, the Finnish retailer and distributor has marked the occasion by launching their first own-brand collection. Called ‘Pelata’ which means ‘Let’s Play’ in Finnish, the collection comprises a range of wooden objects designed for children to enjoy and for adults to reawaken their inner youthfulness. Musical instruments by Norwegian stars Anderssen &Voll, a backgammon board by TAF Studio, and throwing games by Kaksikko and Studio Tolvanen were launched over a homemade seasonal banquet lunch in the old train yards. ‘Playing games is one of the simplest but also most powerful ways of engaging with the world and each other,’ said Teemu Kiiski, founder of the Finnish Design Shop: ‘Good design is about engagement, not just looking at things.’

Finnishdesignshop.com

Habitare

Trade fairs have it tough in design these days. Away from the global behemoth of Salone and the larger regional events in Stockholm and more recently Copenhagen, Helsinki’s trade fair addresses the Finnish market. As such ‘news’ is fairly thin on the ground. Carl Hansen were first-time exhibitors, having opened a showroom in Helsinki in the pandemic. Amongst old favourites, highlights on their stand included beautiful lighting from their 2023 acquisition of Danish Lighting manufacturer Pandul. Elsewhere, acoustic and environmental lighting solutions demonstrated the Finns rigour with sensory wellbeing in design and architecture. Winter is always coming in this part of the world. What could be a dry affair in Habitare is lifted substantially by the inclusion of younger designers in a dedicated section too. Ones to watch are Myceen, pushing the boundaries of Mycelium not just for product design, but as a building material too. We were also charmed by the young talent Teemu Vidgren’s interpretation of traditional Finnish vernacular objects from ‘peasant houses’ in his own words, which included a standing candlestick and textile screen-cum-room divider.

Habitare.com

Ruoholati Playground

The first computer-themed playground in the world is soon to open, thanks to the combined imagination of children’s author Linda Liukas and the vision of Hanna Harris, Helsinki’s chief design officer. Helsinki is celebrating 110 years of public playgrounds this year. There are currently 64 playgrounds in Helsinki and this remodelled one from the 1990s is brilliantly bizarre. ‘The idea is to help children engage about computer culture through bodily action,’ Liukas explains, ‘Learning through play is a powerful way of demystifying complex subjects and helping to make people comfortable with the unknown.’ Across different zones and brightly coloured objects here, children are encouraged to learn ideas about keyboards and algorithms, coding and media safety. ‘We hope to reduce the fear-factor of computing and help make positive memories for children growing up in a digital world,’ Liukas concludes. ‘Don’t forget to play!’ wrote Alvar Aalto. He would no doubt approve of the Ruoholati Playground, and of Helsinki Design Week this year too.

Hel.fi

It is only fitting that Katajanokan Laituri, the headquarters of the Finnish forestry company Stora Enso, should be housed in a building largely made from wood. Created by local practice Anttinen Oiva, this is not just an exercise in sustainable architecture and the pioneering and progressive use of wood in urban large-scale architecture; but it also heralds an exciting new chapter in Helsinki’s Kauppatori Market district. Selina Anttinen, partner at Anttinen Oiva, explains: ‘The goal has been to create a calm presence in the historic milieu, but at the same time to provide an interesting new environment for city dwellers.’

The case of Katajanokan Laituri

Finns have led the way in recent decades with timber construction thanks in no small part to the Nordic nation’s abundance of trees and, as a consequence, its highly developed forestry industry. A core part of Finnish identity is rooted in the Finns’ symbiotic relationship with nature, and this has galvanized architects, developers and planners to embrace timber construction as a cornerstone of the country’s ambition to achieve carbon neutrality.

Impressively, the four-storey Katajanokan Laituri is constructed from around 7,500 cubic metres of wood, comprising almost 3,000 wooden elements. The visible structure is made from Finnish and Swedish timber, combining cross-laminated timber and laminated veneer lumber. While the building’s outer façade is made from glass, metal and stone, the interior skin is predominantly wood. ‘A double-skin was the best solution in an architecturally and technically challenging maritime context,’ explains Anttinen. ‘The outer protective layer integrates with its stone-built surroundings and is made of glass with vertical white metal lamellas and natural stone. The building’s appearance transforms in different times of the day and lighting conditions, and fits the various scales and motifs of the surrounding buildings from the different historical eras.’

Not just a feat of sensitive urban integration and development, and beyond its impressive wooden construction credentials, Katajanokan Laituri is a strikingly beautiful project. There’s no doubt that the predominance of wood makes for a building with greater sensory engagement. It doesn’t just look good, it smells good and feels good too. Inside there is a soaring, circular cathedral-like hall with a round skylight bringing daylight into the heart of the space, landing on a large, circular wooden bench. In a narrow inner courtyard, homage has been paid to the building’s organic matter with the addition of a fresh birch grove.

‘We have a long tradition of wooden construction in Finland, but larger-scale examples in urban environments are still few,’ Anttinen says. ‘In Katajanokan Laituri, we had a possibility to work in a demanding context with clients, partners and builders that understood, supported and pushed forward not only our design vision, but also our common goals to research and test the new type of large-scale wooden constructions.’ Facing the sea and acknowledging the rise in sea levels forecast in our future, the building also acts as a flood barrier.

Alongside Stora Enso’s headquarters, Katajonakan Laituri also houses the 164-room Katajanokka Pier 4 Hotel, together with restaurant and office facilities. Nestled within the historic centre of the Finnish capital fronting the sea, the building will soon be joined by the visitor pavilion for the Helsinki Biennial and in years to come the New Architecture and Design Museum, forging an integrated cultural, commercial and tourism hub in one of the city’s most picturesque areas. Says Anttinen of the project’s particular context: ‘With the old headquarters of Stora Enso by Alvar Aalto next door, and the iconic buildings of Helsinki’s historical centre by Carl Ludwig Engel nearby, the new building is now part of Helsinki’s maritime skyline.’

Aoa.fi

The Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024 has been revealed, highlighting 20 studios from around the world as some of the year's most exciting newcomers.

Conceived in 2000 as an international index of emerging architectural talent, the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory is our annual listing of promising practices from across the globe. While always championing the best and most promising young studios, over the years, the project has showcased inspiring work with an emphasis on the residential realm. Now including more than 500 alumni, the Architects’ Directory is back for its 24th edition.

Join us as we launch this year’s survey – 20 young studios, from Australia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Tunisia, the UK, the USA, with plenty of promise, ideas and exciting architecture.

Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024

Here are the 20 practices celebrated in this year's Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024 – spanning 19 countries and five continents.

Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: Europe

Kasawoo, UK

London-based Kasawoo was founded by Kyriaki (Katie) Kasabalis and Darius Woo in 2020, after they met during their studies at Cornell University in the USA. Their studio was established with an aim to work on bringing great design to everyone. 'Early on in our practice, we discovered that good design was often out of reach for most people, and we made a commitment to change that. For us, good design does not need to come with a big price tag. That is why we set up our practice to bring this ethos to life,' they say.

This desire is combined with an approach that draws on a more ‘gentle’ architecture – minimalism, not through formal reduction, but rather through the efficiency of both design gestures and resources.

Brown Urbanism, UK

Richard Brown's Brown Urbanism was born some ten years ago, as a London-based architecture and urbanism design practice with a mission to 'create better places for people to inhabit that are inclusive, engaging and meaningful'. As part of this philosophy, the studio works on a range of typologies and scales, including commercial, residential, retail and hospitality; always with a focus on sustainable, low-cost, high-impact design.

'Simple, well-thought-through design that works for the client while creating distinctive and meaningful urban environments,' says Brown. 'We are interested in how design can better reflect, support and enable new ways of inhabiting and experiencing space. We are particularly interested in how the home can support the complexities of life’s requirements – from working from home and experiencing nature to treating the home as a performative cultural place.'

Mast, Denmark

Mast, founded in 2021 by Australian architect Marshall Blecher and Danish maritime designer and architect Magnus Maarbjerg, is on a mission to improve the relationship between the city and the sea. 'We are motivated by the amazing potential that comes from reconnecting with water, as we have seen the amazing effect that even small improvements to water access and quality can produce in cities,' Blecher explains.

Specialising in architecture on or near water, the duo have completed several small structures floating around Copenhagen harbour. There is the 20 sq m tiny prototype floating island KBHØ1 (KBH for Copenhagen and Ø for island) with its 6m tall Linden tree; and the portable ‘harbour bath’, or Dyppezone, which can be freely moved around the city’s waterways, creating intimate bathing experience along its way.

Studio Argus, Estonia

Architect Margit Argus brings more than 20 years of experience in interior design, fine arts, and architecture to her young and fast-emerging architecture studio. The practice, based in Tallinn, is rooted in a Nordic aesthetic, bringing together local Estonian vernacular and a fine attention to detail. Current projects include a seaside hotel in Tallinn, a high-rise residential building, and a university campus in Tallinn, alongside a handful of schools and single-family houses.

Studio Collaboratorio, Finland

Young Helsinki practice Studio Collaboratorio was founded in 2016 by Finnish architect Kristiina Kuusiluoma and Italian architect Martino De Rossi. The dynamic, emerging practice aims to 'create beautiful habitats by using natural and ecological materials while at the same time paying close attention to the place and its history: more beauty, communality, affordability and humanity! Interactive cooperation, profound ecology and long life cycle are at the heart of everything.'

Branco del Rio, Portugal

Founded by Paula del Rio and João Branco, the architecture studio Branco del Rio is based in the riverfront city of Coimbra, Portugal’s former capital. Motivated by curiosity and influenced by the ever-changing city around them, the architects view each project as an opportunity to investigate different contexts and topics. Gathering inspiration from their travels, books and colleagues the team say: ‘We are convinced that what we do can improve quality of life. We live and work in spaces we designed, we share spaces we designed with friends. It is a privilege and also a motivation.’

Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: Asia

Playball Studio, India and Spain

Established in 2017, Playball Studio is an Indo-Spanish architecture firm led by architects Celia Fernández Duque and Ronak Gangdev. Based in Rajkot, India, and Valladolid, Spain, the studio works on a range of uniquely contextual residential and commercial projects, often within urban conditions.

The word ‘Playball’ reflects the studio’s philosophy of always ‘playing ball’ and prioritising the needs of its clients. Fernández Duque and Gangdev are also conscious of the impact of their projects on the physical environment. The studio’s core strength lies in striking a harmonious balance between the organic and the technical, simplicity and refinement, and form and functionality.

Tsing-Tien Making, China

Suzhou-born Freja Bao's studio, Tsing-Tien Making (TTM), was founded following the architect's education in London's Bartlett School of Architecture and stints in Japan, in the offices of KPF Architects and Kengo Kuma & Associates. Bao set up her independent practice in her home town in 2023 and has been going from strength to strength since.

'As a collective deeply passionate about architecture, we at Tsing-Tien Making thrive on embracing challenges and infusing each project with innovative experimentation,' she says. Beyond her first completed project, featured here, Bao adds that there's more to come: 'Our focus extends to a range of exciting undertakings, including the development of a retirement house, the restoration of a scientist’s former residence, and the conceptualisation of a private collector’s room.'

L Architects, Singapore

Boutique studio L Architects was founded in 2016 by Lim Shing Hui. Based in Singapore, the practice focuses on creating homes that enhance the living experience. ‘Architecture has the power to evoke a wide range of emotions within us. You have to find the soul of the space,’ says Lim. ‘The search [for this] is what keeps me motivated. I believe that a good piece of architecture has the ability to touch the human soul, communicate messages, stir empathy and at the same time quietly delight – and this in itself transcends mere physical realms.’

The studio also believes it is important to stay rooted in its culture, in particular the experiences, cultural background and personal journey of its founder, allowing this to inform the shape and unique style of each residential design, giving it a distinct authorship.

Studio Heech, South Korea

Working across a range of creative fields that encompass architecture, industrial design, furniture, and interactive performance installation, Studio Heech welcomes multi-layered, rich experiences. Meanwhile, ‘the craftsmanship of “making things” is still important in the 21st century,’ says Park. With a keen eye for detail, the studio strives to create its contemporary architectural expression through techniques that bridge technology and traditional manufacturing – ultimately addressing the fundamentals of urban architecture.

Championing both the traditional and the contemporary, the studio often creates intriguing architectural forms. As with many forward-thinking practices, Studio Heech integrates sustainability into its work. From planning through to construction, Park makes sure to collaborate with a wide network of engineers, artists and craftsmen to broaden ideas and spark curiosity within the creative process.

Touch Architect, Thailand

Based in the bustling Thai hub of Bangkok, Touch Architect crafts residences drawing on its cultural ties and environment, while adding sustainable architecture practices. When approaching a project, the duo applies a 'bottom-up approach’, meaning they focus on the functionality of the space before layering on aesthetics. ‘For us, good architecture must be functional, timeless, and sustainable,’ they say. ‘While beauty and aesthetics are also important, it comes as an enhancement which completes the architecture. Great architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis I Kahn inspire this philosophy in our work.’

Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: Africa

Fleury Atallah Architectes, Tunisia

Fleury Atallah Architectes is one of the exciting emerging architecture practices to be included in the annual Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024. Founded in 2011 by Catherine Fleury and Chacha Atallah, it has offices in Toulon, France and Carthage, Tunisia. The studio focuses mainly on residential projects for private clients who are after a sensitive, sober and context-specific approach as well as inventive and beautiful solutions to architectural and interior challenges; but it has also designed art galleries and wine production facilities.

SI.SA. Nigeria

African culture motivates Lagos-based architecture firm SI.SA. ‘We are influenced by the abstracted forms found in African traditional art and their ability to convey power and meaning,' says founder Seun Oduwole.

Founded in 2015, the ten-person firm aims 'to make beautiful buildings that enhance the built environment’. Dedicated to the betterment of communities, SI.SA focuses on inclusive and socially responsible architectural designs. Boasting a diverse portfolio of residential, educational, and cultural projects, the practice has worked on some impressive projects, such as the colourful John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History in Lagos.

Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: Americas

AD-WO, USA

Ethiopia-born Emanuel Admassu and Australia-born Jen Wood formed AD-WO in New York in 2015. The young art and architecture studio brings together their 'divergent' backgrounds to create valuable 'friction' within their practice – which, combined with their agility and multi-disciplinary approach, gives them a distinct edge when it comes to crafting works that are 'transnational' and experimental. The portfolio of the research-based studio spans from images and objects to furniture, tapestries, installations, and buildings.

Studio Porto, Brazil

The emerging practice of Camila Porto stands out through its contemporary fusion of Brazilian culture with a cosmopolitan attitude. Studio Porto's projects are intended to be timeless, balanced, and hospitable, Porto explains – but functionality is equally paramount. Attention to detail, empathy, and integration with nature are also strengths.

'Our greatest influence is Brazilian modernism, which brings with it a legacy of architectural solutions guided by simplicity and elegance. We combine this foundation with a contemporary and global perspective, integrating elements of nature and prioritising people's wellbeing. This combination of values shapes our approach uniquely and innovatively in architecture and design,' Porto explains.

TigerQi Architecture, British Virgin Islands and Saint Kitts and Nevis

Lavina Liburd started TigerQi Architecture in 2013, having previously worked at different firms and gained experience on a wealth of projects, from transportation and civic briefs to luxury residences and commercial buildings. With this under her belt, Liburd set up shop on her own, with a focus on a contemporary design approach that embraces simplicity and minimalism.

Due to the climate and topography of its secluded Caribbean home, the practice centres on three key principles; creating healthy buildings that support the social health and wellbeing of its clients; embracing hillside living to maximise views and light; and creating architecture that is designed to serve its community as a whole. These underlying principles are threaded into the studio's design process, wrapped up in a tropical modernism aesthetic.

Svima, Canada

Starting Svima five years ago, Anamarija Korolj and Leon Lai, looked towards nature and ecology. During our era of mass construction, the studio fine-tunes its mission by focusing on three key pillars: air, light and greenery. With this in mind, their designs draw on the blossoming biomes of Canada, while balancing a human-centric approach, ensuring that the client receives a design that provides ample access to nature. The studio's portfolio brings together a series of schemes that nod towards creating a more equitable and sustainable future.

Seeing themselves as ‘not only as designers of buildings but as stewards of human experience’, Korolj and Lai seek to unite art and architecture to ‘continuously leverage the two mediums as vehicles with a reciprocal relationship in pushing the boundaries of the visual and spatial expressions.’ The creative duo strives to implement projects with a sense of place, resilience and inclusivity, ‘reflecting the essence of what it means to be Canadian.’

Büro Koray Duman, USA

This agile New York and Istanbul architecture practice – Büro Koray Duman – was founded by architect Koray Duman in 2014. The studio is a proudly immigrant- and LGBTQ-led business, comprising a team of architects that represent a diverse mix of nationalities and experiences. As a result, its output is equally varied and captivating - from projects for MoMA PS1 Museum, to the Finnish Cultural Institute NY, the Noguchi Museum, IKSV, artist Richard Prince, the American Society for Muslim Advancement, Council for Fashion Designers of America, and Design Within Reach.

Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: Oceania

Alexander Symes, Australia

Architect Alexander Symes founded his namesake practice in 2014 with a vision to challenge the current status quo in sustainability in architecture, pushing and challenging the field's boundaries. With a ‘hands-on’ approach and a speciality in delivering passive homes that don't impact their context negatively, the practice aims to create residential design with a purpose.

‘On a macro level, this ensures we contribute to protecting biodiversity and providing a future-proofed housing stock,’ says Symes, ‘while on a micro level providing a healthy and resilient home for our clients in the changing climate.’ With this in mind, it is arguably only natural that the environment would be the studio’s biggest influence. Keeping context and nature at the forefront of its decisions, the practice enjoys working with bio-based construction and existing materials and suppliers. The result is buildings with a natural feel and a reduced carbon footprint.

Spacecraft Architects, New Zealand

Spacecraft Architects founders Roberston and Gittos often tackle limited budgets and the smaller scale in their work – a challenge they enjoy taking on to make architecture more accessible. Their own headquarters is nestled off the back of a self-built house in Whanganui, and is a clear representation of the studio's ethos.‘ The constraints offered by tight budgets and difficult (affordable) sites breed creativity and drive our design work,’ the creative duo told Wallpaper*.

With an interest in buildings that do not rely on luxurious materials or highly detailed construction, the pair hope to create powerful architecture even within the simplest structures. Working on infill housing across New Zealand opened up a niche for a wealth of recent work focused on the rising appeal of co-housing, in various forms of multi-residential projects and apartment builds.

Studio Collaboratorio, a young Finnish practice, is part of the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024, our latest annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios.

Who: Studio Collaboratorio

This young Helsinki practice was founded in 2016 by Finnish architect Kristiina Kuusiluoma and Italian architect Martino De Rossi. Together, the duo formed Studio Collaboratorio, a dynamic emerging practice aiming to 'create beautiful habitats by using natural and ecological materials while at the same time paying close attention to the place and its history: more beauty, communality, affordability and humanity! Interactive cooperation, profound ecology and long life cycle are at the heart of everything.'

This studio revels in challenges, and what it doesn't already know, it can't wait to sink its teeth into – as with Villa Koppar, seen here, where the architects explored rammed-earth building elements, adapted to the Finnish climate and technology.

What influences them? ‘Definitely vernacular architecture and solutions that have been tested for hundreds, thousands of years. And nature. Simple, beautiful, practical, ethical solutions in one,' they say.

