Set on the grounds of Fiskars, an art and design hub, the KOJA treehouse has been realized in 1:1 scale for the Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale. Made of sustainable materials like wood and wool, the treehouse captures Polestar’s design language and planet-protecting values, “symbolizing a shift in both the way we use materials and the way we define a space,” as the brand explains.

Designer Kristian Talvitie was inspired to create a structure that allowed people to immerse themselves in nature without traveling far. The idea is that while it’s important to make the technologies we use to travel more sustainable, it’s also important for everyone to travel less in order to respond to the climate crisis. The treehouse nestles up into a tree canopy, which can be located virtually anywhere — even in a backyard, or a public park in a major city. That makes the experience of relaxing among the branches more accessible, reducing the need to intrude upon the wilderness.

The design is a black capsule with a nearly 360-degree ribbon of glass along the facade, granting occupants sweeping views of their surroundings. Stairs at the back grant access, and inside, visitors will find a bench wrapped around the tree trunk, essentially turning it into a sculptural focal point. Padded benches and work surfaces also line the interior walls. The roof is made of glass, too, so you can look up and gaze at the stars. This modern treehouse is made of locally sourced materials to help it blend in with its environment but has a futuristic aesthetic, demonstrating that sustainable design can be sleek and interesting, too.

“It’s amazing how well it embodies our brand values,” says Martin Österberg, Head of Marketing for Polestar Finland. “It’s beautiful in its simplicity, and the fact that it’s made from locally sourced spruce really emphasizes our focus on sustainability. We think we found the perfect home for it here at the Biennale.”

KOJA wasn’t the only sustainable micro-house displayed at the Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale. As part of the exhibit “House by an Architect,” it joins six other mini-homes which are available for rent through Airbnb. KOJA will remain open to the public through September.

The two other winning designs of the 2021 Polestar Design Contest are “Glad to Be Dirty” by Mingwei Liu in the Student category and “Polestar H_UB” by David Vultaggio in the Professional category. The former is a small, geometric car which an architectural take on Polestar’s design vocabulary that actively filters dirty air as it goes, “allowing the user to feel proud of driving a dirty car.”

The H_UB is both a brand experience center and a place to hang out while charging your Polestar vehicle, which generates its own electricity and produces hydrogen from a biomass roof. The design is “a comprehensive reimagining of what once might have been called a garage.”

The post Electric Carmaker Polestar Translates Its Brand Identity to a Modern Treehouse first appeared on Dornob.

Finland, which shares 800 miles of its eastern border with Russia, is not keen to be the next Ukraine. Luckily, the Scandinavian nation already has a system of 5,000 bomb shelters beneath Helsinki that could shelter the city’s entire population, along with an additional 50,000 bunkers across the country.

The bunkers were mandated by Finland’s Rescue Act, which requires any currently used buildings with a floor area of at least 12,900 square feet to include bunkers. Helsinki began excavating its tunnels in the 1960s for utilities like electricity and plumbing and soon realized they could continue digging for larger spaces to shelter the population in an emergency.

At least 85 percent of these shelters are operated privately and used to serve other functions during peacetime. That means many underground spaces are currently inhabited by churches, skate parks, shopping centers, theaters, parking garages, swimming pools, and even a hockey rink.

Helsinki’s 200-mile network of nuclear bunkers is mostly connected, so the city’s residents can simply go underground and comfortably walk, shop, socialize, and play sports no matter what the weather looks like above the surface. These subterranean spaces can be quite beautiful, especially when the raw rock walls are still visible. Standout spaces include the Amos Rex Art Museum and the Temppeliaukio Church, designed by architects and brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen.

Built throughout the Cold War era, the bunkers are located about 60 feet underground. They’re blast-proof, gas-proof, and able to withstand radiation and chemical attacks. Their current occupation by alternative uses won’t stop them from functioning as needed in an emergency. In fact, it would take just 72 hours to get them ready to accommodate thousands of occupants.

“We have to take care of the citizens, that’s the main reason we have this system,” says Tomi Rask, an instructor with Helsinki’s Civil Defense Department.

