ALUSTA PAVILION

ALUSTA PAVILION, FINLAND

Located in the courtyard between the Design Museum and the Museum of Finnish Architecture, Alusta creates a pocket of lush greenery in a central area of Helsinki. The materials chosen are tied deeply to the earth: fired as well as unfired clay, branches, wood, and rammed earth. It is a spatial experience for humans and non-humans alike, revelling in natural processes of growth and decay, housing crawling insects, climbing plant life, and creeping fungi.  

As part of the Academy of Finland’s BIWE (Biodiversity interventions for well-being) project, the pavilion’s aim is to reintroduce biodiversity into densely inhabited urban areas. BIWE’s research specifically focuses on the effects of microbial presence in the built environment and measures what impact this can have on residents’ health and wellbeing. 

Produced by Tampere University as part of the ARCH4FUTURE project.
Co-funded by the Finnish National Agency for Education.
Voiceover by Dara Nerweyi