Hvittrask

Our Finland tour didn't end at the Rock Church. We drove to Hvittrask to visit the homes and working studios of 3 significant architects at the turn of the last century - Herman Gasellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen*.

The 3 Helsinki-based architects first achieved fame designing the Finnish Pavillion for the 1900 Paris World Exhibition. This funded their purchase of land overlooking Lake Vitttask and the building of the.studio whose work moved the predominant Victorian/Romantic design aesthetic towards what would become the Arts & Craft movement.

The 3 swapped their wives along with design ideas, eventually moving away. The studio remained as a museum.

*Eliel's son, Eero Saarinen, achieved greater recognition as a leading Mid-Century Modern architect. Eero designed JFK Airport's TWA terminal, the St Louis Arch and Virginia's Dulles airport.

I can't close this post without mentioning our tour leader, Niccola. We expected an expert on Finnish design and culture, but didn't expect him to be from Appulia ( heel of the Italian boot) !