Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, seeing painting and sculpture as "branches of the tree whose trunk is architecture." Aalto's early career ran in parallel with the rapid economic growth and industrialization of Finland during the first half of the 20th century. Many of his clients were industrialists, among them the Ahlström-Gullichsen family, who became his patrons. The span of his career, from the 1920s to the 1970s, is reflected in the styles of his work, ranging from Nordic Classicism of the early work, to a rational International Style Modernism during the 1930s to a more organic modernist style from the 1940s onwards.
Helsinki is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About 684,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.3 million in the capital region and 1.6 million in the metropolitan area. As the most populous urban area in Finland, it is the country's most significant centre for politics, education, finance, culture, and research. Helsinki is 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Helsinki has significant historical connections with these three cities.
Yleisradio Oy, abbreviated as Yle, translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock company, which is 99.98% owned by the Finnish state and employs around 3,200 people in Finland. Yle shares many of its organisational characteristics with its British counterpart, the BBC, on which it was largely modelled.
Pertti Olavi "Spede" Pasanen was a Finnish film director and producer, comedian, and inventor, who has been called an "all-around entertainer". During his career he directed, wrote, produced or acted in about 50 movies and participated in numerous TV productions, including the comedy Spede Show and the game-show Speden Spelit. Much of his more commercial work was in collaboration with Vesa-Matti Loiri and Simo Salminen. Pasanen's films and TV shows, often made quickly and on a low budget, usually received little critical recognition but were popular among Finnish audiences from the 1960s onwards. He was the owner of his own film production company, Filmituotanto Spede Pasanen Ky. Pasanen was ranked 17th at the Suuret suomalaiset competition show broadcast by Yleisradio.
Katajanokka is a neighbourhood of Helsinki, Finland, with around 4000 inhabitants in 2005. The district is located adjacent to the immediate downtown area, though in the first major town plan for Helsinki from the mid-18th century, the area fell outside the fortifications planned to encircle the city.
The University of Turku is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo and Själö.
Lauttasaari is an island in Helsinki, Finland, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the city centre. Together with some surrounding unpopulated small islands, Lauttasaari is also a district of Helsinki. With 23,226 residents as of 2017, the island is Finland's second largest by population, after Fasta Åland. Its land area is 3.85 km2.
The GTS Finnjet was a cruiseferry, built in 1977 by Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Finland for Finnlines traffic between Finland and Germany. At the time of her delivery, Finnjet was the fastest, longest and largest car ferry in the world, and the only one powered by gas turbines. At the point of her scrapping in 2008, she remained the fastest conventional ferry in the world, with a recorded top speed of 33.5 knots.
SpåraKoff is a HM V type tram converted into a mobile bar in Helsinki, Finland. Known as the pub tram, the vehicle does circular tours of downtown Helsinki picking up passengers for a fee during summer months. It is operated jointly by Sinebrychoff, HOK-Elanto, and Helsinki City Transport.
Helsinki Central Station (HEC) is the main station for commuter rail and long-distance trains departing from Helsinki, Finland. About 200,000 people "pass through the station" every day, half of whom are train passengers. The station serves as the terminus for all trains in the Helsinki commuter rail network, as well as for all Helsinki-bound long-distance trains in Finland. The Rautatientori metro station is located in the same building.
Helsinki Railway Square is an open square immediately to the east of the Helsinki Central railway station in central Helsinki in Finland. The square serves as Helsinki's secondary bus station along with the main Kamppi Center bus station. The north side features the Finnish National Theatre, and the south side is formed of the Ateneum classical art museum. To the west side are the two ornate entrances to Helsinki Central station—a bigger one for public use, and a smaller one exclusively for the President of Finland and their official guests. The square is served by the Helsinki Metro system with Rautatientori metro station entrances at the south-west corner, and University of Helsinki metro station to the east.
Eläintarha is a large park in central Helsinki, Finland.
Ullanlinna is a city district of Helsinki, in Finland. The name Ullanlinna refers to the fortification line that was built at the southern edge of the area during the 18th century, as part of the town fortifications, which also included the fortress of Suomenlinna. The name Ulla refers to the Swedish Queen Ulrika Eleonora (1688–1741). During the 19th century the area was dominated by summer pavilions owned by the wealthy Helsinki middle-classes. The appearance of the area changed gradually at the end of the 19th century as the wooden houses were replaced with much higher stone buildings, designed in the prevailing Jugendstil architectural style synonymous with National Romanticism.
Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo was a Finnish artist, architect and thinker. Inventor of "AE-evohomology" life philosophy. He was a witness to the Russian Revolution.
Irreligion in Finland: according to Statistics Finland in 2020, 29.4% of the population in Finland were non-religious, or about 1,628,000 people. The Union of Freethinkers of Finland and other organisations have acted as interest organisations, legal protection organisations and cultural organisations for non-religious people. In a 2018 international ISSP survey, 40% of the Finnish population said they did not believe in God, 34% said they believed in God and 26% did not know. Nearly one out of every five people in the country is not a member of a religious organisation, and the number of people with no religious affiliation has doubled in two decades.
Pauli Ernesti Blomstedt, more commonly known as P. E. Blomstedt, was a Finnish architect and designer, who worked first in the Nordic Classicism style and then turned to Functionalism. His father, Yrjö Blomstedt, and younger brother, Aulis Blomstedt, were also well-known architects.
The takeover of Vanha was an uprising by a number of students on November 25, 1968, at the Old Student House of the University of Helsinki in Finland. It occurred on the night of the 100th birthday of the university's student union. The rioters took over Vanha during the celebrations, demanding changes to the university's administration and the curriculum.
Tallinnanaukio is a square in the Itäkeskus quarter in Helsinki, Finland. There is direct access from the Tallinnanaukio to the Itis shopping center, and there is also one of the eastern entrances to the Itäkeskus metro station, from where the Helsinki Metro leaves the metro to the city's downtown center.
Lonna is a small island off Helsinki, opposite the Suomenlinna Passenger terminal. The island belongs to the Suomenlinna district. Lonna is about 150 meters long and the distance to the mainland is about 1.5 kilometers.
Pirre Päivikki Alanen is the daughter of Pirjo and Spede Pasanen.
