Hyvää Joulua kaikille!

Joulukortti 2010 © Arkkitehdas / Mark Davies

  

Happy Christmas, Hyvää Joulua, God Jul, Frohe Weihnachten, Joyeaux No el, Feliz Navidad, j.n.e and similar Juletide Greetings from emmdee, konna (and the tonttu) at hölypöly

Lost Posts: TdS day 6 & 7

Kirkkovene / Church boat at Sulkava - photo by konna.

Something I forgot to mention earlier (and as she hasn't even read, let alone posted to, the blog recently she didn't notice until now) all the photos during our 'Tour de Saimaa' (TdS) cycling trip were taken by Konna and not by me as I didn't take my 'big' camera - and even though they are on my Picasa album rather than hers (well if I had waited for her to do it... said the pot of the kettle). Anyway, moving on...
 

Lost Posts: TdS day 5

If you use enough sauce you can't see the fishes looking at you

Viides päivä: perjantai 5. heinäkuu, Savonlinnasta Sulkavaan (noin 44+ kilsa)

Day 5 of our summer Tour de Saimaa, in which we...

• Get immediately lost on leaving the campsite by trying to find a postbox
• Have novelty of clouds and showers (but still 27°!)
• Encounter the odd mosquito as we enter the forest... and some trickier gravel roads
• Roads and amount of bugs get worse; Konna is struggling on the short but sharp hills - I am unsure if she is flapping her arms to get up them or get rid of the insects that seem to prefer her to me

V**** jääpuikut

Jääpuikut

  
Moika perkelet! Ha-ha säkhö-tonttu on takaisin!!!

Lyön vetoa juuri ne hitto bloggaajia oli päässyt eroon minusta. No nyt ne löytää sen ole niin helppo päästä eroon nykyajan tonttu, joka voi käyttää internetiä. Höpsis-Blogi on hakkeroitu taas. Jos teidän laajakaista ei ole niin paska voisin löytänyt teitä aikaisemmin.

Niiden web-cam näen §*#%* valtava jääpuikkoja ja jopa isompi pelle katolla ilman turvaköyteen. Typerä.

Kyllä, kusihousut sähkö-tonttu on takaisin! Ihminen tottuu kaikkeen, paitsi jääpuikkoon takamuksessa (se ehtii sulaa enne kuin tottuu...)

Kallio snow globe

Kallion kirkko yesterday

   

It's a bit strange writing about summer (see lost posts - like you can miss them) when even in Kallio it is like being in a snow globe recently.

Lost Posts: TdS day 4

The view of Olavinlinna being spoilt by some cyclist: Kesä10 - Lost Postcards

  

Neljas Päivää: Savonlinnassa (vielä 16km pyöräily)

Day 4 (a so-called 'rest day') in which we:

Saimaa steamboat

• Washed some clothes and left them to dry in the blazing sun
• Freewheeled down the hill into town
• Had an icecream
• Took a tour of Olavinlinna (Olaf's Castle) where the opera festival is held (and heard singers practicing as we go)
• Almost broke my neck trying to walk up/down uneven stone spiral staircases in cycling shoes
• Had a fancy lunch on a shady terrace and another icecream
• Sat in the park while eating an icecream
• Took a steamboat cruise

Lost Posts: TdS Day 3

What is that stupid piece of plastic for anyway?

I'm guessing that reading all these overlong Lost Posts of summer / cycling tour blogs is almost as hard work as writing them, so in the interests of speeding things up (so there is a chance they are done with before next summer) I'm changing to a more abridged and less windy style. You hope...
___

Kolmas päivä: keskiviiko 7. heinä: Kerimaan Camping:sta Savonlinnaan (noin 35km pyöräillä)

Eduskunta

Luckily Finland has a substantial paper industry: Winter 2010

A couple of weeks ago we did one of those touristy things you never seem to do when living in you home country/city.  In this case visiting Suomen eduskuntatalo - Finland's parliament building.