What: Villa Koppar

Villa Koppar is one of the young practice's most recent residential completions. Located in Finland's Inkoo, the single-family residence draws on its stunning natural surroundings, set in the Kopparnä region, some 45km out of Helsinki. Built elegantly in two volumes (the main house and the garage and guest house), the property may look simple but is the result of extensive research and sustainable architecture thinking.

Villa Koppar is an eco-friendly, geothermically heated passive house, constructed on a limited budget, using a prefabricated straw structure (Ecococon), Organowood spruce boards exterior cladding, and clay plaster interiors.

The architects explain: 'The living area, complete with a landscape sauna, is located on the upper floor, allowing for the enjoyment of the picturesque views and rocky terrain through an extended terrace. The bedrooms provide direct access to the garden on the ground floor. The interiors and lighting are characterised by their minimalist approach, utilising primarily wood and clay materials. Both floors are constructed using rammed earth (Luonnonbetoni).'

Why: Architects Directory 2024

Conceived in 2000 as an international index of emerging architectural talent, the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory is our annual listing of promising practices from across the globe. While always championing the best and most promising young studios, over the years, the project has showcased inspiring work with an emphasis on the residential realm. Now including more than 500 alumni, the Architects’ Directory is back for its 24th edition. Join us as we launch this year’s survey – 20 young studios from Australia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Tunisia, the UK, the USA, with plenty of promise, ideas and exciting architecture.

collaboratorio.fi

Jean-Michel Othoniel hadn't slept much in the past ten days. The French artist and his team were in Tampere, Finland, mounting a major solo exhibition at the Sara Hildén Art Museum. Springtime in Finland means the sun never really goes away, and the constant glow sneaking around the edges of his hotel room curtains was disturbing his nights.

Ironically, it was this magical, round-the-clock daylight that gave its name to his show: ‘Under an Endless Light’. Othoniel says, ‘Nature is very present, especially this time of year, and bathed in light. There's a precise moment when the snow disappears and the vegetation explodes. In France, it takes three months for all the flowers to bloom, but here they come up all at once, with an explosive energy. That's what I wanted to capture.’

Named for a Finnish businesswoman/art collector, the museum was built in the 1970s, a concrete box with low ceilings and picture windows, surrounded by greenery. Hildén chose its location on the edge of an immense lake and next to an amusement park. From the sculpture garden, you can hear the shrieks of people hurtling through the air on a variety of rides.

The two parties started planning this exhibition after the museum acquired one of Othoniel's giant Murano glass necklaces at Art Basel in 2011. ‘We've been trying to have him for more than ten years,’ says chief exhibition curator Sarianne Soikkonen. But time passed, and events got in the way, including a possibility that the museum move to a more central location in town. Fortunately, this plan was shelved, because the brutalist architecture provides a perfect backdrop for the brilliant colours and reflective surfaces, the delicate poetry, of Othoniel's work.

The exhibition features close to 90 pieces from the early 2000s to today. ‘I constructed it as a narrative, where each room tells a story,’ says Othoniel. It begins with an installation, Wonder Block, conceived especially for this space. Mirrored glass bricks are stacked into 16 columns, tinted the green of the trees outside, their aspect constantly changing with the sunlight filtered through an atrium ceiling. The artist explains, ‘I wanted people to be dazzled right away, seeing the reflections in the floor from this abstract forest, in this very luminous room.’ The glass bricks were crafted in India, where he says that bricks are a sign of hope. ‘People collect them in piles, until they have enough to build a house.’

Flowers, always a major theme of Othoniel's work, appear throughout the exhibition, starting with a new series of passiflora (passion flowers) and wisteria, painted onto canvases covered with white gold leaf. In an adjoining room, abstract ink paintings of chrysanthemums (similar to paintings exhibited at the Louvre museum five years ago) are reflected in the mirrored surfaces of stainless steel ‘knot’ sculptures on the floor. Downstairs, new sculptures of passiflora in gilded cast aluminium hang on the walls, glittering brightly against the concrete.

Having created permanent fountains for the Versailles gardens and the National Museum of Qatar, Othoniel now brings water into a museum for the first time, a nod to the lake outside. A series of colourful Murano glass fountains, each one unique, sits on a foundation of amber glass bricks. Every half hour, the fountains bubble and flow for five minutes, filling the museum with joyful sounds.

Othoniel is also showing his signature necklaces, including the red-and-white one in the museum's collection, which hangs prominently in a window, framing a view of a large tree in the park. The exhibition ends with beaded glass necklaces of different lengths and colours hanging above a gleaming river of aquamarine glass bricks. Outside, two more gold necklaces hang from the branches of trees, near a gold lotus flower sculpture that turns with the wind.

Later this year and next, Othoniel will have several important exhibitions, in Brazil, China and France. But Finland is unique. For one thing, the country's official Santa Claus attended the exhibition opening. Later that night, a perfectly round rainbow filled the sky. And Tampere is the self-proclaimed sauna capital of the world, where even restaurants have their own steam baths.

Othoniel skipped the saunas, posed with Santa, and was amazed by the circular rainbow – the kind of miraculous, light-driven event that he strives to create. After turning a youthful 60 earlier in 2024, he says, ‘My work is freer and sunnier today. I'm looking for a sense of wonder, a moment of beauty suspended in time.’

Jean-Michel Othoniel 'Under an Endless Light' at Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland until 15 September 2024

sarahildenintaidemuseo.fi

For Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self's first solo exhibition in Finland – on show at the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA) until May 2025 – she pays homage to her birthplace, assembling and staging a convocation of its inhabitants at ease with their surroundings. The title of the exhibition, ‘Around the Way’, is a Black-American colloquialism that signifies the distinctive characteristics or charms of one’s neighbourhood, evoking a sense of familiarity and belonging. It is from here that Self departs, abstracting the essence of her community in vibrant multi-dimensional vignettes.

‘Around the Way’ by Tschabalala Self

The exhibition features nearly 20 works, including recent paintings, life-size sculptures, and three newly commissioned pieces that naturally evolve from the expressive, pluralistic practice that Self is recognised for.

Initially a painting student with an interest in printmaking, she uses fabric in a similar way to collagraph plates to build pictorial space through layers of materiality on the canvas. Her vibrant patchwork tableaux honour a lineage of Black American women such as the Gee’s Bend quilt collective, Faith Ringgold and Dindga McCannon, who similarly worked with textiles in this painterly manner. (Self has previously translated motifs from her painting into footwear and clothing with Ugg.)

The shared experiences and encounters of Self’s Harlem take place across three sites within the exhibition. The first, the public sphere, exists as the street view. Here we encounter the large-scale triptych 12pm on 145th Street (2022), which takes its name from an intersection in Harlem and features a shadow-like figure striding across the canvas.

Mounted against a brick-patterned wall, the paintings in this space truly embody the sensation of being enveloped in the bustling cityscape and for Self, recall memories of walking through the neighbourhood with her older sister, stopping to speak to loved ones, friends, neighbours, and strangers.

Entering the second gallery, the zone of interaction shifts to domestic scenes; lovers dance across chequerboard tiles, while an elderly man sits, watchful, with his hands folded in his lap. In Harlem Sphinx (2024), Self depicts a woman reclining in her pattern-clad boudoir, the view through the ornamentally welded bars stunted by brick.

'Harlem Sphinx is an imagining of a woman in a typical Harlem brownstone,' says Self. 'The room is meant to look somewhat bourgeois, which is often the aspirational aesthetic of a brownstone, but directly outside her window is another building, so you know she’s in a densely populated metropolitan space like Harlem.'

The final setting of the exhibition isn’t necessarily a location but rather a state of mind. 'It’s dealing with interiorities; a reflection of the feelings and interpersonal relationships occurring between characters that we’ve previously encountered in the street and the home,' says Self. 'I imagine the show as someone travelling deeper into knowing the community of characters depicted in my works.'

Speaking particularly to those scenes depicted beyond the public eye, such as Dreamers (2021) or Anthurium (2023), Self’s figures seem to possess a desire and authority to claim their space and determine how they are seen and understood.

Two figurative sculptures, titled Negligee 1 and Negligee 2 (2023), have been pulled directly from the artist's 2019 painting Damsel. Their very presence in the three-dimensional space embodies the illusion of having entered a private sphere. 'The sculptures serve to name the gallery space as that of the characters in the artworks,' says Self. 'Often it is felt that the subjects in an artwork are there for the edification of the viewer, but here that power and spatial dynamic has shifted, and the viewer is made to understand that they have the privilege of entering into the space of the subject.'

In ‘Around the Way’, the conflation of interior and exterior gestures towards the polysemy of home as both a physical and psychological locale. Self uses portraiture as a way in which to emphasise the body as a home for one’s consciousness, ambitions and fears.

'I have always thought of home as the origin,' she says. 'A lot of these works are somewhat nostalgic, envisioned as memories of my neighbourhood [while I was] growing up that are perhaps not realistic depictions but more an attempt to capture the feeling of my birthplace.'

Tschabalala Self: Around the Way is presented in collaboration with the Saastamoinen Foundation at EMMA–Espoo Museum of Modern Art until 5 May 2025 as part of the In Collection exhibition series

emmamuseum.fi

Exploring skateboarding in swimming pools, a series of exhibitions is opening this weekend at the Aalto2 Museum Centre in Jyväskylä, Finland. The shows zoom into the enduring – and possibly unexpected – legacy of Finnish modernist architecture master Alvar Aalto on the culture of skateboarding. 

In 1939, Aalto – in collaboration with his wife, Aino – designed Villa Mairea, an experimental private home in rural southwestern Finland. In its grounds, he integrated a kidney-shaped concrete swimming pool that has since become iconic – both as a precursor to the rise of similar midcentury pool designs, and as a structure that would be unexpectedly adapted by skateboarders in the US as a perfect basin to skate in.  

