Hvitträsk

Hvitträsk in the forest south of Helsinki is the live-work compound built between 1901 and 1903 by the architect trio Eliel Saarinen, Herman Gesellius and Armas Lindgren, the leading studio of Finnish National Romanticism. The buildings of granite, shingles and timber on the steep slope above the lake of the same name are a key work of Nordic Art Nouveau, merging English Arts and Crafts influences with Finnish vernacular building. Here the three architects designed Helsinki Central Station and Saarinen developed the ideas that would later take him to Cranbrook in Michigan, where his son Eero Saarinen shaped American post-war modernism. Today Hvitträsk is a museum with largely original interiors and a cafe. The walk around the lake is particularly recommended in summer.