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Globe and Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
The insiders' guide: Where to go in Europe to avoid the crowds
Representing six extraordinarily calm and irrefutably cool destinations across Europe – ones shielded from overtourism yet within easy reach of an international airport – these stylish locals and insiders would welcome your company. Here, they talk about their connection to home and how travellers can get the most out of a visit to their corners of the world. Tips and deals to help maximize your summer vacation dollars Arrive by air to Helsinki. Your insider guide: Kati Kivinen, head of exhibitions at the Helsinki Art Museum. Of any place in the Nordic countries, Helsinki is most like a Canadian city, with its deference to forested parks, architectural modesty and embrace of its 80 miles of coastline, at least for a few months a year. Nature is impossible to avoid here. If you're not in it, you're asked to contemplate it. Visit the modernist buildings by Alvar Aalto, Finland's most influential architect, and you'll be confronted with vast windows showcasing the outdoors (a recent renovation of his lakefront Finlandia Hall added even more). Restaurants have hopped on the sustainability bandwagon, heralding foraged dill, blackcurrants, quinces and rowanberries alongside wild salmon and trout. And the art world is overwhelmingly concerned with ecology. The city's third art biennial, on until Sept. 21, seizes on the national preoccupation but shifts the focus from human-centric stories toward Helsinki's natural assets. The principal venue is Vallisaari, a former military island used by Swedish and Russian powers before it was left to rewild in the hands of the Finns. 'Nature has taken over the island, so it's like an outdoor museum,' Kivinen says. 'The natural world has been in the DNA of the biennial from the beginning, but we want to approach the topic with positivity, rather than dwelling in despair. Artists work with common eelgrass, fungi and decaying plants.' A half-hour by ferry from the central port, Vallisaari is one of 300 islands in Helsinki's archipelago and a habitat for butterflies, bats and even otters. But its repurposed military buildings make exhibiting here practical. Visitors can take in paintings inside by local artists such as Gunzi Holmstrom and Carola Grahn, then venture outdoors to tour Ernesto Neto's avian-inspired tent. 'There's a rise in the scenery nearby so the audience can climb up and see its bird shape from above,' Kivinen says. Those with time to spare can explore Finnish sculptor Raimo Saarinen's three olfactory installations. Dotted around the island, they release scents evoking ancient plants and non-native interlopers that crept in with the Russians. 'After,' Kivinen says, 'you should go to the island of Lonna to have a sauna in an old mine storehouse, then swim in the sea and have dinner.' The island's restaurant, called, simply, Lonna Restaurant, serves saaristolaisleipa, or 'archipelago rye' with fresh fish. 'If you go slightly further by boat, there's an Archipelago Museum on the small island of Pentala, where you can explore how people lived at the turn of 20th century. There's a beautiful sand beach there, and a restaurant in the former boathouse.' Kivinen also recommends hanging out at the Cable Factory, on Helsinki's western edge. A former Nokia facility, it now hosts artists studios, a theatre, museum and café. Where to stay: The Solo Sokos Torni hotel, a 1930s heritage landmark in the historic centre with a legendary rooftop panorama bar. Arrive by train from Brussels in 40 minutes. Your insider guides: Shop owners Pieter Boels and Billyjean Passersby aren't quite sure what to make of Rosewood, a concept store where windows display text-art, bulbous pottery and clinical neo-eighties decor. Boels and the mononymic Billyjean, the owners (and newlyweds), opened it five years ago in their house's main floor lounge as a passion project, and the name hearkens back to the 2000s, when 'Rosewood' was an influential font and the street artist Rose Woods was making a name as the Belgian Banksy. Since that era, atypical Antwerp has gained traction as a creative outlier with a reputation for rebellious individual style. Time has brought more attention to fashion-forward Antwerp, but prices are climbing, art subsidies have disappeared and young people struggle to get a foot in the door. 'We started as a gallery, but we also really wanted to sell these people's stuff,' Boels says. 'So our raison d'être is giving emerging designers a platform as well as showcasing our own work. If you're just shopping for fashion, you can go to Brussels, but the idea of Antwerp being unique and a bit extreme draws an audience and those people find our shop – more from outside Antwerp than within.' Located just outside the old part of the city, the townhouse stands between the grandiose monuments of Stadspark and the Japanese wine bar Osaka. On long walks in the area, the couple stops at Studio Helder, a firm of interior architects who showcase unusual furniture pieces from their brand collaborations, and peruse the collectible design at St Vincents, in the centre of historic Antwerp. A few minutes away is Bourlaschouwburg, one of the city's oldest theatres. It's a popular venue for the theatre collective FC Bergman, a slightly anarchistic troupe of six actors Boels and Billyjean count as inspirations. Among art-lovers, Antwerp is perhaps best known for its Old Masters. The garden behind Rubenshuis, former home of Peter Paul Rubens, was recently overhauled with 22,000 plants by homegrown fashion designer Dries Van Noten. But Boels has a soft spot for the contemporary art museum M HKA. And the couple extend their walks to the Nieuw Zuid neighbourhood for the FOMU photo museum and the avant-garde gallery of Tim Van Laere. 'He made the local artist Rinus van de Velde famous,' Boels says. Beyond Rosewood's immediate neighbourhood is Antwerp's central station and a melting pot of Hasidic Jews, Indians, Moroccans and Chinese. Here, the food is a draw. 'The Chinese restaurant 'the Best' is a great example of manifesting,' Boels says. And the converted military hospital Pakt is a goldmine for food and drink. 'We're both vegan, and there's a good plant-based restaurant there called Camionette, as well as Standard, for pizza. The vibe is just right because the industrial architecture has been maintained.' Where to stay: De Witte Lelie, a converted 16th-century gabled townhouse covered in bold wallpapers, swathed in lush fabrics and stuffed with mid-century furniture. Arrive by train from Madrid in less than two hours. Your insider guides: Interior designers Ana Milena Hernández Palacios and Christophe Penasse of studio Masquespacio. The maximalist, colour-drenched design of Masquespacio is influenced by the artisanal spirit and sunny climate of Valencia, where the sun shines 300 days a year. Follow the pastel interiors from the café-clogged Ruzafa district to the residential seaside enclave El Cabanal and you'll end up in Hernández Palacios's and Penasse's inspirational corner of the city, where colourful ceramic tilework, manufactured locally for generations, is on full display. 'The facades of the houses are made of ceramic tiles in beautiful patterns,' Penasse says. 'Legend says the fishermen living here bought leftover stock from local producers to make their houses beautiful without a lot of money.' Abandoned after the war to make way for high-rise development that never materialized, the ornamental streets have been repopulated and gentrified – most successfully by La Sastreria, a seafood restaurant designed by Masquespacio with marine-coloured checkerboard tile and a rain shower of ceramics dangling from the ceiling. It's joined in the grid of streets by tapas and vermouth bars, and La Fabrica del Hielo, an old ice warehouse that now shows live music and stand-up comedy. From here, the seaside boardwalk and meticulously palm-lined beach are just over the road. Valencia has aged spectacularly well, thanks to the star power of homegrown architect Santiago Calatrava. His City of Arts and Sciences, a giant plaza of skeletal museums and carapace-shaped halls is a highlight of Turia Garden, the rewilded riverbed park running through town. In the summer, Penasse and Hernández Palacios prefer the watery outskirts in the village El Palmar, with its traditional ochre-stucco homes and an emphasis on late paella suppers. Rice fields splay out south of the city in L'Albufera, a