致中国朋友的一封信

玛勒塔·洛埃卡里/Martta Louekari

叶扬译/Translated by YE Yang

我希望你坐飞机来赫尔辛基。因为这是速度最快、路程最短的方式，让你能快点儿到这里跟我在一起。当飞机穿过最后一道云层，你会看到覆盖了冰冷冬雾的森林、有着冰层的湖泊、遍布各处的小房子，正迎来冰冷的清晨。环绕赫尔辛基的波罗的海，让这里的冬季比同纬度的内陆地区更暖和。

机场的规模和气氛将使你对这个城市有一个初步的印象。它很小，但舒适、便捷。赫尔辛基大区有150万人，与中国的小城市相当。当你到达这个城市，你会看到两旁是1920年代和1950年代住宅、公园的小路，以及旁边有着商店和咖啡馆的林荫道。一切都是小尺度的。

赫尔辛基没有高耸的建筑。1895年，赫尔辛基城市规划办公室制定了相关规定，要求保持城市的天际线不变，但是现在情况改变了，赫尔辛基开始从中心地带向外扩张。

你会看到一些建筑工地，因为在这个时候，赫尔辛基正经历一场翻天覆地的变革。旧的滨水区域，主要是工业和港口区，正在进行开发，那里将成为市民生活及从事商业活动的新地区，而在海边散步休闲是大家都乐意做的事。

这是访问赫尔辛基最好的一年，因为赫尔辛基被选为“世界设计之都”。“世界设计之都” 这一活动由国际工业设计协会发起，以宣扬设计的意义。该活动每两年举办一次，获选城市在以设计为杠杆推动社会、文化和经济生活方面有着突出的成绩。2012年的赫尔辛基，将发生很多事，举办很多活动和聚会。

我想带你去看一些很棒的新建筑项目，它们由我的朋友设计。我们一起去K2S建筑师事务所设计的木造教堂。这座小教堂不提供传统的服务，它是一个让人来冥想的简单场所。它很美，看起来像木造的宇宙飞船，在这个全木造的空间里，你会丧失时间感和听觉。我想，这种感觉就像森林中的小虫子在树皮与树木之中冬眠一样。

我们该去看看托马斯·托伊沃宁和奈奈·坪井设计的新桑拿。公共桑拿现在依然在芬兰很盛行，是和朋友们一起放松一下的地方。最著名的建筑师阿尔瓦·阿尔托早在1920年代就提出，芬兰应该有更具文化意义的桑拿。现在，托马斯和奈奈正在将这个梦想付诸实践，创造可以作为文化空间的公共桑拿。我相信，奈奈将带我们去楼上的亭子里喝茶。整个冬季，赫尔辛基港口都是开放的，在那里，5艘破冰船的剪影后面，我们可以看到赫尔辛基的海湾、许多小岛和芬兰堡。

在芬兰，独特的竞赛文化使新人得以崭露头角，他们能够有机会获得重要的委托。在芬兰，大量的重要建筑脱胎于建筑竞标的结果。竞标通常是匿名的，学生也可以参加。许多规模数一数二的新建筑项目委托给了年轻的事务所。芬兰埃斯波的克蔻加尔维综合学校和挪威克里斯蒂安桑的克尔顿演艺中心都是这一现象的好例子。

我想，你会惊讶于赫尔辛基的寂静。每次我从中国回来，也总感到吃惊。即使在城市里，仍然能时时处处感到自然的存在。现在，三月了，白天变得长了一点儿，我很快就会听到海边第一群海鸥的鸣叫和窗外画眉的啼鸣。

日转为夜，寂静的蓝光包围着我写作的书桌。我现在不得不停笔，多泡些茶，找找我的羊毛袜。祝福你们。我是多么期待不久之后能在赫尔辛基见到你们啊!

致以最诚挚的问候，

玛勒塔 □

I hope you arrive Helsinki by plane. Because it is the quickest and shortest way, and you will be sooner here with me. When the plane passes the last clouds, you will see forest covered the of frozen winter mist, lakes with thin layer of ice, small houses here and there, waking up to the wintery morning. The Baltic Sea, that surrounds Helsinki,makes winter milder here than it is inland areas in these latitudes.

The size and atmosphere of the airport will you give the idea of the city already. It is small, but cosy and well functioned. The greater Helsinki region has 1.5 million people, the size is the same than a small city in China. When you arrive the city, you will see small roads with the houses from 1920's and 1950's, parks and boulevards with shops and cafes.Everything is small scale.

Helsinki has no high risers. The rules set up by The Helsinki City Planning Office already at 1895 has kept the skyline of the city even, but now the situation is about change, as Helsinki starts to run out of the space in central areas.

You will also see some building sites, because at the moment, Helsinki is going through massive changes, when old waterfront areas, mainly industrial and harbor areas, are under development creating citizens new places to live and do business,promenade and spend time by the seaside, which we like so much.

This is good year to visit Helsinki, because Helsinki is World Design Capital. The World Design Capital. An initiative by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) World Design Capital celebrates the merits of design. Held biennially, it seeks to highlight the accomplishments of cities that are truly leveraging design as a tool to improve the social, cultural and economic life of cities. Many things, events and gatherings will take place Helsinki at 2012.

I would like to take you to see some great new architecture projects designed by my friends.We can visit the wooden chapel by K2S Architects.This chapel has no traditional services, it is simple a place for people to came and meditate. It is beautiful, almost like wooden space craft, inside of whole wooden structure you loose sense of time and sound. I think it must be the similar kind of feeling,that forest insects have sleeping safely during the winter days in between the bark and the wood.

1 云城市，赫尔辛基，芬兰/CLOUD CITY, Helsinki, Finland, 建筑设计/Architects: ALA建筑师事务所/ALA Architects, 图片来源/Image courtesy of ALA Architects

We should go and visit Tuomas Toivonen and Nene Tsuboi in the new sauna they designed. Public saunas are still popular in Finland, it is place to go with the friends to relax. The most famous architect, Alvar Aalto proposed already in 1920s,that Finland should have cultural sauna. Now Tuomas and Nene are making the old dream to came true creating public sauna, which also can be used as cultural space. I am sure Nene will take us to drink some tea in the pavillion upstairs. From there,we can see the bay of Helsinki, some small islands and Suomenlinna fortress somewhere behind of the silhouettes of the 5 icebreakers that keep Helsinki harbor open during the winter.

In Finland, the unique competition culture provides new talent with opportunities to land powerful commissions. A significant percentage of the notable buildings in Finland have come about as a result of architectural competitions. The competitions are always anonymous and usually students can enter as well, many of our new architecture destinations are first or second large scale commission to young office. Kirkkojärvi school in Espoo, Finland and Kilden Performing Center,which is located in Kristiansand, Norway are both good examples of this phenomena.

I think you would be surprised by the silence of Helsinki. It always surprises me after my travels in China. Even in the city, nature is present in many ways. Now, when the days in March start to be longer, I can soon hear the first seagulls from the sea and the blackbird outside my window.

The day is turning into the evening and silent blue light surrounds my writing desk. I must stop now and make some more tea and look for my woolen socks. I wish you well. And I am looking so much forward to see you soon in Helsinki!

Best regards, Martta□