A Rare Finnish Export?

"Just before the first snow of winter falls, professional hunters begin their work. The long process of tracking, hunting and transforming this king of the forest into a finished product is a time consuming process, but the final outcome is a reason to celebrate" Rare Exports Inc. 

I first came across the Rare Exports short films about five years ago in London at a Finnish film festival at the Barbican. In amongst the subtitled darkness of Louhimies' Paha Maa ('Frozen Land' - although paha literally translates as bad or evil) and a brace of painterly and bleak yet comedic Kaurismäki's* (such as Kauas pilvet karkaavat or 'Drifting Clouds') were two short interlopers directed by Jalmari Healander revealing the 'real' story behind Finland's most famous seasonal and rare export... (which can both be seen here)

Lost post 6: Tour de saimaa day 2

Kerimäki kirkko - big in metric and imperial dimensions

Lusto (in a less sunny 2008)

So to continue from last time in our 'lost summer blogs' series...

Next morning was another scorcher, and as we had a short leg and a whole day we started off with a detour back to the Lusto suomen metsämuseo forestry museum which has a loop of the cycle route around it's arboretum.  As we had visited before (well worthwhile by the way considering the importance of forestry to Finland and to understand the hardships people went through in the past working the forests) we only stopped for postikortit, kahvia ja pullaa. 

Dear (secret) santa

One of our family (pre)-Christmas traditions is the writing and exchange of Christmas lists.  It never really occurred to me until recently how potentially strange it is for a grown man to be writing a list 'for santa' still, although these days it is an email that goes to Mum and siblings.  We don't think it strange, quite useful in fact to have a few hints, especially when you don't see each other much, but Konna has always found the whole thing odd and refuses to write a list for herself (and looks oddly at whatever item I have suggested to some member of my family). On the other hand she usually agrees or even buys herself, her present from her Mum, and is certainly not above heavy hints to me. At least our way there is some element of surprise...

antigravity wax and red carpets

Up is the new down for wax drips in Finland

Yesterday was itsenäisyyspäivä (independance day) - and is understandably a special day in Finland.
This leaves me with two questions:

1. Why do 2.3 million Finns (out of 2.4 million TV households) celebrate by watching linnan julat the most boring television event imaginable? (Live coverage of a queue of 1800 overdressed people arriving for a party...)
2. What do they put in the celebratory sininen ja valkoinen candles? (See picture above). 

Any scientific/rational solutions for either would be appreciated...

lost post 5: tour de saimaa (day 1)

Postcard from Punkaharju via 

  

As you may have gathered by now, we (by which I mean I) am doing a catch-up series of 'lost' posts about what we did last summer. A very late back to school essay if you like.  Anyway in the last episode our heroes were about to embark on an epic trip around Finland... well, a bit of cycling and camping around the north-west corner of Saimaa anyway...

1. päivä: maanantai 5. heinä: Helsingista Parikkalaan (junalla) / Parikkalasta Punkaharjuun (pyöräillä)

Joulukuu

advent candle

If you are a regular reader (hello Mum!) you might remember that we did a blog-a-day joulukalenteri (advent calendar) on Finnish Christmas/Jule traditions a couple of years ago. Hardly the most original idea ever, but amongst our most highly 'read' posts (all those finnish kids googling joulutorttu and himmeli...)

Konna and I did talk about doing something similar again this year but here we are 1. joulukuussa... But hey, it may be snowy and -15°C outside, but you can read our 'lost posts' of summer instead, and remember the +30°C and sunshine.


So, notice anything different today?

