The Romantic quality of Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki

The urban makeup of these cities is varied and yet connected. Copenhagen is a mélange of plazas, canals, traditional architecture, contemporary edifices, modern icons and royal monuments.

Stockholm Public Library, Gunnar Asplund, Stockholm Sweden, sketch by Sean McGadden

Summer 2019

Over a two week period, I traveled and investigated a multitude of historical and contemporary architectural artifacts designed across the Scandinavian landscape. Works from figures such as BIG, OMA, Alvar Aalto, Sigurd Lewrentz and Gunnar Asplund. These collections of works are heavily influenced by a sensibility of total work of art. The Scandinavian countries that I had the pleasure of experiencing were among the richest in architectural expression. When considering a place of such architectural prominence as the nations of Denmark, Sweden and Finland, there remains something ephemeral and timeless of the work there. The landscapes, buildings, structures, products and even the systems in these countries are all heavily considered with a designed aesthetic and a designed sensibility.

On the embark of this trip I found myself falling in love with Europe in a new way. I have always romanticized the history, the people and the quality of Europe. As if I were traveling for the very first time, the cobbles echoed against the edifices of the quiet Stockholm streets. The sounds and sights resonated with me. The vital lands of Finland are embedded in my memory. The bike lanes along the mellow canals of Copenhagen remain a part of a past yet fully experienced. A glimpse of a dream yet to be fully realized. My time spent abroad, too short I suppose. I have always been a lover of many things, entranced by the simplest moments in a chaotic world. This voyage to the northernmost points of the world embodied to me a simple elegance and embrace of life despite a frequent darkness and cold. The summertime offered me an effervescent contrast from that which Scandinavia is known for; short days and long cold nights.

I began this journey, into the never setting sun of Scandinavia in Copenhagen. I enjoyed the crowded edges of the canals and cool salty waters of the Baltic. I recall those moments in Copenhagen as having quiet dominion over an entire year. The solitude of summer in a foreign country held over me a longing for endless youth and constant opportunity. There was something quintessentially European about Copenhagen yet quite different in its own right. The clash between something contemporary and something else frozen in time was vivid. Copenhagen is a mélange of plazas, canals, traditional architecture, contemporary facades, modern icons and royal monuments. The commitment to craft and design in all things was obvious in every scale of life in Denmark. The transit ran widely around the city and often. The furniture felt tied to its very location. The public realm held principle over all things. The Architecture constantly revolves between nostalgia and a future already arrived. I felt more than anything a chronology and a perpetuation of a common belief system. A shared value among the Danish for a high quality of life.

Stretching past the shores of Denmark and across the Øresund Bridge, I encountered the resolute city of Malmo. Malmo took me by surprise for its character as one of a strong mother. Held in her breast are a quilted delta of markets and small bridges that emerge at intersection and departure from mainland Europe. Although so close, Malmo is not of Europe itself, it foreshadows a Swedish sensibility for individuality and survival without frivolity. I traversed across the countryside of Sweden in quiet train cars and witnessed the awe of nature wash across the window in the golden brushstrokes of wheat and the silver line work of farmyards behind birch trees. If only I had been able to sincerely capture these moments in more than words. I arrived in Stockholm almost suddenly. The spires and windows reflected across the waterways. I found a solemn bunk alone on a quaint little boat nestled in a peaceful bay. Through my personal gently rocking porthole, the hillside rose out of the waters and upon this hillside the glory of a Swedish empire stood proud and tall. Stockholm was my protectorate for a time. It gave refuge to tumultuous thoughts and creative uncertainty. The city was the father of my relief from the burden of necessity. I found solace in the milky amber stucco of its Doric classicism. The simple grace with which each building became the next exposed new light on a definition of Architecture. There was little place or time for embellishment in Stockholm. The quietness of the city struck me. I spent some time wandering alone through the dimly lit streets and feeling the last winds of summer warm my skin. I had only a short time to experience the old city. Despite this, Stockholm felt more modern than I might be privileged to express.

Time ever present in a contained expedition, I was forced to set sail for Finland. I looked back on Sweden with melancholy for it had nourished and caressed my mind with beauty and elegance. Nevertheless, always forward, with certainty I knew I would return one day.

Finlandia Hall, Alvar Aalto, Helsinki Finland elevation sketch by Sean

The Finnish coast was brightly lit and warm against a cool Arctic horizon. Alvar Aalto was ruler here once. He created Architecture of Finland in a modern world. It is difficult to go anywhere untouched by his hand. Regardless, it was here, I emerged with my colleagues and found Helsinki, Säynätsalo, Noormarkku, Muuratsalo, and Jyväskylä to be places of collaboration and recreation. The mirrored lakes of the inland reflected the people I had the luck of being accompanied. Helsinki was a bustling and vibrant city full of life, brightly light evenings with refreshing saunas

and ice plunges. I had never been able to travel so far from home than I had at this moment. Helsinki was foreign and is dear to me. The representation of travel itself in Saarinen‘s central station was fantastic and bold. Helsinki sat at the precipice of a conceived barrier between my own culture and that of a place far removed from me. Despite this, I gravitated toward the shoreline and the nooks the meandered across this city. My impression of Finland, in more than one way, is not full resolved. Alvar Aalto pervaded my mind with the splendor of his designs. His work occupies many aspects of my experiences in the dynamic landscapes of Finland. All other work by other architects seemed dull and it fades into absolution. Alto’s work embodies the complexity and dynamism of Finnish culture and past. If there could be one place where modernity flourished in the most culturally relevant and socially acceptable way it is the vast rocky streams and hillsides of Finland under the influence of Alvar Aalto and Aino Aalto.

I must confess with a grain of salt, that I know Alvar Aalto was no diety. He suffered many flaws. However, I admired the nostalgic Paimo Santiorium as an artifact and the timelessness of Finlandia Hall. I read about Alto and drew his work. It is true that Alto was not the most moral of men, his body of work doesn’t necessarily hold users in the highest regard despite its' genius formally and experientially. He was nevertheless a brilliant architect. The Villa Mairea to me is the pinnacle of residential design. It is deeply synchronized with both new and old. The residence embodies what all residential architects seek to achieve in their work. The architecture is so full of moments and highly cinematic. Aalto’s own residence is a similar and less dramatic exposition of his talent in creating a sequence of moments. From the beginning to the end of each visit and study I found myself yearning for more moments to hold on to, more sketches to be drawn.

In reflection, I found this travel experience enlightening and expositional in trying to understand the comprehensive nature. If Architecture is understood in its parts with relationship to the whole, the Scandinavian sensibility is one that necessarily occupies a meaningful part of the whole understanding of Architecture. The entity of Architecture is muddled but in the words of Venturi less is a bore. This way of thinking about architecture is one that is relevant to an understanding of both modern and contemporary Scandinavian architecture. These artifacts have a quality of both complexity and simplicity, efficiency and prominence, functional value without sacrificing beauty.

This summer has been one of the most impactful and rewarding semesters of work in my college career. Perhaps it is because there were less things to do. However, in many ways it offered me an objectivity on my goals and principles to help me see what really matters. At the end of the day there are so many different opinions from friends, families, professors and society in general, that finding the right pursuits can be difficult. Despite this, the summertime is always a good time to be mindful. The weather is warm, people are nicer and generally less stressed. I think being aware of this and trying to keep the summer going throughout the winter is what life is about.

Please find the final full set of travel drawings here: