The land of 1000 lakes, land of beautiful nature, Sisu mentality, Sauna… To me, these and many other words, which are used to characterize Finland, are much more than just promotional phrases for tourists or recent movers that still haven’t got used to routine life in Finland, they became a cliche. True ones, I can’t deny that, but quite primitive and repetitive. So why should we stop and again repeat these for a hundredth time here? I want to break this pattern, and tell something different, something sacred and something that makes up this Finnishness for me. And that will be, all of a sudden, architecture and living environment!
From the start, I would like to hold a sudden reflection on the past and present observations. It is important, trust me!
You see, I come from a country that borders Finland to the East, and that country is, you guessed it, Russia. Right now, in my opinion, Russia faces two critical issues with its living standards – Careless treatment of the old buildings and disrespect towards private house neighborhoods. Such problems are less visible in places like Moscow or Saint Petersburg, which do have a small interest and reason to manage to more or less maintain the historical look of the cities and even can tolerate someone living semi-independently with a stable, small community on their piece of land somewhere on the outskirts, but the deeper you go, the worse it gets – Pre-revolution buldings and unique architectural sights can be excluded from historical monument list in a blink of an eye once a powerful developer steps in and shows some interest in the land below it. The more lucky surviving buildings are not in a lesser danger as they deteriorate without proper and regular maintenance. Once these “ruins” meet their fate, Instead of thinking how potentially a new building can be organically tied into the architectural balance of the city, construction companies design and build 30-and-higher floor boxy apartment blocks with very limited infrastructure provided to its inhabitants.
And don’t get me started on the private houses – You don’t have any right to practice your independence and seclusion once you get into sight of some big player! If you decide not to play along, well, your house may “unexpectedly” cast in flames or something else will anyways diminish your property to nothing. That’s the reality I have lived in for 19 years and still observe from a distance today on the news.
Meanwhile in Finalnd – Everything, from the way the buildings look to how they are maintained and how individual property is treated, is fully antonymous to what I’ve know before I moved here. To me, it is in a way a highlight of one global Finnish value – Everyone deserves equal treatment and respect, as well as a right to be yourself, even the houses!
Firstly, it is the architecture itself. It is not a big secret that Finland doesn’t offer much variety in visual designs, but still, they manage to make an impression and create a certain vibe to it! For example, you can take a walk around Kaleva, and feel heavy notes of socialism, or you can go to Pispala, and enjoy light Hollywood-like view on Pyhäjärvi. And you can sense history from every brick when you’re strolling down on Mannerheimentie in Helsinki or immerse yourself into hustle and bustle of business in Kalasatama district. My personal favorite in all of this would be classical red Swedish wooden houses and barnyards, easily found in many villages and cities along the southern coast of Finland.
Secondly, it would be the private housing. For me, it was a big cultural shock to observe how communities of private houses can be located at the very central locations around cities, and they will remain untouched for many-many years! Another important factor in such community for me is that they remain small and closed, sometimes forming a stereotypical view of friendly neighbors grilling something every week together.
Lastly, the aftercare for apartment buildings and private homes. Not only it is a very developed and competitive business niche, it is actually quite useful and also effective. A downside to it would be that it costs you quite much, but it eventually makes your money worth!
Now, to sum everything up, I do believe that man-created objects built from bricks and other materials are always neglected and overlooked, unless there’s a very distinct feature to it. Finland is usually portrayed as a very sterile country, and it is visible in housing sector too. Hardly any other place in the world is able to replicate this unique architectural look in my eyes. This is MY Finishness.
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