Designer's Viewpoint

Thoughtful Patterns

A relief-like tiled facade creates a unique look for two apartment buildings in Kauklahti, Espoo, designed by KONKRET Architects.

Designer's Viewpoint

Playing with Boxes

Various rounds of iterations were needed by Avanto Architects, when two detached houses were to be placed in place of a demolished one – while preserving the old stone fences, rocks and pines on the plot.

Designer's Viewpoint

Wood Architect on Fire

The British architectural practice Waugh Thistleton Architects wants to drastically increase the use of timber as a primary building material for new projects both in their homeland and abroad.

Designer's Viewpoint

The Faces of the Dockyard

Telakkaranta, situated next to the Helsinki district of Punavuori, is one of the city’s oldest dockyards. The first new building to be completed in the area in the 2010s, currently housing the European Chemicals Agency ECHA, is in multiple ways still deeply rooted in the harbour milieu.

User's Viewpoint

Farmhouse Living Room, Church and Dance Floor

Puuhi, a community space for informal encounters and cultural activities in the village of Soini, was born from a local initiative. A local yet internationally renowned architect Anssi Lassila was a natural choice for the job.

Designer's Viewpoint

Campus for Connections

JKMM Archtects designed a new head office for Kesko Corporation in Kalasatama, Helsinki. The activity-based environment encourages encounters between the employees – and the building itself also positions itself to encounter the new city district being built around it.

People

Nordic Voices

The Nordic Works collective is well-known for the participatory urban design method they have developed. After having operated in various parts of Finland for more than seven years, the collective is now looking abroad.

Designer's Viewpoint

Culture in the Big League

Completed last year in Fuzhou, the cultural centre consists of five main functions: an opera house, concert hall, multifunctional hall, cinema and exhibition hall. Pekka Salminen, professor and architect, tells about the project and the activities of PES-Architects in China.

Designer's Viewpoint

An Office for the New Economy

Digital banking service Holvi decided to build new office premises in Elanto cooperative’s old headquarters in Kallio, Helsinki. The designers needed to create an image of what a new kind of bank could be, without forgetting the past.