‘The Pool’: skateboarding in swimming pools, Alvar Aalto, and more

The exhibitions, under the banner ‘The Pool’, start with ‘From the Surf to the Sidewalk – When Skateboarding Culture and Architecture Meet’. Tracing how this pool design became synonymous with skateboarding culture in California, it aims to place Aalto’s architectural output in a broader cultural and social context. 

The pool at Villa Mairea is thought to be the first kidney-shaped pool in the world. It was unusual for its free-flowing form, curved bowl basin, and lack of any sharp angles or corners. Almost a decade later, a similar design was adopted by US landscape architect Thomas Church, who was friends with Aalto, for the swimming pool of the Donnell Garden in Sonoma, California, which he designed in 1948 with architects Lawrence Halprin and George Rockrise. 

Taking a radically new shape to the prevalent rectilinear style, the Donnell Garden pool influenced a wave of architects, soon becoming a symbol of the leisure-focused modernist suburban architectural garden. ‘It was one of the key projects of California modernism,’ says exhibition curator Juho Haavisto.

By the 1970s, gardens across the state were dotted with similar pools, and when the drought of 1976 hit, many of them were left empty. Skateboarders soon realised these concrete basins were perfect for skating and developing tricks in, birthing a culture of skateboarding in which bowls – and their related half-pipes – are core components of practising and skatepark design. 

‘The built environment is physically crucial to skateboarding,’ says Haavisto. ‘You need concrete, asphalt or similar solid flat ground just to be able to push forward. Some skate spots do have remarkable architecture and design – but some great places can be quite utilitarian designs.’

Another exhibition in ‘The Pool’ series is ‘Colors’, which explores the inclusivity of skateboarding culture through the eyes of American-Finnish Olympic skateboarder Lizzie Armanto – a long-time admirer of Aalto and his pool design. ‘Pools before Aalto’s had hard edges where the floor and the walls met, whereas Aalto added curvature,’ says Armanto. ‘This created the transition that made it perfect to ride up the wall.’ 

Armanto believes skateboarders and architects see the world in similar ways. ‘They’re always looking at their surroundings for new possibilities,’ she says. ‘I feel like skateboarders are constantly pushing the boundaries of how to interact with their surroundings. Pools were made for swimming and yet, in a perfect storm of events, they were emptied and skateboarders found them, and learned how to fly in the air.’

‘Concrete Currents’, also at Aalto2, showcases photographic work from Finnish skateboarder and photographer Arto Saari – including shots of skaters in Aalto-inspired kidney-shaped pools across California. ‘It has been amazing to see how Aalto’s design has broken down barriers and created a new living organism,’ says Saari. The pool at Villa Mairea, he adds, ‘ultimately became much more than just a swimming pool’.  

aalto2.museum

The midcentury gem that is the House of Culture in Helsinki is one of Alvar Aalto's masterpieces - an iconic event space conceived as a place for performance and the arts and imbued with the modernist architecture master's signature organic curves, sensitivity and use of brick. 

Completed in 1958 and an icon in architecture history, the place has seen gigs by the who-is-who of 20th-century music, including Queen and Led Zeppelin. Over the years, however, it fell in need of a refresh - and now, this landmark piece of architecture has got a new lease of life by a team led by Design Agency Fyra and including established Finnish architects JKMM, who worked on the interiors, for client ASM Global Finland, its new operator. 

Reviving Alvar Aalto's House of Culture

The site, owned by Helsingin Kulttuurihub, has been designated for preservation under Finland's Building Protection Act since 1989. This meant the architecture team had to tread carefully to ensure all changes were made in the original structure's spirit. JKMM, the design team behind several inspiring, yet considered reuses of existing buildings in the city - such as the Amos Rex Museum - as well as a wealth of cultural spaces across Finland, including the recently opened Chappe, took on the challenge to head the interior restoration. 

JKMM was assigned to work on the modernization and design care of the public areas, including the majestic main auditorium and concert hall, the black box club, the mirror room, the brick foyer, the lobby areas, and the restaurant. 

As the aim was for the space to continue to serve as an event space, hosting gatherings, conferences, art performances and music shows, all functions needed to be brought to the 21st century, while preserving the architectural spirit of the whole.

The building's basement-level Alppisali hall, a space that has stood dormant for years, has now been fully revitalised and transformed into a new venue. Originally designed as a cinema but having fallen into disrepair, the generous room has reopened as 'Kult,' a black-box type DJ and live music club accommodating 300-500 patrons. 

Elsewhere, areas have been cleaned and restored, refitted with modern technologies and services. Meanwhile, in the interior mix of surfaces and furniture, the architects explained that 'inspiration was drawn from the history of the building, existing surfaces, and today's youth culture, where personal identity is freely constructed by mixing styles and accessories from different eras and crossing gender and generational boundaries.'

The architects write: 'At the heart of the renovation and modernization of the public spaces has been the creation of a functional event environment while respecting the cultural and historical value of the protected building.'

'In terms of interior design, references to different phases of the building's history have been incorporated into the audience spaces. The colours and shapes honour the original spirit of the building.'

The House of Culture’s existing, original furniture pieces by Ilmari Tapiovaara and Alvar Aalto were upholstered and reintroduced with care in various areas that felt fitting to host them, taking into account each space's function. Similarly, existing Aalto light fixtures were upgraded and reused, in another gesture that celebrates the great architect's lasting legacy. 

jkmm.fi

‘Imperfect’, ‘disruptive’ and ‘unpredictable’ are not words often associated with Finnish design, least of all with Iittala, one its founding fathers. But new creative director Janni Vepsäläinen is not afraid to use all three and apply them to the 143-year-old company. 

During Stockholm Furniture Fair 2024, she unveils her first collection within a former nuclear reactor in the city. It is not your average debut; London-based composer and artist Damsel Elysium performed a piece using glass ‘instruments’ ranging from two-meter-long hand-blown horns to bells and bottles, all hand blown in the IIttala factory near Helsinki. 

Inside the new Iittala

The factory is a place Vepsäläinen calls a ‘Never-Never Land’ and it was ‘the final deal breaker’ in persuading the London-based Finn to leave her job as senior knitwear designer at JW Anderson and head back to her homeland. ‘I’m so intrigued by the capabilities and know-how of the glassblowers; you can get so close to the core of the material and start from scratch.’

And starting from scratch is what Vepsäläinen did. First, IIttala unveiled a new logo in a new typeface called Aino. It’s named after Aino Aalto, wife of Alvar, and pays homage to Iittala's longest-running collection, Bölgeblick, created by Aino Aalto in 1932. ‘Aino was avant-garde almost to the point of being destructive,’ says Vepsäläinen, in admiration. ‘Everything was floral and gold edged when she created her pared-back vases in 1932. You almost need to break something in order to move on.’

Did Iittala need ‘breaking’? ‘Before I took the job, Iittala told me what products would be launched in 2026. I thought “Oh My God, it's too slow!” In my previous roles (at Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, Simone Rocha and The Row) I used to produce nine collections a year.’ Among them was that JW Anderson patchwork cardigan, worn by Harry Styles during lockdown. It went viral and is now part of the Victoria and Albert Museum archive. 

'Don't forget to play': Iittala icons in pas

Debuting alongside the performance in Stockholm is Play, a colour-soaked collection of tableware, tablecloths, tea towels, blankets and cushion covers. It takes its name from Alvar Aalto’s famous saying: ‘don’t forget to play’, and caters to modern rituals and dining habits. 

‘We need to get off the table surface,’ says Vepsäläinen. ‘How many times do we actually eat at a table now? What kind of stuff do we use? The Play pieces are multifunctional items to be shared and loved.’ There are some reworked classics in there too. The Aalto Savoy vase, (‘Iittala’s Birkin Bag, its Crown Jewels’) appears in new lilac glass and three birds, by the late Oiva Toikka, appear in Play’s pastel palette.

Vepsäläinen brings fashion flair honed at the best houses, and a global outlook. And she not the only fashion designer to join the mother company Fiskars of late. In September, Jasper Toron Nielsen (formerly of Tom Ford, Givenchy and Burberry) stepped in as creative director at Royal Copenhagen. 

‘Fashion brands have been excellent at creating emotional connections with consumers and new audiences,’ says Vepsäläinen. ‘Scandinavian style has got a bit stuck in a design language that is quite controlled,’ she adds. ‘Sometimes perfectionism cannot be a good master. You need to let loose a little bit. There's so much more to explore. We need to be more experimental.’  

iittala.com

The Hotel Maria is a luxurious new place to stay in Helsinki’s quiet and prestigious neighbourhood of Kruununhaka, in the old city, close to landmarks such as Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral. The hotel occupies buildings that date from 1885 and were designed by Finnish architect Evert Lagerspetz as military offices, a club, and residential quarters for high-ranking officials and their families, later serving as Finnish ministerial offices.

The Hotel Maria: a new benchmark

The historically significant, neo-Renaissance-style structures are protected by the Finnish Heritage Agency. Developer Samla Capital acquired the property in 2020 with a vision of transforming it into a premium hotel, offering true luxury experiences. ‘While Finland has many great hotels and some luxury properties in Lapland and the southern part of the country, the selection of truly premium luxury accommodations has been limited,’ notes The Hotel Maria’s commercial director, Heli Mende. Helsinki-based practice Avarc Architects Oy was tasked with meticulous historical preservation while breathing new life into the buildings.

The name ‘Maria’ was chosen as the hotel draws inspiration from Danish princess and Russian empress Maria Feodorovna, a symbol of grace, beauty, and intelligence. The interior of the main building, located on Mariankatu (Maria Street), features feminine and light colour schemes. Jana Sasko, head designer of the hotel, explains, ‘We set out to create an elegant and timeless atmosphere with ivory, beige, taupe, as well as a touch of black, brass, gold, and silver, which are often used in women’s classic clothing and jewellery, as well as in classic interior design.’