natural park on the Turia delta that's been home to fishermen and farmers for generations. Penasse also suggests walking to the northern suburbs around Port Saplaya. Known as the Venice of Valencia, the marina area is home to seafood spots with Mediterranean views. Where to stay: Only You, a boutique hotel a few minutes walk from the art nouveau central market in Port Saplaya. Arrive by train from Paris in an hour. Your insider guide: Olivier Livoir, head of hospitality at Maison Ruinart. The beau monde in Reims, capital of the Champagne region, wear T-shirts and shorts, play French indie rock in their e-cars and entertain in blond-wood bars bathed in light from steel-framed windows. Many have bounced over from sexy careers in Paris to bring their family winemaking operations into the 21st century, and it shows in the paint-spattered tasting room at Taittinger, the feature walls at Krug and the statement lighting at Pommery. Today, champagne tourism is taking cues from the New World and wooing with art and design. Last fall, even France's oldest champagne house, 300-year-old Ruinart, unveiled a massive investment in 'experience': a visitor pavilion designed in ethereal glass and Soissons stone by feted Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. It has beechwood seating in the shape of rose petals with upholstery the colour of chardonnay leaves, and a tasting room with soft, strategic lighting that protects the product. The sculpture garden has been recommissioned and features works by hot, young European artists such as Eva Jospin and Jeppe Hein, who use plaster, powder-coated aluminum, mycelium and resin to evoke the historic chalk cellars of Reims. Trees planted on the new terrace are cork oaks. 'Since the early 2000s, the house has incorporated contemporary works of art into its outdoor and in-house itineraries,' Livoir says. 'The new artist garden, inaugurated last year, is another example of our commitment to art and culture. Each of these works is a way of illustrating the message.' If you visit, be sure to cultivate your chardonnay appreciation. 'The grape variety and its life cycle take centre stage,' Livoir says, 'overshadowing the rich history of the house since its foundation. A tasting of three 100-per-cent chardonnay wines completes the experience.' He suggests a visit to the cellar and bar (specialty cocktail: French 75 with R de Ruinart Brut) after a hike to the summit of the Montagne de Reims, a 286-metre hill coated in vineyards. If you're serious about improving your champagne scholarship, the new Pressoria museum, in a former Pommery pressing plant near Epernay, immerses guests in the mechanics of winemaking. And Phare Verzenay, a 100-year-old lighthouse surrounded by land, has a mini-museum dedicated to the characteristics of the champagne terroir. Livoir also recommends dinner at L'Art de Vivre in Cernay-lès-Reims, a suburb that has not got the memo about moving with the times. The dining is fine here indeed. Where to stay: La Caserne Chanzy, a luxuriously converted fire station across from the city's UNESCO-listed Gothic cathedral. Arrive by taxi or bus from Trieste, Italy, in two hours. Your insider guide: Jerko Sladoljev, director of Top Camping Croatia. The Valalta resort on the western coast of Istria may be the best campground in Europe, according to Sladoljev. He spent decades evaluating the country's 6,000 kilometres of coastline, but keeps coming back to this Adriatic headland near Rovinj, an old Venetian fishing port surrounded by vineyards. Valalta's hiking trails, boating docks, sunset views and four-kilometre white-sand beach have lured tourists from Trieste and Germany since the 1960s. Valalta, it must be said, is a nudist colony – one of the first naturist resorts in a European hub. The practice has waned in other parts of the country, to be sure, but it continues to thrive here thanks to the heavenly location and a COVID-era bump. 'In those days,' Sladoljev says, 'the only good style of living was naturism – no contact with things or people. The practice was completely reborn.' While many of Croatia's naturist spots appease the old guard with a strict no-clothing policy, Valalta takes its reputation for freedom seriously. 