Sauna as Acupuncture

Marco Casagrande is a Finnish architecture working in Taiwan... He's fairly well-known for The Chen House, but as this project proves, he is thoughtful and considerate in all of his work.

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This insertion of a Finnish sauna into an eastern urban fabric hopes to provide a point in which we can experience both the modern and the ancient. Rather than paraphrase all the ways in which this project aims to affect the city's chi, I would highly recommend visiting Marco's site dedicated to this project. It is well worth the read...

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How Embarrassing

So, the World Expo 2010 is taking place in Shanghai, and many of the world's best architects have contributed designs. Many countries have hired the best architects found in their own country, while others have ventured out beyond their borders... but most designs have something in common... trying to articulate the priorities and passions of their home country, exuding confidence and creativity. Of course, I say most because the US is one glaring exception. What does our pavilion say about us? We could be locate along any highway in any suburb. We value conformity and corporate culture (which we can directly link to many of the problems plaguing our nation). We don't really have any place for innovation or creativity and we certainly don't value our architects, which is why we hired a Canadian to design a metal panelled representation of an eagle (there is that lack of creativity and ingenuity again).

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Very Frustrating. An expo is not an office park.

US
UK

Spain

South Korea

Portugal

Denmark

Switzerland

Russia

Japan

Poland

Finland

Canada

Una casa by Casagrande

Marco Casagrande (what a great name for an architect!) sent this project (the Chen house)along.... a fantastic home in a rural area of Taiwan.

How nice!

Le culte de la nature

I really like this project by Arkkitehtitoimisto Tuomo Siitonen. The combination of rustic and refined materials offers a soothing composition. This live/work studio for ceramicist Karin Widnas is located in an artists' village south west of Helsinki. The large expanses of glass take full advantage of the limited light during the winter, and open up the studio to the out of doors during the summer.

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More info (in French) at marie claire maison

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3X JKMM

The winning design for a 2002 competition, this design for the ARMI Center is currently on hold. Hopefully the Finnish Architectural Museum and Design Museum will get their funding together in order to move this project forward. The form is simple, but there are some playful parts of the project, including a roof form that lifts slightly upward, giving us a little wink.

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I really love the palette of colors and materials in this Helsinki day care center... Again, the forms are simple, but playful. JKMM Architects took full advantage of all light available, which is obviously important in a place like Helsinki. The bright interiors and warm materials make this a place I'd like to spend time in, as a child or as an adult.

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Lastly, this recent project, the Turku Central Library seems to take the great attributes of the earlier projects (simplicity, a combination of cool colors and warm materials, and a playful quality) and really refines their design aesthetic. I'm really digging all of these projects and will definitely be keeping my eye out for more work by JKMM.

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Thanks Colin!

For those of you who don't click through on the comments... I thought it was worth posting this acoustic box for listening to music by Martti Kalliala and Esa Ruskeepää with Martin Lukasczyk of Mafoombey. Its a fantastic use of corrugated cardboard...

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Tradition in Kärsämäki

I have seen this project a few times on various websites and blogs, but until today I had really never read up on the project. I knew that this wooden church located in Kärsämäki, Finland was the result of a student competition (won by Anssi Lassila of the University of Oulu) in conjunction with the parish of Kärsämäki (and additional funding from the EU). However, until I noticed the admittedly older post on 2 or 3 things, I had never checked out the webpage for this church.

Apparently, this wooden church replaces one that was built in the 1700s, and subsequently lost in the 1800s, using traditional 18th century building processes. The church was intended not just as a place for worship, but as a place for learning, too. Using these historic building techniques, older craftsmen were able to pass on their trades to a younger generation through volunteer participation in the construction process.

This is truly a special project... incorporating a very simple, modern, and beautiful design with volunteerism, learning, and community traditions.

Predicting the Future

Futuro

Venturo

During the 60s and 70s, designers all over the world were obsessed with the impending Space Age. Finnish architect Matti Suuronen did not escape the obsession, in fact he was one of the leading figures in the Utopian design movement. Incorporating elements of mobility, technological and material advances, as well as adjustments to family lifestyles, Suuronen created several designs that could easily be transported across borders of locale, economy, class, and time.

During this era, many designers attempted to project the future, imagining exciting improvements in society revolving around the advancements in space travel and living. While many of these predictions did not prove to be fruitful, a great deal of today's designs have a clear lineage tracing back to these space age movements.

Today too, we often find ourselves trying to predict the future... Whether we are projecting future traffic patterns, the effects of global warming, or the effect of our buildings on the local community, architects and designer are continuously looking towards the future. The big difference as I see it, is that we are no longer preparing for our future wide-eyed and excited about the possibilities, but rather we are often cautious, preparing for a future that could very possibly be more complicated and difficult than today. But, while the future could potentially be a scary place, it can still be thrilling for designers to predict and design for a happy, Utopian, futuristic society.

If you'd like a piece of this history, the Venturo shown above appears to be for sale.
See Happy Silly.

Alluring Ala

The Helsinki, Finland firm ALA was formed in 2004, and they've been busy since their inception. Most of their projects derive from competition entries, and while they don't yet have much built work... they soon will when some of their winning entries are completed. For a very young firm, they have been invited to participate in quite a few competitions, and even more remarkably, have achieved success in a large number of those architectural competitions both at home in Finland and abroad.

This 2007 Competition Entry for a Warsaw, Poland Museum of Modern Art received an honorable mention.

This 2005 competition entry for a Kristiansand, Norway performing arts center won first prize and is currently under construction. Its expected to be completed in 2010.