Lost Post 4: What not to take on a bike ride

Hazards for cyclists... From Kesä10 - lost postcards

Imagine it is the middle of summer again - heinäkuu 2010 to be exact - remember the blue skies, 20 hours of light, 30+°C heat? You are going with your partner on a ten day cycling/camping holiday around Saimaa, starting in Parikala and ending with a few days at a friend's mökki near Haukivouri (see map) - about 350km in all. You can't be sure if the weather will hold, and for every cyclists's instinct shouting 'travel light' there is the camper's instinct whispering 'be prepared'. It may be warm and dry today, but it could be 10° colder, wet and windy in a weeks time. What do you take? 

Lost Post 3: Pesis

Pesäpallo: From Kesä10 - lost postcards

What is the national sport of Finland?

First thoughts go to ice hockey, followed shortly by jääpallo (ice hockey with a ball), mäkihyppy (ski jumping), and rally driving (although maybe that's just a mode of transport to the match).

But apparently some claim it is pesäpallo or pesis. Well maybe in the summer. If you live in what Konna disparagingly refers to as 'middle-finland' - Helsinki doesn't even have a pesäpallo stadium these days...

Same old same old

Not the view from my window: From Favourites

Like the UK, we are also having an early cold and snowy winter in Finland and looking to last another week at least... -33°C in Lapland last night and -16 forecast here for the weekend. Even in Helsinki we have about 10cm of snow on the ground, which we've had for a couple of weeks now. Our newly purchased thermometer tells me it has warmed up a few degrees and now is only -10.6°C outside. After last winter it all seems pretty common place now (not having a picturesque view from my window, makes it all seem a bit wasted somehow) but good news for all those enthusiasts who got excited and bought new skis last year I guess!

I really must buy a proper winter coat this year...

Lost Post 2: veden varaan

Veden Varaan was the no.1 platinum album by PMMP (2009)

Still waiting for a review from Breaking More Waves though...

 
It seems to me that the Finns have the same wary relationship to water (vesi, vetä, veden) and damp in the home as the Brits do to electricity (sähkö) - treat as a potential hazard (varaa).

In Britain we have fuses on everything, ring mains, plugs the size of a brick, and are (apparently) terrified of the thought of light switches without pull cords in our bathrooms, let alone power sockets or appliances - or at least the people who wrote our regulations were. Meanwhile we Brits seem to accept a bit of damp in our walls and when was the last time anyone in UK switched the water off to their washing machine or dishwasher between uses? And do we put our washing machine in our bathroom (with a power socket next to the shower) with a fully 'wet' i.e. tiled and drained floor just in case there is an overflow? Or on a special plastic tray for the same purpose? Back Suomessa while you can't wire a switch to a two pin plug and know which pole will be live or neutral, every kitchen sink in Finland has an extra tap or two for the washing appliances.

47 down

What to do when you forget your book: From Kesä10 - lost postcards

Now that I have embarked on my 'Lost Posts' mission, I'm going to immediately set it aside for this...

Here's a list that originally allegedly* came from the BBC but I picked up from Ganching.
You copy the list and then bold the books you have read completely and italicize those that you have partly read or dipped into.

Apparently the average person has read 6 of these books. Yes only six... frightening.

Lost Post 1: Rock on

Uudessa eteisessa: From Kesä10 - lost postcards

To make the point that I really could maybe have, probably, at a stretch, if I really wanted to, have found a thing or two to scrape together, to fabricate (in the very best way) the merest hint of a few lines of a post, over the last, oh let's say, six months, I'm going to have to own up to the fact that we bought, decorated and moved home back in kesäkuu (that's June for anyone who hasn't changed their date and time settings to Suomi on their computer).

Of course one advantage loss you do have of course is missing out on the excruciating exciting ... kävin K-Rautassa taas ostamaan valkoista maalata ... type blog posts.

Tyhjä arkki tympäännyttää

headspace: from Biennale 2010

Prevaricate. Procrastinate. Vacillate. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? Hedge. Dodge. Delay. Beat around the bush. Sidestep. Equivocate. Temporize. Stall. Evade. Hem and haw.

