FINNISH CULTURE

Design and Architecture Influence on Finnish Culture



Design and Architecture Influence on Finnish Culture

Introduction

The geopolitical location, a mix between East and West, is reflected in the country's culture and events. With this combination of western and eastern influences, Finnish culture has developed into something strong and highly individual. It reflects the democratic principles of the nation and is based on equality of all people. Nature is highly valued and it can be seen in every area of culture: sports, arts and everyday life. The Finnish way of life is easy going with strict formalities not particularly observed. People are more or less straight forward and gaps or pauses in conversations aren't generally dreaded the way they are in many other countries. In conversation it is polite to wait for the other person to finish what they are saying before presenting your own viewpoint and this tends to slow down the rhythm somewhat. Even though it is not possible to talk in general terms of a national character, all in all it is fair to say that Finns perhaps give an extreme degree of space to other people which can mean that the initiative for making friends often falls to the foreigner. However, many have observed that once the ice is broken Finns are open, warm and can be relied on. Honesty and dependability are the two characteristics highly regarded by Finns (Quantrill, 1998, pp.45).

The Finnish landscape of textiles

In Finland, craft, textile art and to some degree industry, have developed alongside one another during the past century. Two important institutions for teaching weaving and textile art were the Helsinki School of Needlework, founded in 1881 and the Hämeenlinna Craft School, founded in 1885 by Fredrika Wetterhoff.

The largest textile organization, The Friends of Finnish Handicrafts (FFH), was formed in 1879 to preserve and develop a public awareness of Finland's craft heritage. In the late 1800s, traditional crafts like textiles were perceived by the public as inferior because of their humble connection to the countryside, where 90 percent of the population lived. During this time Finnish ethnographers, artists and educators foresaw the rapid changes that were coming about with the advent of the industrial revolution and were keenly aware of efforts to preserve knowledge of handicrafts and encourage education and innovation. Artists, designers and painters including Fanny Churberg, founder of FFH, and Akseli Gallen-Kallela understood the importance of forging a Finnish identity and were a part of the National Romantic movement in Finland.

Architects like Eliel Saarinen, Armas Lindgren, and Hermann Gesellius embraced this call and created living and working spaces which combined architecture, interior design, and textiles woven by FFH into integrated interior environments through building projects including Hvittrask (1901-03) and the Suur Merijoki manor house (1904). At this time, architects and painters envisioned the designs for textiles and artisans wove them (Aav, 1998, pp.78).

In order to understand Finnish textile art, it is important to examine the history of the ryijy, or knotted wool pile rug, which is closely related to ...