Previously part of Sweden, Finland was seized by The Russian Empire in 1809 and remained under its control for about a century. When the Russian Revolution led to the formation of the Soviet Union in 1917, Finland declared its independence. A brief civil war fractured the country between the Soviet-aligned Red faction and the Western-aligned White faction. During World War II, the Soviets invaded Finland twice, and though the outnumbered Finns were able to hold back the Soviet troops, Finland was forced to sign peace treaties twice that resulted in a loss of land along its eastern border.

In the decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Finland has chosen not to join any international alliances in order to appease Russia’s security concerns. The country built its bunkers and made conscription mandatory for men in order to stay prepared for possible invasion. But as officials and citizens alike watch the current events unfolding in Ukraine, support for joining NATO has skyrocketed from about 30 percent before the Russia-Ukraine war to more than 70 percent in the weeks following the February invasion.

Joining NATO would grant Finland the protection of the Western Military Alliance, expand NATO’s influence in the Arctic, and strengthen NATO itself. But it would also more than double Russia’s land border with NATO nations, potentially increasing the tensions in the Baltic Sea region. Russia has already threatened “serious military and political consequences” if Finland and Sweden join NATO. One potential response would be placing nuclear weapons in the Baltics.

The post If Tensions with Russia Escalate, Finland’s Awesome Underground Spaces Will Act as Nuclear Bunkers first appeared on Dornob.

Contributing to its awe-inspiring presence is the fact that it’s three stories tall – certainly not the kind of modest structure you’d expect to come upon while walking in the woods. Designed as a vacation home for a Finnish-born client who now lives in California, the stark modern cabin is visually inspired by its setting in remote Kontiolahti, within rocky terrain full of jagged boulders.

This sense of drama is integral to the experience, according to the architects. They want visitors to glimpse it through the trees as they approach on foot, wondering what on earth this “mystical dark object” could be. Its facade is entirely inscrutable by night, and in the daytime, it’s no less mysterious, albeit a little less intimidating.

The polyhedron-shaped building is made of prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, a relatively new innovation in the world of engineered lumber that’s extra strong and lightweight, enabling timber buildings to take on all kinds of shapes and sizes. The thick wood walls are also air-insulated, and all functional and utility elements are disguised within them for a minimalist effect. Even the roof is made of solid wood, oiled to protect it from the elements.

Meteorite’s interior is enchanting in a whole different way, lined with pale wood and brightened up by natural light. Transparent acrylic railings along the stairs and landings add to that sense of airiness, while hardware-free black cabinetry is set within the walls to create a visual anchor. A central atrium rises all the way to the top floor, where a 107-square-foot skylight provides unobstructed views of the stars. A net on the third floor even offers a built-in hammock for lounging, reading, and napping.

“Meteorite is not a large house, but on the inside it represents a completely new 3-dimensional open-concept way of organizing living space,” says Ateljé Sotamaa co-founder Kivi Sotamaa. “Unlike traditional houses where each room has a specific predetermined purpose, Meteorite’s architecture supports more dynamic relationships of its residents and a variety of life situations. Digital design and new prefabrication and construction technologies enable the creation of unique, aesthetically high-quality ecological wood buildings that add experiential value to their locations.”

Client Ulla-Maaria Koivula, who’s the founder and CEO of education technology provider ThingLink, had the cabin built on her grandparent’s old homestead. It was initially envisioned as a vacation home that would be visited a few times a year, but due to the pandemic and California wildfires, the family decided to live in it full-time and work from home.

”Every building materializes our relationship with the natural environment,” Koivula says. ”My inspiration to have a unique wood house built in this country sprouted from the rocky hills and rugged woods of Koli, rich in erratic boulders that also served Finland’s defense during the Winter War. Meteorite reflects the connection my soul has to Finnish nature, and looking through one of its large windows to the misty fields around takes me back to the calm days of childhood.”

“We use the house as a creative space for remote work, hobbies, and hanging out together. In the old days, families gathered into a large horizontal kitchen space to be together. We now interconnect vertically with each other and with the surrounding nature. In this time and age with effective telecommunications and speed trains to the metropolitan region, this is a paradise for us to get settled into the good life.”

The post Meteorite is a Mysterious 3-Story Black Cabin in the Forests of Finland first appeared on Dornob.