'It's more kumbaya,' says Sladoljev of the clothing-optional dress code, 'more of a state of mind.' Most of Istria's beaches, it bears saying, are not the nudist kind. Sladoljev's work covers about 2,000 wild, hidden beaches between Slovenia and Montenegro, but he lives and works on this stretch of coastline. For every naturist at Valalta are a dozen Europeans who come to sail, cliff jump, visit forgotten medieval towns such as Vodnjan and watch dolphins play from the Porec seawall. Off the shore at Medulin are shipwrecks to dive to. On the island of Brijuni, easily reached from the local capital Pula, the remains of a Roman villa stand over a quiet beach – no barrier ropes, no tickets to buy. And just outside Rovinj, you can taste the salt in the air while walking the vineyards and olive groves at Mare, producer of the local malvasia white. From Rovinj's old town, cobbled paths curve around baroque St. Euphemia church to Puntalina, a taverna so close to the water that diners can feel sea spray on their faces and descend ancient marble stairs to dangle their feet in the water between courses. The food still leans into the Italian archetype established centuries ago – pasta with truffles and Adriatic mussels; artichokes, tapenades and squid risotto. When it comes to souvenirs, Sladoljev steers visitors toward Aura, a family distillery that's revived the taste for biska, a local brandy from inland Istria. It's made from wild herbs, apples, mistletoe and local grasses, and sold out of a 17th-century cottage near Rovinj's highest point. Where to stay: Villa Tuttorotto is a grandly decorated converted medieval Venetian palazzo in old Rovinj. Arrive by ferry from Athens in 3.5 hours, or by ferry from Santorini. Your insider guide: Resort owner Ricardo Larriera. On the Cycladic island of Folegandros, there are only 300 permanent residents and just one main road, where the only traffic jams involve beasts of burden. It's hardly a household name, which is why Larriera, an ex-advertising-exec originally from Australia, was able to nab 80 acres of clifftop by the sea for his new resort, Gundari. 'There's a sense of timelessness going back not just to the old Greece but to old values, old senses of community,' Larriera says. 'When you're driving down the road, everyone waves to one another, everyone stops to chat – it's a bit like high school.' Larriera touts the resort's ecocredentials: desalination plant, solar-powered pool, native-plant gardens and a fleet of electric vehicles. Partnering with sustainability consultants back home, he resolved to build almost entirely with traditional methods from the stone beneath his feet. 'We took a punt and felt whatever we excavated would be lovely stone – and it was.' When it's 40 degrees outside, the rooms are cooled by the natural earth slab. But his most resounding success is maintaining and helping to regenerate the local population of rare Eleonora's falcons. His coterie of ornithologists built wooden nests for the birds that shade eggs from the sun and lead guided falcon walks. The eponymous clifftop town, or chora, is best experienced at night, when the five plazas fill with locals and visitors. 'It doesn't feel touristed,' Larriera says. 'Community matters here.' The best restaurants are owned by the farmers themselves, including Chic, where the fresh lamb and produce are island-raised, and Paliomos Winery, serving recipes from the family's yiayia (grandmother) with its own wines. From Gundari, a rocky footpath leads across the south of the island to Katergo Beach, lapped by the denim-blue Aegean. In the other direction is the fine sand of St. Nikolaos beach and Larriera's favourite restaurant, Papalagi. 'It's like the Bondi of Folegandros,' he says, referring to the famous Aussie spot, 'a cliffside restaurant with spectacular seafood and a charismatic owner called Paris. You can take a beautiful walk past ancient lighthouses to get there.' That said, without proper roads, beautiful walks are very much a part of the island experience. 'From a nature perspective it's spectacular, and you get to enjoy that through cobblestone paths and hiking trails that remind you this place has been going for thousands of years.' Where to stay: If Gundari is booked, stay at Anemi Hotel & Spa, a contemporary white stucco villa with a popular pool bar steps from the port.