English is full of synonyms for viivytellä - the art of not doing something quite yet. And unfortunately (as you may have got an inkling from this blog... or rather it's recent lack thereof) I am somewhat prone to this condition myself. I have also been developing Prevaricate 2.0 - not doing something because I should be doing something else and because although I am not doing that either not allowing myself to do the other thing as that would be an excuse for not doing what I should be doing, thus removing any excuse (but still failing to do what was meant to be done in the first place - in case you were wondering).

So, to cut a long story into small pieces, stick it back together badly, and end up with something even longer and more confusing that the original, my unbelievably lame excuse for not posting here is that I should have been too busy doing other things... like trying to learn finnish, run my business efficiently, get more work, exercise, ja niin edelleen...

And without further ado, ladeez an' genelmen, may I introduce "the lost posts" ...

...ja hengittää

Pieni ja pikkunen :Autumn 10

Not much of a post really, except to change the embarrassingly old 'latest' photo's (snow?! spring?!) for some more seasonal ones... we had a lucky break with the weather this weekend while we were away, and while the Finns were hunting edibles I was shooting (photos of red mushrooms, not at elk that is).

Well I did say not to hold your breath.

Normal service will be resumed shortly... ehkä

I've heard it said (by TV de-clutterers usually) that if you put something in a box, and don't get it out again for six months then you don't need it any more. So by that standard I should be deleting this blog (and my facebook, twitter and defunct email accounts). On the other hand if you've ever gone through an old box of things you had in storage and had the joy of rediscovering an old book, memento or childhood toy you may have your doubt's about that. 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' after all. Maybe it's the summer ending, but I think I'm starting to feel the blogging bug stirring.

Just don't hold your breath.

Hanging around with Havis

Mind your head Amanda...

For the life of me I can't understand why they have installed the worlds most impractical ski lift at the end of the Esplanade... and the queues are terrible

Overheard in Helsinki, Vappuaattona. Or not.

Sporadic sausages

via mtv3

Posting here seems to be getting more sporadic and sparse as time goes on, partly because we are well into the repetition zone as we get closer to kaksi vuotta (what is there to say about Vappu that wasn't said last May day for instance); and also because staying at home sitting in front of the computer trying to design kitchens/extensions/invitations doesn't throw up a lot of insightful or exciting moments. Also I have realised that a lot of my posts are picture led - i.e. an excuse to show off whatever randomly appeared in front of my camera, just be glad you don't have to see the full slideshow. So if I haven't been out somewhere with my camera I don't seem to come up with much to post about.

Not to say nothing is happening. Since the last blog post we have bought a flat, had our 4th client/project, bought a bonsai tree, had a name day and killed my Xbox360 (the dreaded red ring of death). The latter is probably a good thing as will stop me being tempted to play Fallout 3 instead of looking at Finnish building regulations. Now I will have to talk to the bonsai tree instead. (It's called Bernard).

About the most interesting thing going on here just now is people panicking that they won't be able to buy nakkia and perunasalattia for their vappupäivä picnic due to striking/locked-out food sector workers - I imagine if the 'Suomi sausage shortage' goes on much longer the Finnish government will have to declare martial law to prevent rioting when Finns realise their summer barbecue will have to be vegetarian.

Sausage houses, Thunderbirds and Ego

Toronto City Hall via Erindesignr/Flkr

I thought it was worth putting a few more words about Viljo Revell (with two L's please note Ms. Kilpikonna) as his work still has a big impact on Helsinki at least, and you can't help thinking he would have gone on to do a lot more if he hadn't have died at only 54, before his best know work, the Thunderbirds style (optimist-futurist-expressionist-modernist) Toronto City Hall, was completed in 1966. Whether it would have been popular is a different question. The 'City-Center' Makkaratalo ('sausage house') is pretty much universally reviled (I also struggle to find much positive to say, except the concrete brute with car ramps trumping pedestrian access is 'of it's time'. On the other hand 'Lasipalatsi' the 1935 'Crystal palace' is certainly still a gem of white functionalism.