Every year, Finland’s Lapland Hotels SnowVillage carves incredible sculptural scenes into the ice and snow that makes up the walls of its hotel, restaurant, and bar. They’ll be opening as normal for the 2020-2021 season on December 20th with the theme “Winter Illusions,” a celebration of optical illusions that looks like it’ll be pretty cool in its own right. But it’s hard to imagine anything topping the Game of Thrones theme the hotel chose two seasons in a row, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.

In the corridor, guests found a recreation of Braavos’ Hall of Faces. Massive dragons overlooked the bar, glowing eyes and all. In one of the guest rooms, the Night King loomed menacingly over the bed, which must have been quite a sight to wake up to. Many of the spaces are carved to mimic the most stunning castles in all of Westeros, from Winterfell down to King’s Landing. And of course, there’s an all-ice Iron Throne guarded watchfully by Gregor Clegane.

The other guest rooms featured such notable characters and objects as white walkers, Drogon, Wun Wun the giant, the Weirwood Tree, and Ghost, Jon Snow’s white dire wolf. The ice restaurant, temporarily named “The Sept of Baelor,” offered such delicacies as hot berry juice and reindeer steaks.

Set in the village of Kittilä nearly 125 miles above the Arctic Circle, the hotel is rebuilt every year using about 44 million pounds of snow and 771,000 pounds of natural ice. Ice sculptors are flown in from around the world months in advance to complete the temporary architectural wonder, which features 24 total rooms including 10 guest rooms, a chapel, and a movie theater.

Unlike most hotels, the SnowVillage doesn’t encourage you to stay more than one night due to the extreme conditions. Obviously, there’s no indoor heating, since that would melt all the creations the sculptors worked so hard to build. Those hardy enough to sleep on a slab of ice in freezing temperatures get high-quality thermal sleeping bags and faux fur throws, and warming cabins are available if you need to take a break from feeling like you’ve ventured too far north of the Wall.

If you don’t think you can hack an overnight stay, day passes are available for $18. The SnowVillage also offers guests snowmobile tours to view the region’s stunning Northern Lights, reindeer sledding excursions, and ice sculpting classes.

Not everything can be Game of Thrones, but in the weeks to come, the SnowVillage will debut additional photos of this year’s sculptures. Most of us aren’t traveling this winter, but you can check them out virtually on the hotel’s Instagram, @SnowVillageFinland.

The post Venture North of the Wall to this “Game of Thrones” Themed Ice Hotel first appeared on Dornob.

Veijo Rönkkönen was described as a recluse by those who knew him, and how he spent his time was known to few. But following his death in 2010, over 500 concrete figures were discovered sprawled throughout the forest where he lived. Now known as the Veijo Rönkkönen Sculpture Garden, the extensive outdoor museum is a result of 50 years of loving artistry that currently attracts around 40,000 visitors annually.

Rönkkönen was born in 1944 in the rural hamlet of Parikkala, Finland, just a few miles from the Russian border. At age 16, he took a job at a paper mill, where he continued to work for the next 41 years. Outside of his job, it appears he spent nearly every minute of his life at home, reading about the people of the world and making sculptures. His subsequent understanding of the planet is represented in the hundreds of figures he left behind, seemingly representing every culture, ethnicity, and age of the human figure, along with some non-human subjects, as well.

Although Rönkkönen allowed some people to tour the garden while he was alive, he was reportedly never comfortable drawing attention to his work. He never charged visitors, but he did maintain a guest book they could sign as they left the property (although he almost never engaged with anyone personally). He was such a recluse, in fact, that in 2007 when he was awarded the Finlandia prize, his brother went to accept the award on his behalf. Following his death, the sculpture garden and accompanying property was purchased by Finnish businessman Reino Uusitalo who, together with the Union for Rural Culture and Education, refurbished the sculptures as needed and opened it to the public for tours.

Visitors can explore the vast property, taking in each face that greets them — faces that both gleam happiness and exude terror — along with every emotion in between. Some figures even boast a mouth full of real human teeth, grinning innocently, happily, or sneeringly.

