Canadian Design in Finland and a Whole Lot of Sauna!

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So I got good news this week... after much deliberation by the professors, my design was chosen to be the one project built by the class and exhibited at the museum in Turku! We have started to work as a group to refine the design and will start doing material and joint studies next week. It's going to be amazing to have my own work displayed so prominently, I'm really looking forward to seeing the end result. To celebrate the end of the individual design phase of this project my professor Pekka rented a sauna for our class on an island called Uunisaari. It's apparently the best sauna in Finland. Most of us were brave and took turns running and jumping through a hole in the ice into the sea! It was really cold, but definitely refreshing. Afterward we went to a restaurant called Seahorse where we had traditional Finnish food.

Friday we went on an excursion to see another CNC (computer numerical control) machine at a carpenters' shop outside Helsinki. There are many versions of CNC machines but the main point of the machine is that it is computer controlled and creates an object using cutting blades, drills, etc. from a design that you program into it. These machines make very precise fitting joints and are used for many applications. On our way back we also saw a new development where they're building post and beam houses using CNC joints for a snug fit. It was interesting to see not only the post and beam techniques, but also methods of building used in Finland that are different from in Canada. For example, exterior sheathing on houses is often done with gypsum board rather than plywood or OSB. OK, enough shop talk...

Friday evening after the excursion I got on another bus, this time to a cabin called Maja which is outside Helsinki and is owned by the Architecture Guild. There were 24 of us packed into this small cabin for the night. We made a big dinner of fish and pancakes and mashed potatoes. Then we crowded ten at a time into the sauna which was positively scorching! They heated it for four hours before they let us in and by that time it was almost too hot to stand. All the Finns were surprised I could stand the top bench for so long until they found out we have lots of saunas in Canada too! Afterward I played poker with the guys and unfortunately lost my 5 euros.

Sunday night I joined my class for a Chinese New Year party to celebrate the year of the pig... welcome to the year of Jessie!

So that's what I've been up to this week, too many excursions and saunas to do much sightseeing but maybe I'll see some new architecture this weekend. The days are quickly getting longer (5 minutes per day!) and it is very noticeable. In a few weeks the days will be just as long as in Canada and will continue getting longer until June.

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Photos

On the way to Uunisaari II
front to back: Brigitt ( Switzerland), Davide (Italy),
Ana Marija (Croatia), Philip (USA)

Comments

[Auntie Baffy]

From One Pig to Another
Happy New Year!