Hidden Aalto in Kainuu

Hello there,

it is once again time to take a closer look at on one of the less known and rather hidden Aalto spots that can be found all over Finland. Today I would like to share the story of my visit to the Kainula Adult Education Institute located in the town of Kajaani, in the Kainuu region.


Site No. 79: Kainula Adult Education Institute in Kajaani (1956-57)

Kajaani is about 4 hours by train or bus from Jyväskylä, however, due to the quite completed timetables conducting this visit in just one day was almost impossible. It took me quite a while to figure out a connection that works. I had to catch the 5.40 am bus to Kuopio from where I could connect to a train bound for Kajaani. Due to the bus reaching Kuopio at rush hour, I arrived late in Kuopio and just made it on the train to Kajaani at the very last second. I almost missed the chance to visit an incredible Aalto site! Anyways, I made it safe and sound to Kajaani.

Getting off the train I walked for about 15 minutes to reach the actual site, passing through the city of Kajaani. Although quite a small town with only 37 000 inhabitants, still it has many interesting things to offer. So while there I recommend to see the ruins of the old castle, the beautiful old wooden town hall, the main church and of course Aalto's piece of work.

Leaving from the railway station, which by the way is worth a closer look, I just follow the main street (Pohjolankatu) all the way down until it ends at a travel circle (about 1 km), then turn left and follow the street for another 150 meters and ended up right at the Aalto site to my left, the exact address is Sissikuja 3.

The original purpose of the building was to house the region's Adult Education Institute as well as to provide temporary housing for forest workers. Still today this building is used by the local Adult Education Institute. The building was erected in the mid/late 1950s and I just recently read in a research report that it had not undergone any renovations since.

The front appears less spectacular and blends well into its surrounding. Only the arrangement of the different sized windows and the wooden panels give a hint of the building's architect. The back, hidden in the yard area, however, contains some interesting elements. Although in use, the building doesn't appear to be in a good shape. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to visit the inside of the building as I wasn't able to arrange a viewing for the interior by the time.

Although a very simple building, that doesn't look spectacular at first, it certainly has some interesting aspects to it that are typical for Aalto and make it worth a visit such as the city of Kajaani itself.

Train departing Kajaani