That fact that few were aware of Rönkkönen’s mysterious pastime adds to the intriguing essence of the garden, yet his sculptures still allow one to guess his passions, thoughts, and interests. For example, he must have enjoyed practicing, or at least studying, the art of yoga, having crafted some 200 to 250 figures frozen in a variety of yoga poses meant to be self-portraits.

Others statues represent cultural moments, such as two naked women with long hair braids washing laundry in colorful blue bowls using a washboard. In another scene nestled into the trees, a man plays a Kantele, a traditional Finnish instrument, while ladies dance around him.

Not particularly lifelike by design, some faces resemble ghouls while others reflect a look that is anything but human, amplified by speakers hidden deep inside that exude unintelligible sounds.

In addition to carving figures, Rönkkönen also put significant effort into planting flowers and trees on the land. As legend has it, when he earned his first paycheck at the age of 16, he purchased apple tree seedlings and a bag of concrete, the foundation for his 50-year-long passion project.

The post Over 500 Sculptures Found in Finland After Artist’s Death first appeared on Dornob.

Commissioned by Scandinavian real estate company Forenom, the architects decided to preserve several of the old bank’s architectural features as a kind of tribute to the building’s history, including the vault, which they felt it would remain an iconic feature even after the renovation was complete and the building no longer looked or felt anything like a bank. Today, it acts as a great conversation starter and an a piece of eye candy for those who love to indulge in a bit of nostalgia every now and then.

The modern Hostel Jyväskylä spans an area of 1,043 square meters and houses 49 beds, with rooms ranging in size from five to 18 square meters on the second, third, and fourth floors. The reception area can be found on the ground floor alongside space for restaurant and retail use. The basement level features one large restaurant, as well as the hostel’s spa and sauna facilities, which boast a jacuzzi that’s actually built into the former bank vault.

Inspired by Scandinavian design, the new interiors have been adorned with plywood furnishings all throughout, adhering to a minimalist standard to create a sense of openness and neutrality that’s perfect for relaxing after a busy day spent wandering through the city. Boxy plywood volumes reside in the three types of bedroom on offer (twin, small double, and economy double), all of which open up to a shared kitchen, living area, and bathroom.

Black, white, and wood are the hostel’s main decorative components, with the authenticity and spirit of the old building still running through all of it. The architects explain: “The walls and furniture are covered with domestic birch plywood and the floors in the lobby and bedrooms are linoleum. The hostel’s ecological choices, efficiency, and communality make for a fresh type of accommodation that is an interesting new addition to the service structure of the center of Jyväskylä.”

The hostel is located just four minutes from the city center, offering easy access to points of interest including Jyväskylä Bus Station, Market Square, Synergia-areena, Jyväskylä Harbor, Jyväskylä City Theater, and the Alvar Aalto Museum. All the rooms boast free Wi-Fi and a flat-screen TV with cable connectivity, and all of them provide direct access to the sauna in case you find yourself itching to unwind.

The reasonably-priced hostel offers an alternative travel experience for both businesspeople and backpackers. Its prime location makes it a great choice if you plan to do a lot of shopping but don’t want to struggle too far with your bags. On top of that, you’ll also save yourself the hassle and cost of getting taxis on a night out! The hostel prides itself on being able to combine the luxurious and the communal under one roof, which means anyone from anywhere is welcome anytime.

The post Old Finnish Bank Turned Into Quirky Hostel first appeared on Dornob.

Tales by Trees is currently crowdsourcing its first two pieces. One of these is the eye-catching “Seed”: a beautifully smooth modern sculpture by award-winning Finnish designers Elina Helenius and Saara Renvall. When creating this three-and-a-half-pound orb, the duo made it a point to only use sustainably grown Nordic birch wood. Each Seed is numbered and stamped, so you know you’re really getting a one-of-a-kind piece of art (as well as a gorgeous item to enjoy and talk to your friends about).

Since Tales by Trees is a “net positive” company, it gives back to the environment by planting 50 trees and protecting about 100 square feet of forest for every Seed purchased. The business follows the principles of the Net Positive Project by putting more into the world than it takes out. “Global consumption is currently almost twice what our planet can provide each year,” the company explains in its mission statement. “This drives climate change and biodiversity loss. We want to change this.”

