London to Jyvaskyla via Helsinki and Tampere seamless. Smooth flight followed by a train journey that reflects a nation prepared to invest in infrastucture. Allocated seats, clean trains with wifi and charging power for those needing connect, a steady flow of information in two languages and trains that link with each other ensuring a maximum of 10 minutes wait. 

Staring out at the magical landscape I noticed pines and birches nurtured in companion planting. The pines in their density ensuring the birches grew straight and true, each chasing the light in mutually beneficial competition.

As (Fehn wrote) day gave way to night, the snow covered forest floors seemed to amplify the available light providing an almost luminous ground-plane.

Morning broke with soft snow fall, the grey skies allowing the sun and shadows to play elsewhere. To the Museum of Central Finland (1956 the year of my emergence in the world) and The Aalto Museum (1971 - don't ask); two essays by the Master bound together by a desire to articulate space with a deep sense of the acts of human existence.


 

  
And low windows capture the light from the snow outside. Perfect.

And the acid of human hands reveal our collective existence.....on the hand-dle