Nilsiänkatu 10 - Former Orion Headquarters

Built in 1934, this building was the factory and headquarters of the Orion Pharmaceutical Company. Factory was expanded in the years 1937-8 and works on the additional parts finally finished in 1945. Meanwhile, Orion had become the biggest pharmaceutical company in Finland. 

Designed by Kaarlo Borg, the factory still retains some details of the former past.

 

 After the war, Orion gradually moved to Mankkaa, in Espoo. 

Nowdays the factory building is mainly forgotten and graffiti-ridden in the Vallilla district. Building is used by small companies, hobby groups and all kinds of low-profit activities. It hosts some commercial warehouses, workshops and even a small brewery.

 

Enzo-Gutzeit Head Office

 

Enzo-Gutzeit  Head Office. Alvar Aalto, 1962.

This white marble building is situated at the heart of Helsinki in Katajanokka.  

Enzo-Gutzeit (Nowdays Stora Enso) is a Finnish Forest Industry Company, operating worlwide and still staying in this building in Helsinki.

Alvar Aalto wanted to create something resembling a Venetian palazzo with white marble glittering on the sea nearby. For this purpose he chose Carrara marble for the edifice material – and used it again about ten years later in the Finlandia House. 

Carrara marble is not suitable for Finnish climate and it has been replaced with some other type of marble after 2001.

Aalto's building has been criticized from the beginning. Enso Gutzeit office replaced a classical building from the year 1897.

 

 A Corner without corner.

 

 

 Flag post  in the spirit of ships.

The Chapel of the Sacred Heart

The Chapel of the Sacred Heart is situated in the Kallio Region, Helsinki.

It was designed by Vilho Penttilä and inaugurated in 1906.

The chapel was built in Jugend Style (Art Nouveau) and it is full of peculiar details and even strange ornaments.

This building is clearly a Jugend piece, but nevertheless it has a strong personality of its own.

The Chapel of the Sacred Heart was the first church in this area, Kallio Church was built six years later.  Today the chapel is in the normal urban street area, in the neighborhood of block of flats.


It is hard to say how many different sub-styles this building has, but there are plenty of them. Different windows, doors, corners and towers – and all kinds of ornaments.

 

The architect Vilho Penttilä died tragically during the Civil War. 

He was suspected for hiding weapons and was shot in February 1918.

The KELA Head Office Building

 

KELA (The Social Insurance Institution) Head Office, 1956.

This huge office building is hidden in the Töölö district. 

Designed by Alvar Aalto, it is almost invisible - but still impressive and monumental at the same time.

In this building, everything is designed from places of trees and bushes to door handles, lamps and air nozzles. 

Some parts of this complex are very technical, functional.
Some forms are familiar from factories and ships - still everything seems to blend in rather well.

Kallio Church

Kallio Church (1908-1912).
(Detail of the apse)

This Jugend style church is not really hidden from anyone, because it is located on one of the highest hills in urban Helsinki, with the height of 65 meters.

In my opinion, this is not the masterpiece of architect Lars Sonck, but it still is a monumental building and a local landmark in the City.

National Romanticism - Jugend - is a typical Finnish Dream. We wanted to create something heavy, elegant and lasting in the medieval spirit, using a lot of stones like in castles.

Technically these buildings are modern houses, just covered with a layer of natural-looking stone - creating a sense of monumental, continuous history.

Käpylä Church, Helsinki

Käpylä Church, Helsinki.

Built in 1929-30 and designed by Eero Ilmari Sutinen.

Käpylä Church has some Functionalistic features but is still built mainly in Classicistic style.

Situated in the middle of Käpylä district, and surrounded by the lovely wooden houses the area is famous for, this church is a kind of a quiet landmark.

However, the church is too much of a compromise stylistically.

One feels there should have been something more for this place and village - something ambitious.

 

Kulosaari Cemetary Chapel

This is the Kulosaari Cemetery Chapel, designed by Armas Lindgren and inaugurated in 1927.
 
Armas Lindgren was a member of the famous architectural group of Gesellius-Lindgren-Saarinen. The group created some Jugend masterpieces in Finland and abroad.

This little chapel is a beautiful example of how to create something timeless, something that fits in its place on this tiny island.