Mende continues, ‘Some of the original structures and interior decor were preserved, and the original floor plans have been honoured as much as possible upon converting the rooms into hotel rooms.’ For example, one room has original wallpapers and ceiling paintings to showcase the history of the location, and old iron railings and elevator shafts have been preserved.

The hotel’s general manager, Katriina Moksi, adds, ‘Forty-two kilometres of the original mouldings in the hotel have been restored manually. Installing modern, energy-efficient heating, air-conditioning, and water supply systems has required extra effort in these beautiful old buildings.’

The hotel’s 159 chandeliers, including large, fluted glass chandeliers by Theo Eichholotz and three-tiered crystal art deco-inspired chandeliers crafted by Timothy Oulton, were purchased from an existing collection.

Wellness is emphasised in the hotel’s guest experiences. Finland’s esteemed sauna culture is steeped throughout. Each guest bath is a private sanctuary created to deliver a spa-like experience, featuring marble-covered spaces, most with large soaking tubs, steam showers, and, in many suites, personal in-room saunas.

The Maria Spa features a large Finnish sauna, a steam room, cool and warm plunge pools, a Jacuzzi, and four treatment rooms, catering to both Finnish and international guests and their desire for both familiar and new pampering and rejuvenating spa experiences.

The whole hotel experience is defined by tranquillity, elegance, and an emphasis on wellbeing.

hotelmaria.fi

There’s a growing school of thought that our creature comforts might not be as comforting as they are made out to be; that actually, what we need to lead happy lives is a certain level of discomfort. Not the underground-at-rush-hour kind of discomfort, but something outdoorsy and elemental, such as exposure to extreme temperatures or cold water swimming.

Panorama Landscape Hotel and Forest Spa is for those seeking to relax, pause and find joy in genuineness

Finnish architect Sami Rintala knows this. His Norway-based studio Rintala Eggertsson has created buildings that are immersed in nature without destroying it, such as the Arctic Hideaway in Fleinvær and Safe House in Kalsholmen. And when he’s not working, Rintala likes nothing more than skiing for miles to his sauna in the forest outside Bodø, building up a sweat and rolling in the snow.

One of his latest projects is the Panorama Landscape Hotel, which comprises ten cabins in the woods near the ski resort of Tahko in eastern Finland. Its Lähde Forest Spa encourages guests to take a tour of the wild side; its three saunas and five hot and cold pools offer views over Lake Syväri. The spa takes its cues from traditional bathing cultures such as Japanese onsen and Russian banya, where elements of hot and cold have always been enjoyed together, while the pools are fed with water from a natural spring.

Each of the hotel’s cabins sleeps two and has traditional shingle walls, a grass roof and spectacular views. An attentive guest can spot that their design is inspired by the bears, lynxes and wolves that roam in the woods, and owner Harri Jokela has made sure the offering is completed by a great restaurant, helmed by top Finnish chef Kim Mustonen.

Lähde Forest Spa is small, discreet and in harmony with the landscape. It has none of the gizmos, gadgets and crowds associated with large spas, which, says Rintala, is just the way it should be. ‘We need alternatives to big spas,’ he says. ‘Those which are smaller and more fragmented and invite people to get closer to nature.’ This spa breaks the formula. ‘We are all suffering from a loss of contact with nature; modernity means being always acclimatised and protected. A roll in the snow is very good for us.’

panoramahotel.fi

ri-eg.com

Finnair, the world's sixth oldest operating airline, has been busy commemorating its 100th anniversary – a century dedicated to connecting people and cultures through the skies. Originating in 1923 as Aero, with seaplanes equipped for both winter and summer flights, Finnair has since evolved into a prominent global player in the aviation industry.

Fast forwarding to pre-pandemic 2019, Finnair served approximately 14.6 million passengers. The journey hasn't been without challenges, as the airline recently emerged from a double crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of Russian airspace. Yet, undeterred and as part of the centenary festivities, Finnair recently initiated a €200 million investment program, introducing innovations such as its inaugural premium economy seat, a new business class product, and refreshed economy cabins.

Finnair takes fly with worldwide centenary celebrations

The commencement of the celebrations included the release of a special postage stamp, an exhibition showcasing vintage uniforms, and the launch of the Finnair 100 inflight menu. Notably, two A350 aircraft were adorned with a special Moomin livery and three narrow-body Airbuses with the tagline 'Bringing us together since 1923.'

'Our centenary theme is "Bringing us together since 1923" since the important role of aviation in connecting people has been a recurring theme in all the stories we have heard when we have met with our personnel, customers, partners, and other stakeholders in our centenary celebrations around the world,' says Päivyt Tallqvist, senior vice president of communications at Finnair.

The observances also saw the revival of the printed in-flight magazine, Blue Wings, with a special anniversary issue available to passengers during the summer. Although this marked the final paper edition of Blue Wings, its content is now accessible in a digital format.

Integrating its rich heritage into the milestone, Finnair collaborated with Finnish brands, including a Moomin mug in partnership with Arabia, a Finnish tableware brand, Makia, a Finnish clothing brand, and Karhu, a sneaker brand, to create unique collections available to the public. Furthermore, extending its commitment to community engagement, Finnair welcomed 1,700 elementary school children to its hangars, providing them with an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the airline's operations.

Around its November anniversary, Finnair took over Helsinki Airport, treating passengers to performances by the Finnair Singers, greetings from Moomin characters, and delicacies at its lounges. These celebrations extended globally, reaching cities such as Helsinki, Stockholm, Tallinn, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Madrid, Rome, and Beijing.

finnair.com

As a female, queer artist working in the years before and after the Second World War, Finnish artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson (1914-2001) was compelled to carve out a unique career as a painter, illustrator and, later, author. Her fantastical, rich aesthetic was reflected in her vibrant personality, both of which came together in her rich body of work, which encompasses texts, illustrations and paintings. 

Jansson’s eclectic body of work is now the subject of a new Paris exhibition, ‘Houses of Tove Jansson’, curated by art institution The Community. Produced both with Jansson’s estate and Moomin Characters, the retrospective examines Jansson’s life and oeuvre and, for the first time, considers her work alongside contemporary artists. 

‘Houses of Tove Jansson’, Paris

‘Tove started to exhibit her work and receive commissions gradually towards the end of the 1930s,’ say curators Tuukka Laurila and Sini Rinne-Kanto. ‘She also did many illustration works in order to gain enough money to live. However, the constant critique and the strictures of the art world and the war gave her the impulse to focus on the first Moomin book. As the Moomin books started to have success, she wanted to focus on them to be independent financially. 

‘It is interesting to observe this trajectory – she aspired to be a fine artist (and succeeded in it!) but turned towards other modes of expression after facing some [disappointments]. The Moomin books gave her a certain freedom and independence, a unique space in which she was free to explore her dreams and to do whatever she wanted.’

Her personal life constantly informed her work, with characters in the Moomin books often plucked from her close circle. ‘Before meeting Pietilä [her life partner Tuulikki Pietilä] Jansson had already started to explore queerness, having had several same-sex relationships during and after the war, notably with the theatre director Vivica Bandler (1917-2004),’ Laurila and Rinne-Kanto add. ‘Jansson worked with Bandler on the first Moomin play, Comet in Moominland, shown at Helsinki’s Swedish Theatre in 1949. The two were the inspiration behind the respective characters of Thingumy and Bob, who first appeared in Trollkarlens hatt (Finn Family Moomintroll) (1948), carrying a strange suitcase and speaking a secret language of their own.’

Personal artefacts in the exhibition give a context to Jansson’s work, which is rooted in her home in downtown Helsinki, her favourite city of Paris, and in the isolated Klovharun Island in southern Finland. ‘We have included for example films, audio recordings, photographs, drawings and diaries that Tove and her partner Tuulikki Pietilä made either during their numerous journeys or in their solitary island Klovharun. They might seem mundane but they open up new perspectives in their lives and works. And understanding this attitude they had in life was important for us in the process – seeing that everything was made into art around them is so inspiring.’

The development of Jansson’s distinctive style is traced from her early self-portraits through to these documentations, also taking in early illustrations for books including Alice in Wonderland and The Hobbit and her classic Nordic novel. Say the curators: ‘Her later books Den ärliga bedragaren (True Deceiver) (1982) and Rent Spel (Fair Play) (1989) both demonstrate the considerable development of her literary tone: the hint of darkness that was earlier present in her children’s books through tangible disasters and threats is now expressed through more complex characters and literary strategies. The exhibition seeks to convey this development also by sharing stories of Tove’s life, essentially what inspired Tove to make these works.’

In this exhibition, Jansson’s works are showcased alongside artists including Anne Bourse, Emma Kohlmann, Ida Ekblad, Vidya Gastaldon and Carlotta Bailly-Borg. Moomin Characters has also marked the retrospective with one-of-a-kind capsule collections created in collaboration with D’heygere, Vitelli, Ana Kraš x CC Tapis and Sabine Marcelis. Say Laurila and Rinne-Kanto: ‘“Houses of Tove Jansson” seeks to offer an all-encompassing view on Tove’s life and work, and this is why it’s so important – and an honour – for us to show these more personal aspects for the visitors.’ 

The exhibition takes place 29 September – 29 October 2023 in a former printshop, at Espace Mont-Louis, 8 Impasse de Mont Louis in the 11th arrondissement of Paris

‘Houses of Tove Jansson’ will be free but require registration. For more information,  visit housesoftovejansson.com

The Tom of Finland Foundation brought its Art and Culture festival to London last week for the second time, ahead of its Los Angeles iteration in October at the Soho Warehouse and following a Berlin edition earlier this year.

The legacy of the queer icon Tom of Finland lived on at the two-day festival held at the Standard Hotel, which brought together erotic artists and leather aficionados. Titled Global Sexual, the festival was organised by the Tom of Finland Foundation and was curated by its creative director Richard Villani, and chief curator at Avant Arte Gemma Rolls-Bentley. 