Forbes
13-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Role Of Design In Finland Being Named The World's Happiest Country
Originally designed by Alvar Aalto as staff accommodation and now carefully restored, this apartment at Finlandia Hall concert and conference venue in Helsinki gives guests the opportunity to experience first hand an authentic Finnish home atmosphere Photo Riikka Kantinkoski Finnish Design Shop, one of the world's largest online stores specializing in Nordic design, plays a pivotal role in promoting the values that have contributed to Finland being crowned the world's happiest country for the eighth consecutive year in the World Happiness Report published by Gallup, Oxford's Well-being Research Center and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. By curating a collection of furniture and home accessories that emphasize simplicity, functionality and sustainability, the company embodies the Finnish commitment to enhancing everyday life through thoughtful design. Its offerings reflect the country's architectural ethos, where clean lines and natural materials create harmonious living spaces that foster well-being and contentment. I sit down with Teemu Kiiski, CEO of Finnish Design Shop, to discuss how design and architecture contribute to national happiness. Finland has been ranked #1 on the World Happiness Report report since 2018. What role have Finnish design and architecture played in making Finland the happiest country in the world? In Finland, good design is practically accessible to everyone. Well-designed products don't necessarily have to be expensive or considered luxury items. Think of Iittala tableware, which you'll find in most Finnish kitchens, or Marimekko's home textiles. We also grow up with design from an early age, as many of us Finns are introduced to Artek tables and chairs in daycare. They're everywhere, and they're a perfect example of durable, timeless design. Finnish design and architecture are all about practicality and functionality, and maybe that's part of what makes life here easier and happier. That's also the idea behind Finnish Design Shop's slogan: 'Pieces of Nordic Happiness'. We're sharing a bit of that Nordic happiness with the world, one piece at a time. Remmi lounge chair designed by Yrjo Kukkapuro Photo courtesy of Finnish Design Shop Finnish design is often associated with simplicity, functionality and harmony with nature. How do these principles align with the Finnish approach to living a happy and fulfilling life? Finnish design reflects the way we approach life: keeping things simple, functional and deeply connected to nature. Of course, a happy life comes from many things, but for us Finns, nature plays a huge role. Even in the heart of Helsinki, you can hop on a bus and be in a nature reserve in just 30 minutes. Summers here in the north are short, so we make the most of them. Many Finns spend their holidays at summer cottages, surrounded by nature. This connection to the outdoors is also reflected in our design. Whether it's natural materials like wood or forms inspired by our landscapes, it's all about creating harmony and balance. How does Finnish architecture prioritize public spaces, and how do these spaces foster community, connection and mental well-being? I think Finnish architecture has always been more about practicality and functionality than flashy, showstopping designs. Even public buildings tend to focus on how they serve the people who use them. A good example is the Paimio Sanatorium by Alvar and Aino Aalto. It wasn't just about creating a beautiful building; it was designed in the 1930s to support the health and mental well-being of its patients in every detail, from the placement of windows to the color of the walls. That kind of thinking feels very Finnish to me: designing for people first. A more recent example is the Oodi Central Library in Helsinki. It's such a welcoming space where you can read, work, play with your child or just hang out. What I find amazing is how it's become a real gathering place for everyone, not just a library in the traditional sense. So rather than focusing on creating architectural 'wow' moments, the emphasis here is often on how spaces can genuinely improve everyday life and bring people together. And I assume that's why these kinds of spaces have a positive impact on the community and mental well-being. The anniversary edition Stool 60 Celebration by Artek + Moomin based on a design classic originally conceived by Alvar Aalto in 1933 Photo courtesy of Artek Sustainability is a cornerstone of Finnish design. How do you think this commitment to sustainability impacts the collective happiness of Finnish society? Sustainability is definitely something we take seriously, but it's a complex challenge. I think responsibly produced design should already be a given in today's world, but the responsibility also lies with consumers. That's why we've tried to make it easier for people to make more sustainable choices. In 2023, we introduced our Product Sustainability Framework to help both consumers and design professionals evaluate the sustainability of the products in Finnish Design Shop's selection. The ratings are visible directly on our website's product pages, making it simple for customers to make informed decisions. I'd like to add that a well-designed, responsibly made item isn't just something that lasts – it can even retain its resale value. I think this kind of mindful approach to design and consumption contributes to happiness in the long run because people feel good about owning something that stands the test of time and aligns with their values.