Anyway how many internationally successful architects can you think of who said anything like 'It was was teamwork you see' when asked how they designed a competition winning scheme? No - I thought not.

Teamwork

Architect Viljo Revel's exhibition 'It was team work, you see' at Didrichsen Art Museum in Helsinki exhibits architect's life work in a proper setting, in a building designed by him. Worth a visit if you are nearby before mid May 2010...

Our visit was a quick one on Easter Monday morning, before cooking a lamb feast with a few Yorkshire puddings... I know I know - not a usual combination - but because of a great demand the chef had to live up to his audience. I guess the word 'his' gave up the BIG secret (?) who cooks the fantastic feasts in this house :)

Is it winter, spring or summer?

White on white: From In search of Spring...

I'm clearly a bit late with this post as the warm temperatures and rain of the last few days have (ehkä) decisively cleared a lot of the snow now and we have changed over to 'Summer' time (daylight saving time) already. We are starting to get summer speed limits back on the roads, optimists are changing to their summer tyres and bigger optimists are planning their Vappu picnic for a months time.

But last week, on the spring equinox, following another 5cm fall of snow, a kaunis sininen taivas tempted me out for a walk with my camera around what still seemed to me a wintery Mustavuori, busy with skiers and sledders. While its undeniably lighter (hurray!), and the twittering of a few birds can be heard (and the bright yellow ones spotted), only a few buds on trees suggest much life coming back to the forest. Growing grass (rairuoho) in a tray for the easter table starts not to seem quite so strange...

---

Talking of strange things at easter I'm pretty much forced to mention mämmi at this point. I've been saying for the past few years that the visually unappealing brown sludge of orange peel flavoured malted-rye was up there with salmiakki and villi in my mental least-favourite flavours of Finland list. So I was surprised to find that on being served it at a friends house yesterday I not only ate it, I quite liked it. Maybe I've been here too long...

Mysteeri

Interesting tracks in Mellunmäki

Winter is fantastic time for detectives...

You can see has anyone left the house before you in the morning & figure out has it been a woman or a man, or perhaps a child with a toboggan or someone with a long tail. You can easily see how intoxicated your spouse was when arriving home judged based on the trail left behind...

You can also trick people believing in things; granny used to wear granpa's large rubber boots to make tracks in the deep snow on a narrow country road (in the middle of nowhere) - You might wonder, why was she in the middle of nowhere in my grandpa's boots... and the answer is: she lived in a small cottage alone... in the dark winter time she thought that the big steps would keep potential unwanted guests out of the estate. Soon after she was persuaded to move to the nearby town to live in her own flat (with running water, electricity & central heating).

Can you detect a rabbit hopping in the snow - How about the smaller tracks?

On top of the standard beautiful marks on the snow, one can not pass without noticing the yellow & brown tracks on white background. Unfortunately it kind of gets worse when the snow starts melting... but hopefully it's not time for that yet, although the first migrating birds have started to return to Finland... The winter has been fantastic; beautiful and snowy - perhaps Mr. Snow greets us at the end of the drive way for a bit longer?

Spies

Spies?

As the resident nerd technologically competent person I get to do exciting things for Hiiri (and actually although Konna may say otherwise I have to do the same for her too):

• Change lightbulbs & fuses
• Buy and change printer cartridges
• Reset the cable digibox when it falls over
• Get the TV off menu when the wrong button is pressed
• Upload/download photos from cameras & phones
• Install/update antivirus (and any other software) on her computer
• Put batteries in, and demonstrate the use of, any new piece of technology around the home

It also means that when Hiiri says to Konna 'Your cousin asks you can see their house on Google?', I realise that:

A) They are talking about Google Maps Street View (which is still fairly recent and hot topic of conversation around these parts);

B) Somehow Konna has never heard of it even though it was around causing controversy (yawn) in UK before we left;

C) I am going to have to show them how to use it in about 30 seconds time.