On the programme was a series of talks and workshops and a seductive showcase of artists working in erotica. The roster included photographers such as Matt Ford, whose glossy photography series of rubber wearers was particularly eye-catching. Photographer and filmmaker Rick Castro showcased a new book of photography depicting the street hustlers of Los Angeles between 1986 and 1999 .

Also on show was Pâme, a design studio taking their name from the French verb ‘se pâmer’, meaning to swoon. Fittingly the work on show was a series of delicate silk pocket squares featuring portraits of models in various states of climax. London-based artist James Davison brought a series of frilly and bejewelled pillows featuring his original drawings.

Parc presented the latest issue of Crap Zine, featuring works from Cherry Au Hon I, Andreas Larsson and Louise Gray amongst others, all responding to the theme of ‘grey marl’ - a material with a sensual connotation for some. Photographer Oliraptor also showcased a new series of cyanotypes capturing intimate jewellery. 

A wide ranging programme of talks took place, covering such topics as the past, present and future of the leather community, pornography and writing queer erotica. Finally, Sketch Sesh - an experimental life drawing collective founded by James Davison and Simon Gray - hosted an intimate hour of croquis modelled by adult entertainer John Thomas donning custom garments by designer Max Allen.  

The Tom of Finland Foundation was founded to preserve the archive of work by the artist, whose heightened illustrations of muscle men in skin tight leather, various uniform or states of undress have firmly established its place in the visual vocabulary of generations of queer folk since first appearing in the pages of Physique Pictorial in the 1950s. 

The foundation was founded in 1984 by the artist and his friend and lover Sir Durk Dehner, who is still at the helm of the foundation today. Dehner was recently included in Wallpaper’s USA 300 list and also received a knighthood by the Chancery of the Orders of the White Rose of Finland and the Lion of Finland. 

Today its mission is to provide a platform for queer and erotic artists through residences at its headquarters in Los Angeles and exhibitions such as ‘AllTogether’, the Art and Culture Festival and much more. 

tomoffinland.org

The Aalto2 Museum Centre is the latest addition to Jyväskylä's rich cultural offering. It was there that legendary Finnish modernist architecture master Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) created the Museum of Central Finland (completed in 1961, and later thrice renovated) and the Alvar Aalto Museum (1971-73), standing next to each other, representing his 'white' era. Now, Aalto2 is set to further articulate the architect's powerful creative vision, connecting the two adjacent structures. 

Jyväskylä, 270km north of Helsinki, is Aalto’s home town, and a must-see destination for architecture, design and culture enthusiasts, as it is also home to the largest number of Aalto-designed buildings in the world. There are 29 in total, including the Säynätsalo Town Hall (1949-52), the University of Jyväskylä (1951-71), Muurame Church (1926-29), Jyvaskyla Worker’s Club (1924-25), and Muuratsalo Experimental House (1952-54).  Meanwhile, his otherworldly Finnish Pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair was hailed as the 'work of genius' by Frank Lloyd Wright. 

Aalto2 Museum Centre: a vision fulfilled

Aalto2 fulfills Aalto's wish of creating a forum to showcase a variety of art forms. In fact, in his first proposal for the Jyväskylä Art Museum (later the Alvar Aalto Museum), he envisioned a connecting corridor between the two neighbouring institutions, as evidenced in a 1971 drawing.

The extension design that opened to the public this week was created by Helsinki-based A-Konsultit Architects (also behind the renovation of both museums). It has turned the gap with a geometric pool and landscaped garden between the museums into a courtyard. Courtyards became Aalto’s signature element after he saw people socialising in piazzas in small Italian villages. Behind the extension is another newly created small outdoor gathering space with rectangular stone benches for various activities, such as school children’s meetings. 

The interior is a clean, white open space with straight lines seamlessly fusing the two museums on both ends. Its functionalities are multilayered and enhance the visitor experience. It improves accessibility to both museums, and houses the gift shop, the café-restaurant, and the space for events with a wide staircase doubling as an amphitheatre-like seating (another Aalto signature feature inspired by the ancient Greek theatre of Pergamon).

Visitors to Aalto2 are treated to three new exhibitions. The opening show of Aalto2, 'World Heritage – Human Traces', jointly produced by the two museums, is a grand tour of tangible and intangible heritage, accompanied by photos and detailed descriptions. It consists of five sub-exhibitions: World Heritage, Celebrities, Finnish Sauna Culture, Finland and the World, and The Moderns, each diving into its theme. It was curated and designed by the Finnish-Spanish architectural duo Anna and Eugeni Bach. 

The permanent exhibition of the Museum of Central Finland, a regional cultural history museum, 'Exploring Central Finland', takes visitors on a journey across the rich, unique spirit of Central Finland from prehistoric times to this day, with objects to see, memories to listen to, a film to watch, and more. One of the highlights is a working jukebox from the 1960s. 

The new permanent exhibition at the Alvar Aalto Museum, 'AALTO – Work and Life', presents the architect's body of work through his philosophy, drawings, materials, processes, models and end-results. 

The show also highlights works by his wives and collaborators, Aino Aalto (1894–1949) and Elissa Aalto (1922–94); as well as vital collaborators such as Otto Korhonen, a carpenter and factory owner from 1920s, for furniture; Viljo Hirvonen, a metalsmith master electrician from 1950s, for lighting fixtures; and ceramics companies like Kupittaa Clay and Arabia Ceramic Factory for tiles. Mari Murtoniemi, chief curator of the Alvar Aalto Museum, said: 'Aalto was a designer, and absolutely needed the talents and skills of those material experts to realise his designs.'

The exhibition also showcases, for the first time in the museum’s history, illustrations and book cover designs from the architect's 1920s. These supplemented his income while he was building up his architecture commissions. 

Aalto believed that architecture and good design can solve problems in human life and society, as it is the architect’s duty to serve the everyday, and us all. This democratic design principle helped Finland lift its peoples’ spirits and face the daily realities of life after a series of wars since the country's independence in 1917. This principle is amplified in Aalto2 as it welcomes everyone of any age and background to immerse themselves in its well-curated, multifaceted programme of exhibitions and events. 

Aalto2 is part of the 125th anniversary celebrations commemorating Alvar Aalto’s birth.

aalto2.museum 

a-konsultit.fi 

One of Alvar Aalto’s iconic works, the Church of the Three Crosses in Imatra, Finland, is in danger of being lost forever. Originally built in 1958, the modernist architecture church is a well-known work in Alvar Aalto’s canon, despite being set in the small town located at the southeastern part of the country. Although on the shortlist to become a Unesco World Heritage site, the church has suffered major water damage, and the consequences of years’ worth of deferred repairs and maintenance, decaying in front of local residents’ eyes. 

Famed for its unique structure, which consists of three consecutive halls designed to suit a multitude of gatherings and social activities, the church includes a marble-adorned interior and site-specific furniture from the architect’s original design. It continues to attract visitors and design pilgrims, despite not being in use since 2020. While donations, including a sum of €400,000, have been received from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the repairs needed to save it are estimated to be between €3 and €4 million. 

Church of The Three Crosses by Alvar Aalto

For Tiina Laakkonen, the Amagansett-based tastemaker behind Tiina the Store, who grew up in Imatra, witnessing the demise of Aalto’s masterpiece was not an option. So, Laakkonen has set up a fundraiser with a goal of €100,000 to help aid restoration efforts. 

‘I always felt that great design and architecture was everywhere in Finland and part of people’s homes and everyday life. It didn’t feel like design was a kind of luxury that only the wealthy could afford but that was part of life,’ she says. ‘Aalto’s work is the perfect example of this. His work is still very much present in his public buildings, like libraries, universities and churches. The Church of the Three Crosses is considered to be Aalto’s greatest church and it’s wonderful that it happens to be in Imatra. As locals, we are proud to have such an important architectural work by Aalto in our hometown.’

She continues, ‘The church congregation in Imatra has taken a €2.5 million bank loan. I feel that the government is the main funding method behind arts and culture in Finland. Somehow, this falls outside of that scope. The local organisers in Imatra are not used to this type of fundraising and I feel like they need help. It’s my way of giving back to my hometown.’ 

One of the church’s most pressing issues is to have its exquisite roof and structure repaired. ‘The roof lacks the correct ventilation and leads to water seeping in when the snow melts in the spring,' says Laakkonen, who has been working closely with the main fundraising team in Finland. ‘Some of the problems are related to Aalto’s exquisite design, others to the maintenance. I believe that the church is a national treasure that needs to be preserved.’ 

Save the Church of the Three Crosses

tiinathestore.com

The abstract, geometric shapes of Chappe - part black box, part shiny periscope peeking above the building's roofline - sit seemingly in contrast to its picturesque setting within the well preserved historic village of Tammisaari in southern Finland. Yet the structure, the work of architecture studio JKMM, feels entirely at home in this idyllic corner of the Finnish countryside, its volumes strangely in sync with the surrounding 18th century timber architecture in this popular tourist destination. This balance and dialogue between the contemporary, minimalist architecture of this new art house, and its natural context and historic built environment continues inside and becomes a key theme in the making of what is set to become one of the country's key new cultural destinations. 

Chappe: a house for art

Chappe's name comes from its founding donator - Professor Albert de la Chapelle (1933–2020), a medical doctor and prominent researcher in the field of molecular genetics, who, being an avid collector of Nordic art, decided to use his collection to launch a new art hub for the region. Tammisaari was close to his heart, as he grew up in nearby Lindö, and much of his extended family still reside in that part of the country. A member of the family, Henrik de la Chapelle, served as chairman of the Albert de la Chapelle Art Foundation, and helped make Albert's vision a reality. 

