travel DESTINATIONS
The visitor will slowly learn to define the city by its thoughtful
absences: no fashion design or food scene rises too proudly or
conspicuously—this is about lifestyle‚ a Finnish manner that is
easygoing‚ a little bohemian: almost everyone has a summer
cottage‚ knows how to light a fire‚ drive a boat and forage for
mushrooms. The feeling that this recently named 2012 World
Design Capital is exploring‚ is Scandinavian-happiness-meets-Slavic-melancholy with an avant-garde cool.
At the Klaus K Hotel‚ a delicate‚ giant twig-inspired sculpture
hovers over the ovoid reception desk. Appearing artful and
striking on the surface‚ the piece resonates more deeply‚
becoming a visual allegory of The Kalevala‚ Finland's national
epic and oral tradition. Shaping the décor‚ just as it has the
character of speakers of Balto-Finnic languages for two thousand
years‚ this collection of hypnotic cantos‚ now reflected in this
place‚ speak to an eternal folkloric connection. Evoking the
seabird's nest built on the lap of the air-daughter/water-mother
when time began‚ the sculpture tells of the egg fragments which
scattered to form the earth and heavens‚ the clouds‚ stars‚ moon
and sun. Kalevala verses are woven into the carpets; found in a
room named “desire”— each one themed for the four threads in
this creation myth: mysticism‚ passion‚ and envy. By the light of a
sleek pendant lamp‚ I read a fragment framed in birch bark‚ a
Kalevala lament encapsulating the emotion: “This I hoped for all
my days‚ looked for all my growing time‚ waited as for a good
Along Esplanadi Park‚ and the tracery of 25 streets fanning
museums‚ art galleries‚ restaurants and hotels exemplify the city's
year‚ looked as for summer's coming.”
out from the city's green heart‚ the Design District's shops‚
