alvar aalto's house

alvar aalto's house in munkkiniemi is full of familiar objects: the savoy vase, the beehive pendant lamp ..... but to see all of them together, in the way they were used by the designer himself, is something special.

aalto's works and many other iconic finnish designs are from the 30's - 60's. what's interesting is that these were decades of great instability, with the country ravaged by wars and war debts. that people could embrace new, modern aesthetics even in such times says a lot about finland.

the long days of summer

it's 10 pm and i ought to go to bed because i have a 7 am start tomorrow. but how can i when it looks like this outside?

my favourite finnish phrase right now is aurinko paista, which means "it's sunny." doesn't it sound beautiful? i wish i could say it every day!