Tuesday,  28.04

The weather is almost everything to a tourist and a farmer. As the day is forecast to be gloomy and wet, we buy an all day tram pass which enables us to go anywhere and as many times we like for 24 hours. That way we can either shelter from the wet by riding trams all day or getting to a number of indoor venues. The value is superb.

We know that most Australians still aspire to a large house in the suburbs. But there is no doubt that if we and the rest of the world are to be serious about sustainability, we have to take many pages from the Finnish book on city making. Helsinki is a very fine, civil and urbane place. That is not to say that it is perfect in every way but we should learn a lot from how they have done it.

Without too much commentary, here are some further visual reasons why we like Helsinki.

And when hunger pains overtake you, you can do worse than a Sub, even in far away Finland.

The little object in the centre is a very unassuming green box which is the loo.

That is why we like Helsinki - in the spring anyway.


Much to our delight, the weather people are wrong today. Once we get going, the sky is beginning to clear and comes up what would be described as a fine day with a good deal of sunshine. About half way around one of the tram loops, we stop at what is certainly the single highlight of our visit here.

In the mid 1930’s, a congregation wanted to build a church on a rocky site, surrounded by residential buildings. Plans were made but the start of WWII in 1939 interrupted plans. Then, some years later after it was all over, a couple of very game young architects produced a breathtaking design. Instead of building on top of the rock, they built inside it. Here is the inspired and masterly end result. The images tell the story.

The 'site'.

The unassuming and down played entrance.

And then you emerge, quite breathless, into the real world.

This building has restored my interest in the power and the value of all the fundamental architectural skills and devices - the use of site, space, light, colour and texture etc. As a young architect, I was quite impressed by the magazine photos and story. The experience surpasses all that I can remember reading.

As we are soon to leave this modest country, I am embarrassed to acknowledge that the internet here is a lot faster than we have at home. Good on you Finland!