New York Times
17-03-2025
- General
- New York Times
Why Helsinki Is Worth Visiting for the Architecture Alone
Centered on a blossom-shaped peninsula, Helsinki is as cool and calm as the slate-gray waters that surround it. For centuries, the city, like the rest of present-day Finland, was under foreign rule, first as a provincial outpost of the Swedish Empire and then as the capital of a Grand Duchy under Russian control for most of the 1800s. In the lead-up to independence in 1917, Finnish writers, artists and musicians drew on their singular language and regional folklore to assert a distinctive national identity. Architects played their part, too, combining decorative allusions to Finland's sprawling landscape of lakes and forests with modern technologies like steel frames and electric lights: a new idiom for a new country. For the past century, design — from the modish floral-print fabrics of Marimekko to the Nokia cellphone — has been one of modern Finland's most recognizable exports. For many design enthusiasts, a visit to Helsinki begins with Alvar Aalto, one of the 20th century's most influential architects, who left his mark across the capital, with buildings ranging from the monumental and recently restored concert venue Finlandia Hall to the modest yet exquisitely detailed home that he built in the central suburb of Munkkiniemi with his first wife, Aino, an essential collaborator until her death in 1949. Yet Aalto represents just one part of a much larger and more diverse architectural culture in Helsinki, one that includes graceful neo-Classical churches and Art Nouveau apartment blocks, as well as formally experimental public spaces like the 2018 Oodi Central Library. Here, listed in the order in which they were completed, are ten buildings that illustrate Helsinki's evolution as a global design capital. 1. Suomenlinna The Swedish crown started building this sea fort in 1748 on a cluster of six islands in Helsinki's harbor and named it Sveaborg, or 'Castle of the Swedes' ('Viapori' in Finnish). Developed gradually over the centuries, the fortress now contains 18th-century stone bastions, austere neo-Classical houses along gravel- and cobblestone-paved streets and 19th-century barracks covered in pale pink plaster. The fort got its current name — Suomenlinna, or Castle of Finland — in 1918, immediately after the country's transition to independence. Used as a marine base during World War II, Suomenlinna was fully demilitarized in 1972 and has since become a residential district and an open-air museum accessible by ferry. 2. Central Railway Station The architect Eliel Saarinen's Central Railway Station, initially designed in 1904 and finally completed in 1919, marks an essential transition between Finland's National Romantic style — an offshoot of the Art Nouveau movement — and modernist rationalism. In his original design, Saarinen, who was Finland's best-known builder after Aalto, incorporated a steepled tower and bear statues, nodding to the country's historical stone churches and its forests. After widespread debate over what kind of building should symbolize Finland's technological future, Saarinen reworked the project completely. He replaced the bears with large granite figures holding electric lanterns, designed by the sculptor Emil Wickström, which flank a vaulted entry hall. Instead of a steeple, the slender clock tower is topped with a copper dome — a beacon visible throughout the city center. With its pared-down, geometric detailing, the Central Railway Station was an aesthetic bridge to the 20th century. 3. Kotiharjun Sauna There's only one Finnish word that's used commonly abroad: sauna. For thousands of years, Finns have gathered to enjoy sweat baths in peat-roofed huts, timber lodges and, in the first half of the 20th century, log-heated communal saunas often set on the basement levels of apartment buildings — essential social spaces for the city's middle-class residents. The oldest public bathhouse in Helsinki, the Kotiharjun Sauna, first opened in 1928 and continues to receive visitors throughout the year. Though modern baths by important architects have opened across Helsinki's city center in the past decade, Kotiharjun's wood-paneled locker rooms and dim, timber-heated saunas are still popular among locals, whom you'll find relaxing and drinking beers on the sidewalk outside, even in the dead of winter, in nothing but their towels. 4. Olympic Stadium Finland was meant to host the 1940 summer Olympics in a stadium designed by the early Modernist architects Yrjö Lindgren and Toivo Jäntti. (In 1948, Lindgren would go on to win an Olympic gold medal in town planning, one of the erstwhile arts categories eliminated from the Games in the mid-20th century.) Although the structure was completed in 1938, World War II forced Finnish authorities to postpone the Helsinki Games until 1952, the same year the country finished liquidating its war debt to the Soviet Union. With its slim, 236-foot-tall tower and the streamlined sweep of its bleachers, the Olympic Stadium was built to reflect a young nation's global aspirations as it transformed from a poor rural country into the affluent, democratic welfare state it is today. The stadium remains Finland's largest outdoor sports venue and has served as a public ice rink in the freezing winter months. 