A sense of space and lightness has found elegant expression in the works of modern Finnish architects.
A bird's eye view reveals that Finland's surface area is covered with forests and lakes and the country is sparsely occupied.
In 1900 there were only 33 recognisable towns, most of which were coastal and each inhabited by fewer than a thousand people. Rivers and lakes were used for transport, and settlements sprang up along the waterways. Work on the first railway began in 1862. Canals were built to connect the lakes and provide ships with a route to the sea.
Historic buildings
Wood is abundant in Finland and has always been a natural building material. Only public buildings and castles were made of stone, so most of Finland's historic buildings are wooden. This is one reason why the Finnish building stock is so young, since towns and buildings were destroyed by fire or rot before they reached any great age.
Not all has been lost, however: take, for example, the wooden quarters of some small towns, the 17th century industrial milieus, the red-ochre log houses of Ostrobothnia and the harmonious Neo-Classical manor houses. While giving tangible expression to the Finnish feeling for nature, the summer cottages dotted around lakes and along the coastline represent a totally new culture of wooden building.
About 70 elegant medieval greystone churches survive. The oldest wooden churches date to the 17th century: Kerimäki church, for example, built in 1849, is one of the world's biggest wooden buildings and a venue for summer concerts. There are some handsome medieval castles too, such as those at Turku, Hämeenlinna and Savonlinna. The picturesque 18th-century island fortress of Suomenlinna is only a short ferry journey from the centre of Helsinki.
Major European architectural trends left little mark on Finnish architecture before the 18th century, when international influences gained strength.
Highlights of Finnish architecture are the Neo-Classicism of the early 19th century, the National Romanticism of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Functionalism of the 1930s and the Modernism of the 1960s.
Along with vernacular building traditions, the Finnish variations of these styles have added their flavour to the world's architectural history.
Splendid architecture
Helsinki's Senate Square, with its Cathedral, University and Council of State, all the work of Carl Ludvig Engel (1776-1840), is one of Western Europe's finest expressions of Neo-Classical architecture.
The Katajanokka quarter in Helsinki boasts some splendid examples of art nouveau Jugenstil, while the architect's former home and studio at Hvitträsk, now a museum, is a dazzling showcase of the Finnish National Romantic.
As a young and dynamic nation, Finland has provided fertile soil for new ideas, and under the influence of Eliel Saarinen (1873-1950) - one of the designers and original occupants of Hvitträsk - and his contemporaries, Finnish architecture began to blossom. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), whose work expressed practicality, light and an awareness of natural environment, emerged as one of Finland's most famous architects, and visitors to the country are still keen to inspect his best-known creations, including the Finlandia hall in Helsinki and the pioneering sanatorium at Paimio.
Finnish architecture experienced yet another awakening in the 1950s as the country emerged from the shadow of war in a frenzy of construction, industrialisation and urbanisation. Churches, schools, libraries and town halls mushroomed, and a new type of suburb - the garden city of Tapiola near Helsinki was a shining example - provided a model for the future. A sense of space and lightness has found elegant expression in the works of many modern architects. Juha Leiviskä is one of several examples.
Bold innovation
Urbanisation and extensive post-war socio-economic development have resulted in extensive reconstruction of Finland's old towns and villages. Three-quarters of Finland's buildings have sprung up since the war, and it will be some time before this new architecture finds its natural place in the Finnish landscape.
Just the same, there has still been room for bold innovation: witness Reima and Raili Pietilä's Metso (Capercaillie), the public library in the city of Tampere.
Traditions are also being rekindled, and the conservation of historic buildings has gained strength since the sixties, with active efforts to preserve what remains of Finland's architectural heritage.
- Finnish Tourist Board