So after owning up to having already scouted my cycling route from here to town (as the Helsinki pictures seem to have been a summer afternoon) we set to 'visiting' said cousins house, Hiiri's childhood home (which is apparently a forest based on the view we could get), our current abode & Konna's childhood house (so Hiiri and Konna could complain about the owners leaving rubbish bags outside and not watering the plants). Then Konna hit on the bright idea of 'visiting' my Mum's home for Hiiri to see (as she has never visited... for real that is).

So I show the house ('Wow isn't it big and nice looking' says Hiiri to my momentary disbelief, forgetting she would not be used to the boring 60's English developer semi/detached suburban typology). Then I show my Junior school at the top of the road. Then the stereotypical english (red brick Oxford movement) spired church where my Mum is the verger. Where my Mum spends a lot of time... Where my Mum is standing outside the front door of the church apparently oblivious to the camera car... hello Mum!!

Night shift

"The Hour of the Wolf" is the hour between night and dawn. It is the hour when most people die. It is the hour when the sleepless are haunted by their deepest fear, when ghosts and demons are most powerful."

... It is also the hour when the flipping snow ploughs have a gathering underneath the bedroom window in order to take away the snow pushed aside the streets during the day.

Please let us know who has designed the piiping device activated by reversing - can it not be turned off during the hour of the wolf?

A shadowy flight into the dangerous world...

DH paperdoll via

What has DH got to do with Dipoli's concrete days that MD blogged about a few weeks ago?

You might think nothing - think again...

The first time I visited this congress centre designed by Pietiläs I had a longer queue in front of me and much more eager fellow visitors than on the day of the concrete. I was also much younger... This was in the 80's when Michael Knight - The Night Rider (DH) visited Dipoli & Jäähalli here in Helsinki.

I remember it like it was yesterday (parents to be warned: kids do remember things, so do not take them to see DH if he visits Finland again...).

DH had a black pilot jacket, small soft pink panther attached to his jacket lapel & his hairy chest was showing... Sadly I have to admit I haven't liked hairy men after that... Oh well...

I have lost the autograph I got too... hmmm...

Architecture Corner

A few things to cover this time out, and a bit long so I'll split into 3 posts below this one:

• Betonipäivää: Dipoli; Hämeenlinän arkisto; marte.marte
• Europan 10, in which we don't win
• Uusi seikkailu, or what have I been doing instead of writing blogs?

Betonipäivää

Dipoli - on a cold snowy day...

So after the 'wood day' in Lahti's timber-y Sibelius Hall last year we now had 'concrete day' last Thursday in the appropriately concrete-y Dipoli, on the TKK/Aalto university Oteniemi campus, designed by the Pietilä's in early-mid 60's. Dipoli, with it's crystalline, acute cornered, concrete base, and undulating exposed concrete roof shows off their still contemporary looking organo-modern style... although my eye was drawn to the awkward gap between walls and roof filled internally with fanned timber boards.

Hämeenlinnan Maakunta Arkisto via

We arrived in time for a classic example of how not to use powerpoint (put up the full rules of a competition, then read it all out. All. Ten. Slides. Zzzzzz). This was before the annual Betoni magazine award was made to the design and construction team for Hämeenlinnan Maakunta Arkisto (Provincial Archive) - with Heikkinen-Komonen as architects. The historic graphics printed on the concrete archive 'box' are no doubt what won it this prize, but it is a admirably clean and clear expression of the brief - public functions in a fully glazed ground floor, with concrete ark floating above, and brown, copper-clad administration box behind separated with a light filled circulation slot.

On a side note - why do all Finnish architects have English websites?

