Force of Nature

For a deeper understanding of Finnish design, Arati Menon discovers, you have to leave Helsinki and head into the wild

- Arati Menon

THE VIEWS from my car window are a Nordic cliché: long stretches of farmland that give way to thick forests of birch and pine. Rustic farmhouses painted a deep, punctuating red. A freshly thawed stream shimmering in the sunlight. I leave Finland's southern coast, fringed by islands and inlets, behind as I cut northwest through its lake-dotted interior. It's a beautiful landscape - though not one that traditionally draws the design lovers who flock to this country.

My interest in Finnish design began, as it does for many, with Alvar Aalto, the father of Finnish modernism, and grew as I studied legends like Yrjö Kukkapuro and Tapio Wirkkala and discovered the quirky genius of Marimekko. There's plenty to learn from Helsinki's arresting architecture and tucked-away boutiques, but the country's design identity has rural roots, and I set out on a pilgrimage to uncover them.

Modernist Marvel 

A first glance at Ahlström Noormarkku, 160 miles west of Helsinki, reveals little of its place in Finnish history. Once one of the nation's most impressive ironworks, it is now a sprawling family-owned estate with guesthouses for the visitors who come to hike and hunt - and pay homage to an icon. Deep within the estate sits Villa Mairea, Aalto's 20th-century modernist gem. Aalto also developed his first product prototypes in Noormarkku; the charming guest rooms, including mine, are peppered with reproductions of his classics, like the webbed Model 45 chair, with its rattan woven arms, and the Tea Trolley 901, a Japanese-inspired birch cart.