Five new attractions in Helsinki that you should know
The Finnish capital does not stop innovating and creating trends. In addition to its famous saunas, **Helsinki** offers a handful of irresistible novelties that you cannot ignore.
**THE MUSEUM: AMOX REX **
Chosen by the BBC as one of the most innovative architectural spaces in Europe in 2018, the new museum of contemporary art is located in an emblematic listed building.
The work has been promoted by the foundation Amos Anderson (1878-1961), a wealthy businessman and great art collector, with the aim of housing all of his legacy, and the new facilities have been designed by the Finnish studio JKMM Architects.
It would go completely unnoticed were it not for the five futuristic vaulted skylights that emerge from the pavement, because most of the museum is located in the basement of the busy lasipalatsi square (Crystal Palace) .
It takes its name precisely from the adjacent building, a jewel of functionalist architecture built in 1936, where the entrance to the museum is located, and whose modernist aesthetic contrasts with the visionary design of the museum.
The Amox Rex museum, where you can immerse yourself in contemporary art
Despite having been erected eight decades ago, the architects have preserved the clock tower, formerly a chimney, which now serves as a connection and is part of the complex's ventilation system.
In addition to its spectacular appearance, the new Amos Rex stands out for its also renewed function of meeting point to enjoy art and culture in a fun and interactive way.
With more than 2000m2 of exhibition space, it will program rotating exhibitions of contemporary and experimental art, as well as of Classical and 20th century modernism. It also has a cinema room, Bio Rex, which has 590 art deco seats where mostly independent or auteur films are screened on weekends.
Amox Rex, in the plaza of Lasipalatsi
RESPONSIBLE GASTRONOMY
Defined by themselves as “a haute cuisine restaurant that produces zero waste”, Nolla (Liisankatu, 2) takes on a real challenge, and she's completely up to the task.
And it is that the commitment of this new restaurant, located in the charming district of Kruununhaka, is completely minimize food waste, by composting their own biowaste, for example.
Their three- or five-course menus are based on local and organic ingredients, always seeking to be sustainable (they take care of this point to the letter), and its preparation and presentation appeals to creativity and innovation.
Nolla: haute cuisine and zero waste
SHOPPING TIME
The space **Tre** (Mikonkatu 6) is in the very center and has a good representation of design pieces, furniture, decoration, organic cosmetics and fashion, all with a 100% Finnish style. Without a doubt, the perfect place if you want to take a memory of the country without being a 'souvenir'.
On the other hand, if we focus only on design, the best option is the ** Lemmetti Gallery ** (Yrjönkatu, 8), founded in 1980 by Juhani Lemmetti, who has the manufacturing rights of the Tapiovara furniture. Lemmetti is also the founder of Artek 2nd Cycle, a part of the iconic Artek store, where Alvar Aalto furniture is given a second life.
You should know that they will soon open a new space in the city specialized in collections that will show the best of contemporary and modern Finnish design.
Design lovers will not want to leave here
THE FASHION HOTEL
A few months ago it opened its doors Helsinki's revelation hotel. We are referring to **St George** (Yrjönkatu 13 C) , of the Kämp Collection Hotels group, housed in an emblematic and central building begun in the 1840s, and completed in 1890 by the local architect Onni Tarjanne, who also worked at the National Theater of Finland.
With seven floors, it is now an elegant hotel with 153 rooms whose interiors, signed by Nordic Light and Mirkku Kullberg –former CEO of Artek and head of the home department at Vitra– are dressed in pale olive tones, Santo Tomas marble tiles and warm chocolate curtains, contrasting with modernist furniture like the Hjort af Örnäs armchairs, and Finnish abstract art on the walls.
The best room in the house is the St George Suite, on the third floor, whose windows open onto Old Church Park . The heart of the hotel is the Winter Garden Bar, full of light thanks to its glass roof, run by Finnish and Turkish chefs Antto Melasniemi and Mehmet Gürs.
The winter garden of the Hotel St. George
Their bakery , with entrance from the street, requires a visit to have a warm coffee, accompanied by a rich piece of self-made pastries, while you enjoy your readingroom, a space dedicated to that art of reading that is increasingly obsolete, full of magazines and newspapers in several languages.
Another option is order a basket with products for a picnic, and look for a nice corner of the city to enjoy it, on the back of one of the bicycles he has available for loan.
In front is the hotel's spoiled child, monocleshop, a small but cozy shop that he founded Tyler Brule in 2007, known worldwide for its lifestyle magazines and chic guides.
In the same way, Your St. George Care Spa offers treatments and massages in line with the brand's "Heart, mind and body" philosophy Hintsa and a swimming pool, a sauna, and a steam bath where minimalism, very much in keeping with the Finnish style, is present in every corner.
The most demanded by guests is “sleep consultancy”, based on the results recorded by sleep sensors placed under the bed.
Lastly, it should be noted your internal newspaper , published daily keeping the old traditions of printing. The only drawback is that it is written in the language of the country and it is more difficult for tourists to read.
St. George Care, a Finnish spa
COMING SOON
Finishing off the last brushstrokes, by the end of the year Another new avant-garde building opens, a few meters from the Kiasma Museum. This is the **Oodi library**, very close to the iconic House of Finland, in a building by the famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.
Projected by the studio ALA Architects, It has three floors and a metal and glass structure in which the curved wooden facade and a huge terrace.
Public, free and open every day of the week , the new library aspires to be "the living room of the citizens of Helsinki", thanks to its central location and its wide offer.
In addition to hosting 100,000 books, will have a movie theater, cafeterias, workshops, reading and games rooms, as well as various multipurpose rooms that can be reserved by anyone.
As a curious fact, the municipal authorities estimate that Oddi will have 2.5 million visitors a year, a figure equivalent to almost half the population of Finland.
Oodi