Location: Varkaus

Kinkamon Aalto in Varkaus

Kinkamo is the first building that Alvar Aalto designed in Varkaus. Kinkamo was designed to be a weekend cabin in Kopolanniemi for the workers of the A. Ahlström factory. Kinkamo is a good example of Aalto’s efforts to adapt the building to its natural surroundings: it is located on a lake shore at the edge of the forest and it is not visible from the opposite shore, or from passing boats. The Warkaus Factory club-association approved the construction of Kinkamo during a general meeting held on May 12th, in 1937. The name Kinkamo was the result of a name competition organized in 1939.

Kinkamo is a joint project of Alvar and Aino Aalto: Alvar Aalto was commissioned a plan for the building in 1937, while the interiors were designed by Aino Aalto. The long building has a spacious veranda with a roof supported by sloping columns, a large open living area with a fireplace, and a separate sleeping wing. It also has a kitchen, drying room and a room for the housekeeper. The building’s horizontal line is emphasized by the horizontal timber cladding and narrow horizontal windows in the sleeping wing.

While designing Kinkamo, the architect couple played with historical motifs in an unusual manner. The originally open sleeping alcoves, furnished with built-in bunk beds, recalled a traditional Finnish rural style. The large dining table and separate chairs inside the dining hall, as well as the light fixtures, combine functionalism with medieval impressions in a unique way. The perforated decoration on the curved backrest of the dining chairs is also a practicality: it makes it easier to grab and move the chair. The medieval reference of the furniture conceived for Kinkamo is most clearly evident in one specific chair model: a high-backrest throne chair with four-leaved clover shapes pierced at the top of the backrest and a crown in the middle. Above the dining table is a straight five-lamp chandelier that repeats the motifs of the dining chairs.

Kinkamo is also equipped with a sauna: until 1976 in a structure re-adapted from a modular house designed by architect Kristian Gullichsen, which was then replaced with a sauna designed by architect Seppo Mykrä. The Warkaus Factory Club sold Kinkamo to A. Ahlström Oy in 1953, with the selling price being paid to the Varkaus branch of the General Mannerheim League for child welfare. In 1994, Kinkamo was transferred to Enso Gutzeit Oy, to be used for representation purposes. In the spring of 2019, Kinkamo was bought by Jukka Leväinen, a civil engineering entrepreneur from Varkaus, who then founded the company Kinkamon Aalto, which provides event and conference services.

Varkaus – industrial history, Lake Saimaa waterways and caviar

Lake Saimaa waterways that extend to the city centre, a lush natural environment and many destinations offer holidaymakers many opportunities in the Varkaus region. Specialties include the city’s own caviar, sturgeon delicacies, tattoo art and culture in Varkaus Tattoo museum, as well as the home of amazing instruments, the Museum of Mechanical Music.

Renowned building planners, including Ivar and Valter Thomé, Karl Lindahl and Alvar Aalto, were responsible for the urban landscape of the city of Varkaus in the first half of the twentieth century. The city built around industry has a unique architecture. This rich cultural history is presented by the museums of Varkaus and the online exhibits of the museums, theme tours by Guide’s of Varkaus, and by a walking tour of Vanha Varkaus (Old Varkaus).

If you want to admire the lakeland scenery you can take a cruise or a trip on a canoe. Fishing is possible in the middle of the city in Pirtinvirta waterway or in the extensive 3 000 hectare fishing area nearby. The Linnansaari and Kolovesi national parks nearby are paradises for boaters, and are also home to the famous Saimaa ringed seal. Watch the canal locks operating in the canal district of Taipale and learn stories about the construction of the canal in the Canal Museum.

Alvar Aalto’s industrial landscape in Varkaus

In Varkaus, you can get to know an old industrial town where Alvar Aalto’s influence is still vivid. He started as the designer of the Varkaus Mills in the mid-1930s and continued in this role for about 10 years. There were also a number of plans that never materialised. You will also see other old building history of Varkaus, enjoy the natural environment in the Lake Saimaa waterways and savour food indigenous of the Savo region.

Alvar Aalto, a trailblazer in functionalism, used his design to achieve a more progressive and equal society. In the 1940s, he assumed post-war reconstruction and its sensible implementation as his other key objectives. In Varkaus, Aalto drew up designs ranging from industrial buildings and town plans to the homes of ordinary people. The Varkaus house factory manufactured hundreds of standardised houses designed by him. These were erected in all parts of Finland.

The bicentennial industrial history of Varkaus is evident in the appearance of the town. Over the years, Varkaus has been the host of successful iron and engineering works, shipyards, sawmills, wood-processing plants and paper mills. The Varkaus of today is also renowned for its expertise in energy technology.

Part of the former industrial area has been converted into a modern fishery centre. Varkaus is able to offer rainbow trout, sturgeon and caviar grown in an environmentally benign manner in the waters of Lake Saimaa.

Industrial history is supplemented by the Museum of Mechanical Music, which presents the international history of mechanical music from the 19th century to the present day.

Varkaus daytour – industrial history and Lake Saimaa waterways

Welcome to experience Alvar Aalto in the lake district of Finland, beside Lake Saimaa!

In Varkaus, Aalto drew up designs ranging from industrial buildings and town plans to the homes of ordinary people. He started as the designer of the Varkaus Mills in the mid-1930s and continued in this role for about 10 years. There were also a number of plans that never materialised. You will also see other old building history of Varkaus, enjoy the natural environment in the Lake Saimaa area and savour food indigenous of the Savo region.

Alvar Aalto, a trailblazer in functionalism, used his design to achieve a more progressive and equal society. In the 1940s, he assumed post-war reconstruction and its sensible implementation as his other key objectives. In Varkaus, Aalto drew up designs ranging from industrial buildings and town plans to the homes of ordinary people. The Varkaus house factory manufactured hundreds of standardised houses designed by him. These were erected in all parts of Finland.

The bicentennial industrial history of Varkaus is evident in the appearance of the town. Over the years, Varkaus has been the host of successful iron and engineering works, shipyards, sawmills, wood-processing plants and paper mills. The Varkaus of today is also renowned for its expertise in energy technology.

Part of the former industrial area has been converted into a modern fishery centre. Varkaus is able to offer rainbow trout, sturgeon and caviar grown in an environmentally benign manner in the waters of Lake Saimaa.

Industrial history is supplemented by the Museum of Mechanical Music, which presents the international history of mechanical music from the 19th century to the present day.