Toinen Koe

via kaupunkiliikenne.net: No, not a tram where you take exams (although the red pub tram does sell beer!)

If you have wondering why there has been a bit less hölynpöly recently then you probably need to get a life and get out more often... however one of us has been revising for his level two FFF (Finnish for foreigners) koe (test) which took place this afternoon. I get the results tomorrow, but I have a feeling it will not be as good as the last one. Just hoping to pass. Ho-hum.

Minun täytyy oppiskella joka päivä oppia lisää suomea, mutta minun ei tarvitse tehdä kotitehtevät tänä viikonloppuna.

Anyway level three starts next Monday, so back to reverse consonant gradation, and who knows what else then. 

But this week I also have to deal with a bit of Finnish bureaucracy and officially register my presence since it has been three months now; so through a great piece of 'Finnish logic' as an EU citizen I don't need permission, but I am supposed to register, with supporting documentation and details to show why I am here, which sounds suspiciously similar to the list of things required for non-EU citizens to get permission ... and being Finland this is done at the police station. Lovely. Now I understand those 'police state' jokes...

Huovutus III

Inspired by autumn colours

Inspired by emmdee's autumn image last month I created a scarf.. This time the happy owner lives in Sweden, so I'm now internationally well known for my skill in turning wool into felt... Yes, right... The washing machine played a large role in this experiment.

Architecture Corner

Following on from our 'And the winner will be...' and 'Stirling Stirling' posts recently I can now announce that 100% of you who took part in the Hölynpöly poll were wrong. As anyone who didn't glaze over when the A-work appeared in the title probably knows already, Accordia won - so well done Architects: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios/Alison Brooks Architects/Macreanor Lavington and client Countryside Properties.  Undoubtedly a cut above your typical UK residential development.

silikkamarkkinat: sea and land 'marketecture'

Yesterday, on another grey and drizzly day, and on our way to Silikkamarkkinat (that's the annual baltic herring market at Kaupatori), we went and had a look at the exhibition of 104 competition entries for the Finnish pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010.  This was won by JKMM's 'Kirnu' entry.  Lewism has already made a good point regarding the question of how relevant these Expo's really are to international architectural thinking these days.  What interests me is how JKMM (who amazingly also got 3rd prize for another entry - actually I maybe preferred that entry) seem to have cracked the competition 'code' in Finland, with an amazing hit rate of wins, runner-ups and mentions.  Don't get me wrong, I think with the quality of their built work (e.g. Vikki church) and their design proposals, show obvious talent and hard work, so their projects deserve the success they are getting - but their envious competitors must be wondering how to compete... so it would also be interesting to see them up against big international names: Foster, Hadid, H&M (that's the architects not the clothes store...), OMA, etc.  

Having been involved in an open RIBA competition winning scheme in the past (in the end unbuilt despite getting planning permission and 95% of funding), I also can't help being equally envious at how many of these competition wins translate into built buildings that seem to meet the aspirations of the competition entry. Maybe one day I'll get my chance.

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?

Stirling Stirling...

2003 Stirling Prize and I in the lobby of Laban Centre, London

Laban Centre with reflections & internal bright colours

I have not made my mind up as yet who to vote for on this page... Have you?

Can it be this diffucult? Yes when measured against one of my favourites that I only visited first time in the spring 2008 - The 2003 RIBA Stirling Prize winner Laban Centre (School of Contemporary Dance) in South-East London would win my vote if the competition was only between this year's contestant Westminster Academy & Laban Centre... but it's not... Still I would encourage you to vote on this page and think if you actually like Laban Centre more...

Word clouds

Since I'm in the business of nicking ideas from other people's blogs at the moment (see the 'Yearbook' photos below) I thought I'd do this one now.  You may have seen these around in various forms: 'word clouds' in which the bigger the word the higher frequency it's use in the text. So just a kind of graph really. Wow, I managed to make them sound really boring, and they are actually kind of fascinating.

Anyway, these are made using Wordle and represent the blog to date... 

 

above, left to right: July & August.

top: the whole darn thing (well July to September anyway)

Time circuits on. Flux Capacitor... fluxxing. Engine running. All right!

 

"Your older brother's disappearing from that photograph. Your sister will follow, and unless you repair the damage, you'll be next." 

Just got back from the 1950's, bit complicated to explain... but anyway managed to bring some yearbook photos prove it. Such a nightmare getting spares for the deLorean these days, so lucky Rune was around to help.