Northern chic ... the Kiasma museum.Credit: Jonathan Smith/Lonely Planet
In design-conscious Helsinki, Norman Miller finds there's room in his bag and budget for vintage treasures.
I'm in the middle of Helsinki's Design Forum shop - eyeing a teapot of such an ingenious merger of ceramic and wood that it almost seems to justify the €100 ($145) price tag - when I'm startled by the roar of a chainsaw behind me. The hubbub turns out to be chairmaker Jouko Karkkainen doing an impromptu demo, fashioning a stool from a block of wood with a few deft slices, before sitting down on his new creation to a round of applause.
It looks effortless and fun - and exactly what you'd expect to see at a foundation that brings together contemporary Finnish artists and designers, in a city so infused by design it was recently given the title of World Design Capital for 2012. There's good design everywhere in Helsinki - from quirky highchairs in the cafe at the Kiasma modern art gallery to Eliel Saarinen's magical central train station, which is guarded by lamp-bearing giants carved from granite that inspired Gotham City in the first Batman film.
Helsinki deserves its sobriquet "Pearl of the Baltic". The shoreline curls through a succession of harbours where massive ice-breakers tower over sleek yachts and historic sailing ships. Ferries whisk visitors to pleasure islands such as Pihlajasaari or the UNESCO World Heritage fortress of Suomenlinna, the 19th-century garrison that now houses craft shops and museums.
Back from the sea, Helsinki mixes and matches ravishing architectural styles, displayed on wide streets lit by the northern light. The ornate facades of Jugendstil (art nouveau) are everywhere, especially the pastel-hued houses in the Eira neighbourhood.
Clean-lined Scandinavian modernism is most famously showcased by two buildings. The Finlandia Hall, created by wavy vase designer Alvar Aalto between 1967 and 1971, perches on one side of Toolonlahti, the city's central lake, across from a clutch of graceful 19th-century wooden villas. By the northern end of the lake, the functionalist Olympic stadium merits its own gold medal.
And then there's the traditional Russian ambience of a city that filmmakers used as a stand-in for St Petersburg in films such as Doctor Zhivago. In the vast Senate Square, a block from the bustle of the harbourside Market Square, you see why as you crane to take in the grandeur of the snow-white Tuomio church and the contrasting onion domes of the nearby Uspenski cathedral. But I'm not here just to enjoy one of northern Europe's most beautiful capitals; I'm on a mission. As a cash-strapped connoisseur of Scandinavian style with just €100 in my pocket, how much vintage Finnish design can I tick off my wish list?
Hunting places are 10 a penny. If only the prices were that cheap. The epicentre of Helsinki style is Punavuori, a neighbourhood now officially branded as the "Design District", with more than 150 bars, cafes and hotels in a compact grid of streets stretching from Mannerheimintie, the city's central boulevard, to the harbourside antiques hall and flea market at Hietalahti.
The new stuff at shops such as Aero (Yrjonkatu 8, www.aerodesignfurniture.fi) is eye-catching but expensive, although €6 buys me a poster of Aalto chairs in lieu of the real thing. A quintessentially Finnish lunch follows: herring at the beautifully retro Ravintola Sea Horse(Kapteeninkatu 11, seahorse.fi).
Within 10 minutes of entering the higgledy-piggledy Helsinki Secondhand warehouse (helsinkisecondhand.fi) on Korkeavuorenkatu, I'm clutching my first finds: a dinky Arabia milk jug for €8 and a 1960s geometric vase by the noted designer Pentti Sarpaneva for €20.
At Haddadin (www.haddadin.fi/isoroba) on Iso-Roobertinkatu I understand the "Do Not Touch" signs on some shelves when I realise the collectable Iittala glass costs thousands. But just as I'm about to leave empty-handed, I spot a 1970s Kumela "Rock" vase and I'm astonished to be told it costs just €10, because of a tiny chip I hadn't noticed. Nor do I care and into my bag it goes.
I bag more vintage glass - a quirky bowl by the innovative Muurla factory - for the same price at nearby Viva Design (Albertinkatu 12, vivadesign.fi). A streamlined Pentik pot (€30) prompts an agony of indecision but weight worries overcome design lust - a rare triumph of commonsense that I'm still regretting.
I round off the afternoon at the Design Museum (www.designmuseum.fi), which is in an unassuming old building on Korkeavuorenkatu. I can only dream of owning the stuff in here but I see how Finland's design nous grew out of 19th-century farmhouse crafts - functional objects made simply but with style.
Next morning I switch from the past to the future at the autumn Habitare design exhibition (finnexpo.fi/habitare, to be held this year on September 1-5), showing laser-cut wood, dazzling lights and ravishing new textiles. Afterwards I mull it over at the equally innovative restaurant, Juuri (Korkeavuorenkatu 27, juuri.fi), which has created Finnish tapas (sapas) such as raspberry marinated arctic char with radish sauce.
There's an antique shop next door, where I unearth several square metres of psychedelic "violetta" fabric from Sellgren for €25. It's more left field than anything by Marimekko.
Helsinki's famous Hietalahti flea market is stuffed with classics. Alas, budget rules out the 1920s Arabia plate for €55 on one stall, though it's a fair price given that an hour later I'm gazing at another one on display at the Arabia factory museum and gallery (Hameentie 135, arabianmuseo.fi). A 20-minute tram ride (No.6) away in one of Helsinki's green suburbs, the museum is part of a complex that includes discount outlets for Iittala and Pentik.
Back in town, I catch up with Finland's newest arena for design couture. At Miun (Uudenmaankatu 14, miun.fi), designer Ilona Hyotylainen tells me how she came up with the shop name ("Mine") after crying the word out in delight when she first saw someone wearing one of her early creations. Directly opposite, Ivana Helsinki (ivanahelsinki.com) is a striking space for the first Finnish brand to hit the Paris catwalks.
With an hour until I head to the airport, I grab coffee and cake at the Kiasma gallery. The sunlight emphasises the cafe's simple beauty - transparent green chairs, luminescent against a brightly painted ochre wall; jugs and vessels arranged along a shiny zinc bar. Even the locals look like the work of someone with vision.
You just can't escape good looks in Helsinki.
Finnair flies to Helsinki for about $2120 return from Melbourne and Sydney, including tax, on Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong (9hr) and then Finnair to Helsinki (10hr 40min). For about the same price (taxes vary) you can fly from Helsinki to any city in Europe serviced by Finnair. You could also fly Qantas or BA to their Asian hubs and then Finnair to Helsinki.
- Guardian News & Media
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