Helsinki is a fun city to explore – great spaces dedicated to its spirit of community.
The central train station, constructed in 1919, was designed by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen in a modern style…..
His son, Eero, gained renown as an architect in the US who designed the famous Gateway Arch in St Louis and the TWA flight center for New York’s JFK airport.
Some fascinating sculptures….
Junk becomes art….. a jumble of bicycle parts dredged from the bay on display.
Lots of bike lanes and relatively light vehicle traffic make this a comfortable place to take a ride.
The waterfront features a colorful outdoor market.
An unexpected discovery was the city’s library, a sweeping modern structure on a vast plaza….
The best part was inside. This place functions as a community arts center, a brilliant adaptation of the traditional library to modern times. Meeting rooms, art studios and recording studios are available at little to no cost. Even musical instrument rentals are free…
The facility includes banks of sewing machines and all kinds of craft equipment for public use, including this 3-D printer.
Play stations and virtual reality studios… and old-fashioned chess sets that people (even children!) actually use…
And of course there are books (carefully transferred for shelving by little robots)….
And places to enjoy them.
A cafe on the roof includes a sweeping terrace with a fabulous view.
To us, this is the Future of Community, where public spaces not only please the eye, but provide fodder for creativity and connection to fellow citizens!
SÁPMI (LAPLAND)
Sápmi, often called Lapland, a region inhabited by the indigenous Sámi people, includes the northern part of Finland, as well as contiguous parts of Norway, Sweden and Russia. The Sámi are traditionally reindeer herders, although they have been active in many other parts of society. (The Sámi were called Lapps, but they find the terminology offensive, so we will stick with Sámi and the name of their homeland, Sápmi.)
Our short visit included time at a reindeer farm…
And a performance of the a cappella Sámi singing form known as joiking, characteristically performed with a great deal of energy and quite a lot of volume!
We are continually amazed and delighted at what there is to learn about other places and cultures. But we will return to somewhat familiar territory at our next destination – Reykjavik, Iceland.
Emerald Isle to the Norse Lands 
That library was awesome. I would LOVE to see more shared community spaces like this here (like pointed out). This seems to be a better way than everyone trying to make their own exclusive private spaces. The reindeer!!!! Thanks for the Sami singing, too! Her song and costume were incredible!
LikeLike