Hvitträsk

A few photos from Hvitträsk, the former home of Eliel Saarinen. The description of Hvitträsk from the brochure: Hvitträsk was built between 1901 and 1903 by three architects; Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen. The main building, designed in the National Romantic style, built of logs and natural stone, was both a common studio and a home for Eliel Saarinen and Armas Lindgren.....

Jarkko and I took a bus ride out into the boonies of Kirkkonummi, just west of Espoo, to visit the museum since my hometown is St. Louis where the Gateway Arch is about the only thing people remember about the city and it was likely the only Finnish thing I had encountered, aside from a Nokia mobile, before meeting Jarkko. Eero Saarinen, the son of Eliel, designed the Arch to represent and pay tribute to the role St. Louis played in the settling of lands west of the Mississippi River. As a kid, I rode up to the top of the Arch in the freaky pod elevator cars and promptly got sick from the rocking to and fro. I was content, after that, to play glow-in-the-dark frisbee in the park with some beers instead of making the trip to the top. We have an annual 4th of July VP Fair on the grounds which draws several million people for the impressive fireworks and we often refer to the Arch as a giant croquet wicket with affection. It is a beautiful and sublimely elegant monument that everyone in St. Louis truly admires. A recent issue of Suomen Kuvalehti featured an article about the Arch and the fight to get minority workers on the building crew which was no small task since St. Louis was then, and still remains, one of the most racist cities in the US.

I don't remember if we were ever taught in school that Eero Saarinen was Finnish since, in the US, you don't really think of people with unusual names as being anything other than American when they're living in US, especially when they're famous for designing other buildings like Dulles International Airport and part of JFK Airport. I hadn't ever read that he was born in Finland and lived at Hvitträsk until he was 12, when the family moved to Michigan in 1922. The house at Hvitträsk, his father and the group of talented architects there certainly influenced his architectural style which had a more modern flair while still retaining some of the softness and organic forms. It is interesting to see the house and the contents not only because it is a stunning work of art, but also as a monument to some of the greatest architecture that was ever built and those who designed and built it. Why can't or why don't we have buildings like these anymore?