Haus Marte via

Anyway, we were really there for the main lecture, from Austrian architect's Marte.Marte, in which a German speaker was to talk in English to a room of (mainly) Finns. However despite that minor handicap a good presentation with beautiful graphics and photographs followed (although since they have published a glossy monograph recently you would expect so). Suiting the occasion Stefan Marte concentrated on their minimalist concrete 'shells' with frameless glazed openings - often based on pure square plans and over looking fabulous Rhine valley landscapes. But rammed earth, aluminium, corten steel and birch plywood all got a look in. Have a browse through their rather nice minimalist website (in German) - but notice you'll need to use the little arrow/triangle on the right of the image to cycle through the pictures (something that took me ages to figure out) - maybe a case of too minimal?

During the makkara pasta buffet afterwards, (and influenced by pari lasia viiniä), Konna revealed to us the last time she had been to Dipoli... but I'll let her tell that story another time.

Dipoli also has a link with Europan 10, or at least our Tampere site, as this is where Reima and Reili Pietilä produced many of their major works; and were we saw the exhibition of their work - my first introduction to these important Finnish architects.

Europan

JM100: © MDD/JSK 2009 via Arkkitehdas

The author has created [a] somewhat general lay-out for the site. Despite of some positive goals the overall atmosphere and the details of the solution seem to look backwards rather that seek new solutions. There are some positive rhythmic ingredients in the repetition of the houses.

So, no, we didn't win.

If you remember way back to this post a year ago, you'll know that we were taking part in theEuropan 10 'young designers' (i.e. under-40's) competition with a proposal for the Tampere, Vuores site. That was submitted way back in July, and results were finally published this month (a day shy of a whole year since the official launch).

The winners (which you can see here - under Tulokset/Palkitutin or Eng/Results/Best Projects, and also the full jury report (in English) for both Finnish sites) were definitely a cut above our entry, so congratulations to them. We knew when we submitted that we hadn't cracked the important corner of the site, and we were never completely happy with the back edge... in fact only the terrace of houses mentioned we felt completely satisfied with. Maybe 'backward looking' terraced (row) housing is an British cultural trait coming out? More controversially, we think the winning entry (Scion) 'broke' the master plan slightly (although we may be misunderstanding the drawings), which we understood to be no-go (and had a big struggle with)... but I've heard it before - the trick is knowing which part of the brief to break to make the best competition entry.

You can see our full entry here (which gives away the next part of the post so read that first), and although damned with faint praise from the jury, it was at least categorized in the 'middle class' entries rather than the lower class. And I learnt a lot about Finnish housing, urban planning and drawing conventions in the process - which was really the main point of the exercise; that and it being my last chance to take part, as now that even as an Architect, I am no longer 'young'.

Uusi seikkailu

© 2010 Arkkitehdas

If you looked at the link in previous post about Europan, or received one of our cards, you'll already know what this is about.

A combination of being unemployed (with few jobs around), not qualifying for benefits, and being asked to design some friends house extension has conspired to encourage me to become an yrittäjä ('entrepreneur' - a horrible term which makes me think of Alan Sugar) and register a toiminimi (trade name, sole trader, business) for an arkkitehti- suunitellatoimisto (architect and design studio) which has thrown me into the world of business plans, starttiraha (startup grants), YEL (self employed social insurance - like NI in UK), vastuuvakuutus (indemnity insurance), contracts, professional competence registers,kirjanpitominen (book keeping), ALV (VAT), domain hosting and more. Which is fun enough in English let alone Finnish. Luckily I have some help in deciphering it all... (kiitos kulta Konnalle).

More fun was choosing a name and designing the logo, graphics and website, which of course are the most essential parts of the whole enterprise. (What do you mean getting clients and making a profit?)

If you want to know why Arkkitehdas - have a look at the link.

I also thought of a few others, most of which either are too similar to existing names, or Konna just gave me one of those looks and I quickly discarded:

• Luovia (to tack or zig-zag - but already an IT company or something)
• Navetta (barn, which is a bit agricultural when you live in Helsinki)
• Vintti/Ullako (attic, hmm, like atelier except like suomeksi)
• ArKäDa (too similar to Arkkada)
• dk studio (er, Calvin Kline?)
• jkmd (which is a bit too close to JKMM)
• m.ARK (which is just sad)
• JaM (we could send out free jars of jam with our name on them... NEXT!)