5. National Pensions Institute Initially designed by Alvar and Aino Aalto in 1948 and completed in 1956, the National Pensions Institute maintains its original use as the center of Finland's sprawling welfare system. The Aaltos became known internationally for their rigorous Modernist structures and warm, handcrafted interiors. At the institute, the brick, copper and granite of the strictly orthogonal exterior give way to sumptuous interior spaces that include a customer service hall, a cafeteria, offices, meeting rooms and a library, their straight lines softened with colorful ceramic tiles, marble floors and brass and wood detailing. 6. Dipoli Aalto's most radical successors, Reima and Raili Pietilä, made a name for themselves beginning in the 1960s; like Aalto, the couple used forms found in the natural world, but the Pietiläs pushed them to new structural extremes. Their second permanent building, the Dipoli Student Center (1966), with its jagged roofline jutting out over irregular swaths of glass, seems to crawl off a low hilltop at Helsinki University of Technology (renamed Aalto University in 2008) in the capital's western outskirts. Originally owned by the school's student union, the space, now officially known just as Dipoli, was sold to the university in 2013. It reopened after renovations in 2017 and today functions as a multiuse meeting space and events center. The angular facade in copper, glass, timber and stone takes its inspiration from the granite boulders that surround it, like a primeval landscape come to life. 7. Helsinki City Theatre In 1960, Helsinki's most important municipal theater institution, in need of a permanent home, launched an open competition to design a building in the waterfront Tokoinranta Park. The winning entry, by the young architects Timo Pentillä and Kari Virta, was completed in 1967 and seamlessly integrated with the city's natural landscape. Covered in bone-colored tiles, the City Theatre traces the curve of a low hillside bordered on one side by the park's shaded lawns. Staircases connect the surrounding greenery to a walkable roof at street level. Save for its sculptural fly tower, the structure hugs the ground, reimagining Helsinki's gentle topography as a horizontal sweep of ceramic and glass. 8. Temppeliaukio Church In 1961, the architect brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen designed a Lutheran church for a rocky building site in Helsinki's wealthy Töölö neighborhood. Rather than create a structure that would sit atop the granite outcropping, surrounded by elegant apartment blocks, the brothers chose to view the plot itself as a religious space and sank the Temppeliaukio Church (better known as the Rock Church) almost entirely into the landscape. A cavelike entrance opens off the street into a spacious chapel topped with a copper dome and surrounded by rugged stone walls. At once earthy and ethereal, the church, which still hosts regular prayer services and chamber concerts, has become an icon of Finnish Modernism's intimate relationship with the natural world. 9. Artek 2nd Cycle Since its founding in 1935 — by the Aaltos, the artist and patron Maire Gullichsen and the historian and critic Nils-Gustav Hahl — the design company Artek has defined the look and feel of interiors across Finland. Originally created to promote the Aaltos' furniture abroad and cultivate modern tastes at home, Artek has expanded its collection to include pieces by essential designers from the 1930s to the present day, including Ilmari Tapiovaara's stackable beechwood Aslak chair and the curved Karuselli chair by Yrjö Kukkapuro. The Artek 2nd Cycle project was started in 2006 to recover and restore used pieces; in 2011 the company opened a showroom in Helsinki's design district — a few blocks away from its flagship store — featuring iconic furnishings from throughout Artek's history. 10. Amos Rex Museum Before his death in 1961, the entrepreneur Amos Anderson accumulated 438 paintings and sculptures, mostly by contemporary Finnish artists; together, they became the basis of what is now the most significant private art collection in Finland. In 2018, the Amos Anderson Foundation expanded with a contemporary art space set in the Lasipalatsi, or 'Glass Palace' — a jewel of functionalist design built in 1936 in Helsinki's central Kamppi neighborhood as a temporary visitors' center for the Olympics. Rather than forcing flexible display spaces into a protected building, the Helsinki-based firm JKMM Architects restored the original structure and installed new subterranean galleries under an existing open plaza. Inside, an undulating ceiling is punctuated by periscope-like windows, carefully placed to frame key elements of the surrounding neighborhood. At street level, the rooftop creates a whimsical urban playground, open to the city at large.
