r/AskEurope • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago

Meta Daily Slow Chat

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u/orangebikini Finland 10d ago

I spent the weekend in Helsinki inner city, and now I'm at my father's cottage in a municipality with 2000 inhabitants and less than 4 people per square kilometre. It's quite the contrast.

During the weekend I visited Hvitträsk, which is in the capital region. It was the atelier, workspace and home of Eliel Saarinen and two other architects. Eliel Saarinen was a national romantic era architect, father of Eero Saarinen, who you may not know by name, but for example the St. Louis Arch and the TWA Hotel at JFK airport are his works. Eliel Saarinen's buildings are mostly in Finland, most notable being the Helsinki Central Station.

Hvitträsk was so glorious. Lakeside in super idyllic countryside about 40 minutes from downtown Helsinki. The building is bona fide Finnish national romantic art nouveau, lots of organic textures and the whole thing feels like it has grown up from the ground. It was like the exact antithesis to functionalism and the international style (excluding perhaps some of Alvar Aalto's buildings), the interior was almost maze like with no clear floors. Just random ass small staircases going up or down a little bit. This means many of the windows on the exterior are at different heights, which looks kinda goofy, but it's part of the natural organic style.

Wonderful place. If any of you find yourself in Helsinki ever, make sure to make the trip to Hvitträsk.

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u/holytriplem -> 10d ago

Wonderful place. If any of you find yourself in Helsinki ever, make sure to make the trip to Hvitträsk

Thank you for the suggestion! I'll be in Helsinki in about two weeks for a conference (though I don't think I'll have a lot of free time)

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u/orangebikini Finland 10d ago

I think you need three hours minimum for travel time and the actual visit to Hvitträsk from inner city Helsinki. I'm assuming you'll be staying near the convention centre.

If you want I can tell you all the shady spots to score amphetamine from in Helsinki though.