The Finlandia Prize for Architecture is the most prestigious architecture award in Finland.
The 13th Finlandia Prize for Architecture has been awarded to the Kuusijärvi smoke saunas, which were designed in collaboration by Mer Architects and the architecture and design studio Talli. The winner was chosen from a shortlist of four projects by Timo Miettinen, an author and scholar specialising in European philosophy and intellectual history, who is also known as a public commentator on European politics.
“The smoke saunas at Lake Kuusijärvi represent public architecture at its finest. They stand as proof positive that beauty, sustainability and quality can, and do, belong to everyone,” Miettinen says.
In selecting this year’s winner, Timo Miettinen says he considered which of the shortlisted candidates best reflected the qualities that define Finnish people as a nation and the qualities we would like to see define us. The winning project offers us all an opportunity not only for calm and relaxation but also socialising and community.
In his comments, Miettinen highlights the sense of ritual the buildings succeed in engendering as part of the experience and the way the bathers are invited to move within the buildings and between them.
“From the changing rooms you are first brought outdoors into the fresh air, then to the sauna and, afterwards, to the lake beyond it. The scent of the forest, the cool air, the soft smoke and the dark expanses of wood all contribute to a carefully thought-out ritual. The low lighting and the intimate scale within the saunas create a protective cocoon from which you emerge into the forest and the vast expanse of lake that spreads out in front of you,” he concludes.
Text and images: https://www.archinfo.fi/en/articles/kuusij%C3%A4rvi-smoke-saunas-win-finlandia-prize-for-architecture
https://sauna.fi/kuusijarven-savusaunat-yhdistavat-ikiaikaisen-perinteen-ja-modernin-arkkitehtuurin-sauna-lehti/
https://puuinfo.fi/arkkitehtuuri/puupalkinto/puupalkinto-yleisoaanestys/kuusijarven-savusaunat-ja-infokatos/
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