He says: 'Chappe is an important addition to Tammisaari, bringing year-around cultural interest to a traditionally seasonal seaside destination and thereby making a significant contribution to both the social and economic vitality of the region.'

JKMM's design for Chappe

Chappe's design was developed by the Helsinki based studio, headed by its four co-founders Asmo Jaaksi, Teemu Kurkela, Samuli Miettinen and Juha Mäki-Jyllillä - the team was chosen through an invited competition. The studio's extensive experience in architectural projects of all scales, in particular in the cultural realm, made it stand out for its sense of purpose and respectful, quiet strength. Past works have included the popular Amos Rex and the Akola Manor House, while long term research and numerous deliveries in the realm of public buildings, such as libraries and schools, meant that JKMM were a natural fit for this small, but perfectly formed art house and its sensitive context. 

In the case of Chappe, the architects zoomed in on the site, which is adjacent and physically connected to the existing Raseborg Museum next door (a corridor allows tourists to move freely between the two attractions). Unsurprisingly, the surrounding conditions and architectural vernacular played a pivotal role in the design development. JKMM founding partner Asmo Jaaksi led the scheme, highlighting its importance within Tammisaari's constellation of galleries and museums, as well as the wider Finnish cultural landscape. 

'In our buildings, we have wanted to focus on how museum, or for that matter any arts space architecture, relates to the immediate experience of place, adding both a sense of rootedness and also something wholly new that brings about vitality to the local community. This, I feel is especially important for cultural buildings, as they are the very things that give places identity by bringing people together, but only if people feel welcome and can take ownership of them,' he says. 

Connecting with people and place

At the same time, it was important for JKMM to underscore Finland's long tradition in timber construction. As a result, wood features prominently in the building (with the exception of its concrete base), from the exterior's black spruce cladding, to the exposed ceiling beams that become a gentle feature in the upper level's art galleries. The timber's warmth and tactility come through throughout Chappe's 1,210 sq m and three floors of exhibition spaces (one nestled quietly below ground). 

Carefully placed design gestures and collaborations between the architects and local artists and craftspeople elevate the interiors. There is a shimmering entrance lobby ceiling created together with artist Petri Vainio; a large ceramic piece by Karin Widnäs in the foyer; and a reception desk and bench by a local contractor. 'The integration of art installations is a precedent from early Modernism that we welcome in our work as architects. Collaborating with Finnish artists at Chappe has been a good way to continue this tradition,' says Jaaksi. 

Meanwhile, everywhere, strategically placed large openings create sightlines and frame views of the sky and rooflines around the site, the gardens outside the museum, and the water in the distance - connecting the visitor to the landscape at every turn. 

It all comes together to form a cultural space that scale-wise, punches above its weight and displays its architects' skill. Jaaksi recalls the team's initial encounter with the site: 'My first reaction was, you can't fit a building here! It's pocket sized, but then everything else here is small too.' Still, the practice managed to create breathing space where there was none, and masterfully fitted a truly expansive-feeling space within a fairly compact site; Chappe's crisp, welcoming space and a new home for the arts for the entire region. 

chappe.fi 

jkmm.fi 

Near the start of Daniel Steegmann Mangrané’s new show, ‘A Leaf Shapes the Eye’,  a variety of small, strange objects are scattered across a white table: hybrid cigarette packaging formed of two hexagonally cut packs; shredded strips of magazine bundled like a plant; seeds and other undeclared natural spherical forms cut with geometric patterns; leaves with laser-cut circles scarring their surface; and several contorted and twisted twigs. It is an eclectic mix of found and manipulated objects displayed as an artistic space of exploration, with ideas transposed from studio to gallery.

Steegmann Mangrané’s show is a 25-year survey of the Spanish artist’s practice spread over two floors of Kiasma, the Finnish national gallery of contemporary art. He is an artist interested in extracting or revealing the uncanny from objects and places, not only to create curious aesthetic form but to deeply penetrate ideas of nature. Those contorted twigs on the table do just this, each clinically split in half along the stem before the artist uses wire to reconstruct it, a void separating the slivers.

‘One of the key questions of the exhibition is the blurring of the boundaries between culture and nature that Western thinking has established as opposition,’ explains João Laia, chief curator of temporary exhibitions at Kiasma. The void Steegmann Mangrané has inserted into the twigs exemplifies this: a familiar, even mundane, natural object, now transformed through a subtle cultural act, creating space to consider its relationship to the human.

Elsewhere, the eyes of feral dogs which reside in a brutalist Dhaka building are now attached to trees within the Brazilian Mata Atlântica rainforest, seemingly freeing the animals’ spirits not only into nature 14,000km away but into the very trunk of a new living being. In the same rainforest, a 16mm film follows a perfectly geometric line through the chaos of nature. It creates a sublime capturing of place, but one that is also sinister and unnerving in its smooth, clinical gesture so at odds with the wilderness it surveys.

This half of the exhibition is full of discrete experiments presented in a traditional white wall hang. There are montaged images, geometric colour experiments, and a film of stick insects living within a world of twigs and geometric construction, the camera’s shifting focus softening the distinction between each. A slideshow of 54 photographs presents Calafet, the eastern Catalonian landscape of Steegmann Mangrané’s childhood, showing a place of constant destruction and reformation through quarries, construction, and movement. 

It’s a landscape which comes to mind in the second, and distinctly different, half of the exhibition. Having explored the artistic ingredients, tools, and modes of perception utilised by Steegmann Mangrané, the visitor ascends a ramp and opens a door to find themselves in a kind of manmade Calafet–but one transmogrified, belying expectation and geometry. With windows covered in blue film, Nordic spring light floods across synthetic blue grass laid to an irregular topology. The Stephen Holl-designed gallery becomes a space of dislocation, the slopes of the artificial lawn forcing the visitor into self-awareness of body and gravity.

‘Things start to dissolve the traditional opposition between mind and body, or geometric and organic,’ the artist says of the space interrupted by five taut vertical lights flashing, flickering, and flowing in response to the external climate and internal activity. Elements seen across the previous floor recur but extracted from a traditional hang into this otherworld: a split twig sits on a rotating mirrored circle and a leaf stands proud with a single beam of light singing through its perfect circles. On the floor, a cellular-pattern jigsaw of 200-million-year-old Italian marble is rearranged, questioning the division between natural and manmade, on the walls holograms give a sci-fi glow to elementary nature.

This is a search for the cosmos within the fundamental, and wrapping it all is an otherworldly sound with echoes of distant space and ancient times. In fact, it is a loop recording of flautist Joana Saraiva, a musician Steegmann Mangrané presented with recordings of the intense noise of an under-construction oil rig which she then transposed into the haunting soundscape. ‘Most of the time she was deaf to what she was playing, the sound she was listening to was so loud she couldn’t hear what she was playing, she was interpreting through the vibration of her chest, lips, and fingers,’ the artist says of the collaboration which returned a human scale to an immense machinery created to extract nature. On the far side of a room-dividing chainlink curtain–which requires the visitor to cut through as the linear film sliced the rainforest–a twisting steel sculpture stands. It shadows the movements construction workers repeated and repeated in constructing the rig, fixing their choreography into a delicate form.

Steegmann Mangrané’s manipulations and explorations of nature, and humanity’s entanglement with it as observer and user, raises questions beyond a subject/viewer dialectic, encouraging us to see ourselves of nature, not from it. ‘Everything has a potentiality of being a subject, everything has its own point of view, everything should be respected, and everything should be treated with the same way we should treat our peers,’ the artist says, and at a time when nature from rivers to mountains are being afforded human and legal rights to fight anthropogenic destruction, it is a pertinent proposition.

Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, 'A Leaf Shapes the Eye', until 10 September 2023, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma. kiasma.fi

Nowhere does mid-winter quite like Helsinki. The arrival of the snow, and the special light that it brings is a welcome change after grey November, and candles, fairy lights, rugs and throws accompany the dazzling blanket of white. Instead of hibernating in the sub-zero temperatures, the city buttons up, braces itself and keeps going. Nowhere is this more evident than on the waterfront, where fleets of icebreakers carve channels through the frozen seas so that commuters can go about their business, and ice swimmers relish the buzz that the change in season brings. As Wallpaper* contributing editor Emma O’Kelly – author of the upcoming book Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat (published by Welbeck in September 2023) – discovers, the Finnish spirit of never letting the weather stop you is invigorating and infectious, and when you head home from Helsinki to almost anywhere else, winter doesn’t seem so bad. 

What to do in Helsinki: the Wallpaper* tour

Mention dill meat, summer vegetable soup or pork stew to Finns of a certain age, and they grimace in horror. These unloved staples were survival fodder in post-war Finland, but at Helsinki restaurant Finnjävel, they’ve been resurrected, shedding any negative associations along the way. The Michelin-starred restaurant offers a five- or eight-course tasting menu and the adjoining bistro serves much-loved classics such as Hasselback potatoes, apple ‘donuts’ and mushroom porridge, and for Christmas, reindeer tongue and potato pudding. 

finnjavel.fi

Kulttuurisauna

In winter, Helsinki’s public saunas usually cut ice holes into the sea to cater for winter bathers, and Kulttuurisauna, on the water at Merihaka, is a picturesque place for a chilly dip. The eco-friendly, wood-fired sauna was designed by Tuomas Toivonen of Now architects almost a decade ago, and has a cult following (there’s a rumour one will open in Japan soon). It’s called the ‘culture sauna’ for a reason – silence is compulsory and boiled eggs, pickles and sea-buckthorn shots are the refreshments of choice, rather than the customary beer or long drink (G&T in a tin). 

kultturisuana.fi

Hotel St George 

The test of a good hotel is how it treats you when you’re bone-dead exhausted, and Hotel St George delivers on all fronts. Friendly staff, comfortable beds, understated design and a peaceful location next to a leafy city centre park make for a restful stay. Basement restaurant Boon Nam whips up tasty Thai dishes, and St George Bakery next door offers a cheery slice of neighbourhood life, where hotel guests and locals congregate for coffee, sourdough and cinnamon buns.

stgeorgehelsinki.com

Kaiku

There are tons of studios, bars, vintage shops and clubs in the creative quarter of Kallio, but the line for Kaiku at 1am on a rainy Saturday night is the longest by far. When it comes to clubbing, Helsinki models itself on Berlin, but the eclectic, international line-up at Kaiku offers regular alternatives to techno. In summer, clubbers spill out onto the roof terrace and gather at the outdoor bar. And in winter, they do much the same thing. 

clubkaiku.fi

Yrjönkatu Uimahalli

Those who prefer a heated indoor pool to an ice hole should head for Yrjönkatu, the city's oldest public swimming hall. Built in 1928 in classical style, it has a grand 25m pool, three saunas and individual changing cubicles fitted with beds that have an air of Soviet sanitorium about them. Don’t be put off, though, because the saunas are among the best in the city and Café Yrjö upstairs offers a tipple of mead and honey (the Viking hooch of choice) and a signature cocktail served with brandy. 