The company’s designers certainly know how to promote change in a gorgeous way. “We create beautiful and meaningful objects that rebuild the planet, piece by piece,” reads the Tales by Trees website. “Using our innovative net positive model, our products are designed to increase natural resources.” On top of that, the company also guarantees eco-friendly packaging and carbon-neutral delivery to your doorstep.

The other item currently being crowdsourced is a book trilogy: more specifically, the first English print editions of the award-winning Tales by Trees trilogy. “These are three inspirational modern fairy tales that examine our relationship with nature,” the company explains. “These archetypal fables talk about all of us, but from the narrative perspective of trees.”

Among the stories in question is “The Carpenter,” a tale about the emperor’s chief carpenter and a building challenge he is tested with. In “The Knight,” a young warrior prepares to battle the dragon that’s threatening his kingdom. “The Seafarer” tells of a royal prince who wants to sail the seas but lives in a desert land with no trees around to build a ship with.

Iiro Küttner wrote the books (whose English translations were done by Owen F. Witesman), and Ville Tietäväinen provided the spectacular artwork. We weren’t surprised to learn that the trilogy had been named “Finland’s Most Beautiful Book Series” by the Finnish Book Art Committee.

Nature features strongly in the stories, and of course the company ensures that the books were all printed on paper from certified sustainable sources. It also plants 25 trees and protects about 50 square feet of forest for each trilogy sold.

Tales by Trees has already exceeded its crowdsourcing goal, and the company is looking to start delivering its first Seeds and books by June 2018. We’re excited to see what this innovative Finnish design and art team comes up with next.

The post Tales by Trees: A Net Positive Art & Design Startup from Finland first appeared on Dornob.

Curves can be challenging, but inside and out, this dwelling follows through, wrapping up and around to form two stories of semi-continuous space that feels both domestic and dynamic.

In Finnish tradition, wood can be found throughout the home, adding an organic touch that reinforces the curved shape, with concrete and steel playing secondary roles.

Designed by Olavi Koponen and built in Espoo, Finland, the layout proceeds from public to private spaces and balances static rooms with a sense of ongoing movement.

In each space, furniture either floats in the space or is custom-fit to the exterior. This is not an inexpensive proposition, particularly when it comes to built-ins … but it does make everything feel homey and fit-to-purpose.

In plan and elevation, you can see the single major break in the continuous curve, creating a separation for the master suite area, starting with the open-style bathroom and leading into the bedroom.

The post Catlike House: Spiral Shell Home Rests Its Head on Its Tail first appeared on Dornob.

More like a living room than a home away from home, this Finnish summer hut was designed to supplement and provide relief from the everyday living space of a family living a few miles away in Helsinki.

The result, called “City Cottage,” is a little relaxing, sitting or sleeping, area with a bit of lofted storage for the inevitable stuff you want to get out of your way and a kitchen area for light cooking (convertible to a homework area for the kids) – no need for a shower, though, with home close at hand.

The entire structure is set up off the ground and could be moved intact as needed, but otherwise sits in a simple small plot of forests with other traditional Finnish retreats around it. Designed by Verstas Architects with photographs by Andreas Meichsner.

“It is well-known that Finns love to spend time in a cottage and amidst nature. So much so, that spending time in a cottage is possible even in the center of Helsinki. A 14 sqm cottage for the 4-person Palva architect family was recently built in Lauttasaari, only two kilometres from the family home and the parents’ work place.”

“‘This is a way of life’, says Jussi Palva, ‘We wanted a place that would be easy to go to, and if necessary we could go home to take a shower or deal with urgent matters. Because our home is so close by, it’s also possible to leave unnecessary stuff at home and bring things to the cottage only when necessary.'”

“A way of life that preserves nature has, during the last few years, become a trend in the Helsinki region among young families with children; a 14 sqm city cottage is ‘ecological vacationing’ at its best. ‘Because the cottage is small, its building costs are reasonable and the use of electricity is so sufficiently low that it can operate with solar energy, even though the cottage is suited for winter use’ explains Jussi Palva. ‘And of course a localized lifestyle where you don’t use a car or fly away on holidays is also ecological.'”

The post A Modern Summer Hut on the Shores of Helsinki first appeared on Dornob.