Wasalandia opened its doors in 1988 just outside of Vaasa in Finland and attracted close to 400.000 visitors in at its height. Recessions, less traffic from Sweden and competion from another  amusement park finally made it shut down in 2015. It featured rides such as Koskenlasku (Wasafalls), Merirosvolaiva (Pirat) and a carting track. There were miniscooters, a ferris wheel and the … Continue reading Wasalandia 1988-2015 – now abandoned

“Mr. #Wirkkala… creates wooden blocks by gluing together layer on layer of wood, carefully balancing dark and light streaks. From these blocks he scoops rounded, swirling shapes that can be regarded simply as decorative objects or put to more functional use to hold nuts, cookies or a fruit arrangement.” - @nytimes, 1952. The artist and … Continue reading Sculpted wood by Tapio Wirkkala

After meeting in Michigan at the @cranbrook_art Academy of Arts in 1940, Charles and Ray #Eames moved to Los Angeles not knowing a soul besides one another and Charles reluctantly took a job as a carpenter and set designer at MGM Studios. Soon after America’s entrance into WWII in 1941, an old friend of Charles’s, … Continue reading The Eames splint

Elissa Aalto (b. Elsa Kaisa Mäkiniemi) (1922-1994) graduated in architecture from the @aaltouniversity or Helsinki University of Technology as it was called in 1949, and the same year she joined the office of #AlvarAalto, whom she later married in 1952. At the time of their marriage Aalto was involved in the construction of the @saynatsalotownhall, … Continue reading Elissa Aalto – The forgotten SOS Lapsikylä

Heikintori is the oldest shopping mall in Finland, constructed in 1968 with plans by renowned architect #AarneErvi. When it opened it was marketed with the words"A visit to #Heikintori is an experience. Make it an adventure and special event in one go". The mall is far from its former self these days and completely unable … Continue reading Heikintori – Second Hand Mecca

The Säynätsalo Town Hall is a multifunction building complex, consisting of two main buildings organised around a centralised courtyard designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto for the municipality of Säynätsalo. Aalto received the commission after a design contest in 1949, and the building was completed in 1951. It's now considered one of Aalto's most important … Continue reading The Säynätsalo Town Hall

Aarne Pietinen founded his photo studio in 1933 after having practiced the craft for over a decade and running many other kinds of businesses. (Sidenote - his father, the industrialist Matti Pietinen, was executed at the city jail in Viipuri during the Finnish civil war and can be seen in the infamous photo of the … Continue reading Studio Pietinen Photography