The Espoo Museum of Modern Art, EMMA, shows both modern and contemporary art together with design. EMMA is located in Tapiola district in a landmark building of Finnish modernism, designed originally as an industrial printing house by architect Aarno Ruusuvuori. The building was transformed into a Museum Centre WeeGee year 2006.
My favourite thing that makes me proud of Espoo:
As second biggest city in Finland, Espoo is an interesting mixture of pure nature and urbanism. It is the home city for a big hich tech start up scene, Aalto University, and most of Finland’s biggest international corporations. On the contrary, inhabitants and travellers are keen to the calmness of big forest areas, beautiful seashore, archipelago and parks. Current urban development combined with expanding leisure activities within the fields of culture and dining makes me proud of this town.
My favourite weekend routine:
Going for a picnic, trail run or picking mushrooms in the forests of Nuuksio area.
My favourite cultural spot:
Tens of public artworks around the city or along the metro line. Art makes the environment alive and gives character to places. The best is that in the public space you can meet art by accident without any planning, or if you wish, you can make your own routes inspired by art sites and investigate the city that way.
My favourite place for dining out:
New restaurants are popping up right now in Espoo. One of my favourites is Restaurant Haukilahden Helmi, a casual quality dining restaurant by the sea and next to a sailing club, founded quite recently by a famous Finnish chef Sikke Sumari.
My favourite breakfast place:
Traditional outdoor coffee tents at Heikintori, Tapiola walking center.
My favourite hotel for a staycation:
Hotel Tapiola Garden in the heart of architectural site of Tapiola garden city.
My favourite city escape:
Islands! You can visit islands owned by the city either with your own boat or water buses. The trip costs only a public transport ticket!
My favourite route for a run or walk:
Seashore biking and walking route called Rantaraitti in Finnish. It’s altogether 40 kilometres route from Espoo to Helsinki.
My favourite place for a creative or business meeting:
Otaniemi campus — a combination of start up scene and study life atmosphere.
My favourite place for fashion:
Vestis (formerly We Started This) is an online store and store in Espoo focused on high-quality second-hand fashion and jewelery
My favourite space for great design:
The Aalto University graduation shows from the talented students.
My favourite local entrepreneur or creative I want to promote:
Because of its throughoutly unique location in a water tower and view over the archipelago of Espoo and offshore the Baltic Sea, I’d like to recommend a visit to a restaurant Haikaranpesä which means stork’s nest in English. The concrete water tower was completed year 1968. They serve a generous traditional Scandinavian buffet with fresh fish but make sure you’ll pick up a clear day instead of a foggy one for having a lunch here.
My favourite example of tech innovation in Espoo:
Rapidly growing Finnish fashion and tech company called Infinited Fiber Company. They have developed a new textile fiber from recycled material which is currently in high international demand.
My favorite local media:
City newspaper Länsiväylä of course. You can read it digitally or from paper which is carried to your home each week and get the current picture of everything what’s happening right now in the city.
My favourite thing at home:
Making food with my family and taking walks in the neighbourhood after the meal. We’re a typical Finnish family who enjoys the dinner quite early so there’s always time for taking some oxygen in the evenings.
