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?

Sweatpod 2000

Via YLE

Okay I made up the name, but this 'sauna capsule' is the real winning entry in the Invention Week competition. Presumably for those with small flats; and to sell to the Japanese to plug into their capsule hotels... It's already portable, but I think the next version should have bigger wheels and an engine so you can have a sauna on the move, I mean it's aerodynamic already. Just think of the time saving and stress relieving potential when stuck in traffic!

But is it just me or do you keep expecting Ripley to wake up and climb out of it?

August's Architecture Corner

Open House Helsinki is coming up on 2nd October and is part of the larger Helsinki Design Week (which has an equally cool logo). We'll be trying to take in some of the buildings on the list then, and no doubt, making a post or two, but as London's very own Open House is coming up on 20 & 21 September we'd like to hear what buildings you lot in London are planning to see - just add a comment here.

In the meantime we have been making our own visits, to Sibeliustalo Concert Hall, Lahti (see separate posts below) and also taking advantage of the tours organised by MFA (Museum of Finnish Architecture or Suomen Rakennustaiteen Museo in Helsinki - wonder why it's acronym isn't SRM? but I digress...) to accompany it's exhibition (and book) of "25 designs selected by a jury of experts ... presented in the third biennial of current Finnish architecture"; and the freebie tours on Artists Night to get inside the Finlandia concert hall.

I also found this blog by a Scottish Architect here in Finland since 2004 (see links on side bar) - so it's not just me then!