Study Tour Part 3: Helsinki

Next we went to Helsinki, Finland. (See part 1 here and part 2 here.) It was such a nice and walkable city and I really liked the buildings we visited. I would definitely recommend visiting Helsinki!

Myyrmäki Church

We went to the Myyrmäki church by Juha Leiviskä. He said that “architecture is closer to music than the visual arts” and you can definitely feel that in this church. It feels like the space is composed around you, each element having its own rhythm.

Loyly Sauna

We also got to visit a Finnish sauna! It was so fun. We got a tour from the architect and then we got to go into the sauna.

Helsinki University Library

The Helsinki University Library was beautiful as well. It was built by Anttinen Oiva Architects. The building is an investigation in the interaction of square and rounded shapes. A grid of windows and bookcases is interrupted by elegantly swooping curves.

The main entry to the library is a curved atrium.

There is a beautiful circular staircase that goes through the building.

Kiasma Art Museum

Steven Holl! One of my favorite architects. This is his Kiasma Art Museum. The circulation in this building is a series of ramps that lead you from exhibition to exhibition.

Temppeliaukion “Rock Church”

The “rock church” was carved out of bedrock and had the most incredible copper ceiling.

Aalto University

We got to tour Aalto University. Many of the buildings will be in my next post, Aalto Mania, but this building is the Dipoli university union and it was designed by Reima and Raili Pietilä. I loved the exterior of this building. It feels like a ski resort!

More Aalto buildings to come in the next post!

If walls could dream… they’d dream of visiting Helsinki.