Dance House Helsinki

Dance House Helsinki is the first dedicated dance space in Finland, and judging by the dance troupes and circus performers rehearsing in its 700-seat auditorium, it’s long overdue. Local architects JKMM ‘bolted’ the new building onto a former cable factory from the 1920s. With a rolling programme of four performances a week, Dance House is the latest addition to this five-hectare artistic enclave, which includes ateliers, studios and museums, among them The Finnish Museum of Photography. JKMM is stamping its mark all over Helsinki. In 2018, it completed the Amos Rex museum and a new building for the Academy of Fine Arts has just opened on the other side of town.

tanssintalo.fi 

Vuokko

If you’re inspired by the Design Museum’s current exhibition on Antti and Vuokko Nurmesniemi, one of Finland’s most celebrated designer couples, then it’s a quick stroll along pretty shopping streets to the Vuokko boutique. Nurmesniemi’s niece Mere Eskolin is now at the helm and the boutique offers a capsule collection of Vuokko’s best sellers, among them the circular ‘Myllynkivi’ dress, first cut out of one piece of fabric in 1964, and the unisex ‘Loikka’ jumpsuit, which looks as modern today as it ever did.  

vuokko.com

The new Finnish Design Shop in Turku, on the west coast of Finland, draws from its environment with a sustainable design incorporating the surrounding forest and wood. Located in the middle of a nature reserve, the new logistic centre, showroom, office and wild food restaurant effortlessly blends into its environment.

A façade by Avanto Architects mimics the rich hues of the forest, while interiors by local design studio Joanna Laajisto incorporate solid pine and ash into the design. Chef and foraging specialist Sami Tallberg also draws from the surrounding forest for the café and restaurant food, with ingredients such as birch sap, mushrooms and berries maintaining a focus on local and seasonal cuisine.

The online Nordic design store has sought both an authentic atmosphere for employees and a striking connection to nature for visitors in the new space. An emphasis on preserving forest biodiversity results in the Finnish Design Shop compensating for its carbon emissions by buying and preserving forest in Finland.

‘We compensate for our carbon footprint by protecting forests that are under danger to be cut in Finland,’ says Teemu Kiiski, CEO and owner of Finnish Design Shop. ‘Currently, only an alarmingly small proportion – six per cent – of Finland’s forests is permanently protected, which is why the habitats of many species are endangered. We see our company’s sustainability as an ongoing, never-ending process, in which we want not only to use the latest findings of forest and climate research but also to study ourselves in order to understand and to find the most effective ways to preserve forest biodiversity.’

It is a philosophy reflected in a design that puts transparency, equality and respect for nature at the forefront. ‘We explored a large number of existing buildings in the Turku area for our operations, but we found nothing that we could use,’ Kiiski adds. ‘As Nordic design is largely about wood and forest, it felt natural that those should be elements of the view from our windows. Forest also serves as a calming element in busy office life.’

Natural forest undergrowth and stones excavated from the site were incorporated into the area’s landscape, a theme that continues inside, in the offices and restaurant. Laajisto’s interior design encompasses both wooden furniture and colourful pieces from the Finnish Design Shop’s own collection. ‘Forest is a strong element in the Nordic lifestyle. It was also a source of inspiration for our new logistics centre and showroom,’ says Kiiski.

finnishdesignshop.com

The most surprising thing about the new Finnish glass and ceramics gallery showing works from Collection Kakkonen at the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA) is that it has taken so long. That it has happened at all is thanks to the efforts of the museum’s directors and the benevolence of Finnish collector Kyösti Kakkonen, who together spent a decade deciding what would fill the 1,000 sq m space.

Collection Kakkonen: 1,300 Finnish glass and ceramics objects

All the great names – Kaj Franck, Timo Sarpaneva, Tapio Wirkkala – are there, along with lesser-known names, and female designers, who make up half of Kakkonen’s 10,000-piece collection. EMMA only has access to 1,300 works (so far) and will rotate them frequently, but the debut show kicks off in splendour. Oiva Toikka’s 2m-long Forest of Glass, made for an exhibition at the Finnish Embassy in Washington DC in 2003, marks the entrance, and an opening wall features a work from each of the 38 designers in the show, along with background information on each.

Kakkonen’s first purchase, in 1988, was the estate of Toini Muona – ‘a bohemian with many (male) lovers’, whom he wished he had met. She died in 1987, but worked during the Golden Age from the 1930s to the 1960s, when Finland evolved from post-war poverty into a prosperous nation state – with design clout, thanks in part to the Arabia porcelain factory, which encouraged its artists to experiment. Kakkonen, the eldest of six brothers born into a poor farming family, made his fortune during this time with discount retail chain Tokmanni, which is still the largest in the country.

Works are grouped thematically and range in colour, form and scale, from Franck’s Art Kiwi figurines to Markku Salo’s Gazebo, a ceiling-height glass tepee with its own ecosystem. Techniques include frosted glass, popularised by Wirkkala in the 1960s, and the translucent rice grain technique, reserved for special-occasion ceramics. Many of the works are one-offs, but a section titled ‘Art for Every Home’ includes pieces that were commonplace in Finnish households, among them Aino Aalto’s ‘Bölgeblick‘ series and her husband Alvar’s ‘Savoy’ vases, which are still in production today.

With 6,500 sq m of gallery space, EMMA is the largest museum in Finland and is located inside the WeeGee Exhibition Centre, a 1960s landmark designed by Finnish architect Aarno Ruusuvuori. A prime example of Finnish constructivism, the building features acres of concrete, a 100m-long glass façade and no fixed internal walls. Displaying glass and ceramics in such brutalist surroundings can be challenging, but the curators have conjured a soft, warm space thanks to display tables made from rammed earth and 100-year-old larch logs felled near Kakkonen’s hometown. Matti Suuronen’s Futuro House, a portable yellow ski cabin that looks like a UFO, sits on the forest floor outside and is also free to visit.

Kakkonen is still an avid collector and a quarter of the exhibition is dedicated to contemporary artists. Sculptor Kim Simonsson’s acid-coloured, pixy-ish Moss People sit alongside colour-popping abstract pieces by glassblower Alma Jantunen. To celebrate the new gallery, Kakkonen commissioned female artist Heini Riitahuhta to make a piece. Entitled Song of the Rooster, it features 2,000 ceramic disks, took 2,500 hours to make and features a cockerel and a church in homage to ceramicist Rut Bryk (whose open studio, along with that of her late husband Wirkkala, is on the first floor).

But Kakkonen’s favourite work is Bead Bird (Curlew) by Birger Kaipiainen, which won a Grand Prix at the Milan Triennale in 1960. The late Kaipiainen favoured motifs such as birds, flowers, and clocks, and the bird’s chest features disks depicting a time of 12.15pm. For Kakkonen this was serendipitous: ‘It was the time I was born,’ he says. ‘When I saw this, I knew it was a sign.’

emmamuseum.fi
@collectionkakkonen

Nordic architecture, as well as a spirit of sharing and candid creative exchanges sit at the heart of a new book by Artifice. Share: Conversations about Contemporary Architecture – The Nordic Countries, was co-authored by Canada-born Norway-based architect Todd Saunders, and architecture and design writer, and Wallpaper* editor Jonathan Bell.

The book, which hails the first in what the team says will become a series of publications, each focusing on a specific territory and featuring Saunders in conversation with some of each region’s most celebrated architects, is out this month. 

‘We are architects all the time, whether at the dinner table, in the queue at the grocery store, driving on the highway or lying in bed at night. By asking questions about what matters and why, I hope this book starts a conversation about the processes behind architecture, and how different outlooks translate into the work that we do and the way we achieve it,’ says Saunders, who embarked on the book with Bell to investigate the process of design and open up discussions across the profession. 

In this particular edition, the team talks to key players in the Nordic architecture field, such as Bjarke Ingels of BIG and Louis Becker of Henning Larsen. It spans projects, as well as questions about architecture – 99 of those, to be precise – visiting Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland along the way.  

The book instantly draws the reader in through vivid, Q&A interview formats, alternated with striking photography and a wealth of projects that cover a range of typologies – from the region's much-loved cabin in the woods, to larger villas and townhouses, but also commercial and infrastructure projects.

The key here, is the dialogue that is the thread to unite all case studies, opening up the typically fairly insular world of architecture to a broader audience – making Share the perfect tool for professionals, aspiring architects and the wider public. 

This book reveals ‘architects’ hopes, fears and aspirations, as well as the real-world challenges of running a modern practice,' the team explains.

The Share series promises to come back with more territory-focused investigations – North America, Europe and the Far East are all on the list to explore and learn from.

Share: Conversations about Contemporary Architecture – The Nordic Countries is available by Artifice, £34.95

artificeonline.com

saunders.no