The Savoy Restaurant in Helsinki

Dear readers,

today I would like to present a very special Aalto site, one that I have kind of been saving for the end of this long journey, the glorious Savoy Restaurant in Helsinki. While the building itself, housing the restaurant on its top floor, wasn't designed by Alvar Aalto, it is the interior of the restaurant that features Aalto's special design.



Site No. 86: Interior and Furnishing of the Savoy Restaurant in Helsinki (1937)

In 1937 Alvar Aalto was commissioned by managing director of Ahström company Harry Gullichsen and his wife Maire Gullichsen to design the interior and furnishing of the Savoy Restaurant located on the top floor of the building owned by the Ahström family. In the following years Aalto designed also the well-known Gullichsen's home Villa Mairea in Noormarkku. The Savoy Restaurant is a high-class restaurant located right in the heart of Helsinki besides Esplanade Park, the actual Savoy Theater and across the street from the famous Kämp hotel. The restaurant is located on the 8. floor overseeing all of downtown Helsinki, Esplanade Park and providing magnificent views towards Finland's best known building, the white Helsinki Cathedral.

The sales team of the restaurant was so kind to arrange a special visit for me to give me the chance to photograph the restaurant and its interior outside its opening hours. I was even able to meet one of the staff members that was significantly involved in the latest renovation of the restaurant two years ago who could answer me the many detailed questions I had. In addition the chef the cuisine provided me with a private tour of the rooftop gardens for which the restaurant has become as well well-known in the recent years.

It was also the name of Savoy Restaurant that provided the name to Alvar Aalto's famous Savoy Vase which he originally designed as part of the restaurant's interior. It does not come at a surprise that every table in the restaurant is decorated with a Savoy Vase. However, also beyond the Savoy Restaurant, the Savoy Vase has become and icon as well as the trademark of Alvar Aalto and can nowadays been found in very Finnish home, including myself owning several pieces.

In the main dinning hall many well-known Artek classics can be found, however, the interior contains also many elements that have been designed for the restaurant exclusively. Such as there were the arm chairs which are still original from 1937. During the last renovation two years ago they have been carefully restored. Another highlight are the lamps on the roof which are lamps and ventilation at the same time. Both the roof and the lamps have as well been carefully restored two years ago. Also many of the tables have been renovated recently. Hereby the utmost was done to preserve as much from the original as possible while ensuring that the operations of a running restaurant are not compromised.

The long kanapee has received a new black and white fabric based on the famous Artek design.

Another highlight of the restaurant is the Marski table which was Finland's president during WWII marshal Carl Gustaf Mannerheim's favorite table. He was a regular at the Savoy Restaurant.

In the middle of the dinning hall there is also a serving table in the shape of the famous Savoy Vase.








Besides the dinning hall there is also a glassed roof terrace that features exclusive Artek furniture in addition to magnificent views. Especially worth mentioning here are the Artek chairs model 611 (Alvar Aalto, 1929) usually upholstered with fabric, however, here instead with leather. I was told that only the Artek shop in Tokyo sells exactly these same chairs.

At this point I would like to say a special thank you to the friendly staff of the Savoy Restaurant that provided me with the great opportunity to experience the great interior and furnishing at first hand. Finally, I would like to share one more picture of the magnificent view from the restaurant and its terrace provide over Esplanade Park and downtown Helsinki.

The Savoy Restaurant is open on weekdays and weekends serving both lunch and dinner. The restaurant provides a great opportunity to combine dinning in a Michelin Guide restaurant, with magnificent views of downtown Helsinki and an interior designed by Alvar Aalto preserved in its original form as of 1937.

Aalto in Kouvola

Dear all,

I hope this post finds you well. The novel COVID-19 crisis has also left its traces on this blog and jeopardized many of my travel plans this spring and summer. As the travel bans have recently been relaxed, I have been able to at least do some of my planned site visits and this time had the chance to visit two exciting Aalto sites in the Kymi Valley located in the southeast of Finland. The first site I would like to present today is the Tehtaanmäki Primary School in Inkeroinen.

Site No. 84: Tehtaanmäki Primary School in Inkeroinen (1938-39)

Train to Inkeroinen

The Tehtaanmäki (Factory Hill) Primary School designed by Alvar Aalto in the late 1930s is located in the industrial town of Inkeroinen, about 20 km south of Kouvola. Inkeroinen can easily be reached by train taking one of the Kouvola-Kotka commuters that run frequently during the day. The journey from Kouvola takes about 20 min. From the station in Inkeroinen it takes about 15-20 min by foot to the school. Simply make your way from the station to the nearby Inkeroistentie that runs parallel to the tracks. Follow the road in the direction from where the train came and you will find the school after about 1 km to your right. The exact address is Pihtojantie 8.

As already mentioned above, Inkeroinen is an industrial town. At the time the school was designed it was part of a larger city plan in which Alvar Aalto played a significant role. Aalto had been commissioned by Tampella to design housing for the factory workers and together with that also a new school for the worker's children. The housing area still exists, however, due to the limited time of my visit in Inkeroinen I was not able to take a closer look at those but instead focused only on the school. Both the school and the housing area are in close proximity to the paper mill and cardboard factory which are still operating today.

Despite its age the school is still in a rather good shape. It underwent renovations at the beginning of this millennium. The school is still in use today, however, due to the fact that there are school holidays at the moment in Finland I was unfortunately not able to enter the building. Also news recently reported that the school will no longer be used as a primary school as soon as a new built school will open in Inkeroinen. The fade of this building is currently unknown. I personally hope that the building will find a new purpose, perhaps even as a public Aalto site e.g. in form of a museum.

The Tehtaanmäki Primary School in Inkeroinen is definitely worth a visit as it is a great example of Aalto's early works before he entered the red-brick period. The design falls into the same time as Villa Mairea and certain familiar patterns can clearly be identified.

Reaching back to Kouvola by train, I had the chance to visit a second Aalto site located right in the city of Kouvola, the Kasarminmäki Gate.

Site No. 85: Kasarminmäki Gate in Kouvola (1925)

In the 1920s Alvar Aalto had to undergo compulsory military training which he completed at Kasarminmäki military base in Kouvola. During the time Aalto spent there, he designed the Gates for the military base.

The military base is not in use anymore today but instead houses the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Science (XAMK). The gate stones had disappeared at some point and where rediscovered in the 1990s and re-erected at their original location where they can be viewed today. Kasarminmäki is located about 1 km from the city center of Kouvola and can easily be reached by foot.