The 'grand plan' is to hassle remind all those people who've said - 'one day we'll get you guy's to design our house'; to do some of the Finnish open design competitions (hopefully better than Europan); to try to get some sub-contracting work with other architects here and perhaps UK. And maybe do a little graphic design work on the side, based on the response to our christmas cards and launch cards... my second commission (of a huge total of two) is to design some invites...

Anyway, back to the realities of small business. What with investment in a new computer, YEL, PII and accountant's fees for the year I've already spent the income from my first commissions before I've even started...

Anybody need something architecting?

Fishy tale

Loimulohi: From Finland winter 06/07

It was a Friday evening and my turn to cook.

I thought that on my way home from work I can pick up something nice/easy from the local supermarket (there is a reason why I have not mentioned the shop's name here) and enjoy the evening over a glass of red wine & good food...

So I grabbed a basket; picked & weighed & labelled tomatoes (yes, here in Finland you weight & label the fruits before you walk to the tills...), toured pass the milks & juices, reached for a jar of green olives, approached the fish counter in order to continue my shop tour via fresh bread section & candy land to the exit...

Ok, back to the fish counter where I was weighing the options for the evening. Bought two pieces of 'loimulohi' (salmon cooked next to an open fire). Pieces were the size of your remote control unit (smallish, thin type of remote that is...) - and the label screamed 16 euros. SIXTEEN euros... Huh. Ymph. Ugh.

Quick thinking... picked up 2 ciders (realised ALKO was closed already = no to red wine) and ... dumped the 'loimulohi' in 'makkara-allas' (=chiller cabinet full of sausages)... Do not worry a second before I had looked around like little Miss Marple in order to assess if anyone was looking...

I can only blame the lad at the fish counter for not wrapping 'loimulohi' properly as it was now laying on top of all the makkara's in the world (out of it's wrapping paper) and screaming to me: 'Why did you do this to me you petty criminal?!' And to my dismay a strange fellow nearby was staring at my direction his fillings clearly visible. A nano second decision later I hurried with a steady, determined pace towards the tills, wondering when is the claw of a security stewards landing firmly on my shoulder...

These moments in terror made me pick less important items like suklaa (=chocs) in the form of Kitkat, Geisha, Fazerin sininen etc into the half empty shopping basket. Payment done, sliding doors closed - I think I was safe... still on the shop's land so hurried accross the car park towards the safe house. Safe.

Friday night dinner consisted of chocolate, olives, tomatoes (which were able to accompany tomatoes in the fridge bought a day before) & milk with 2 ciders...

Not so bad after all.

Sumu ja jää

lumi polku: From More snow days

Saturday was a bright, clear day, with almost no wind, although still -14ºC. Almost perfect for walking in the snow and maybe venturing on the ice to take some photos. This of course meant we woke late, then spent the rest of the five short daylight hours in supermarkets and shopping centres. So looking at similar sää enuste (weather forecast) for the next day we decided we would go out before 10am to enjoy some hyvää ilmaa.

Sunday was white. Not from snow, but from fog; and from the covering of white stuff, a hoare frost on steroids, on all the trees left by the freezing fog. Like tiny leaves or blossom, a thick covering of delicate feathery white ice crystals had grown on the skeletal winter trees, so that even our view of Citymarket car park and the Shell bensiiniasema became almost magical. We took our walk anyway, and instead of low sun, glittering snow and impossibly long shadows, we had a sugar frosted world in shades of white disappearing into the dim mist, and where a gust of wind in the tree tops brought down a shower of frozen powder.

On ice, in fog: From More snow days

feathery ice crystals blossom: From More snow days

From More snow days

More photos here