W hen real estate investor Arthur
Buchardt came to Helsinki for the first time – 30 years ago – he fell in love with the city and its people. Hailing from Norway, he found that the Finns were kindred spirits – oft-times shy straightshooters who say and mean the same thing.
“ Also, I thought that Helsinki was exotic as well, located as it is between west and east.”
And then there was the architecture which left Buchardt speechless. Since he was a teenager, one of his most prized possessions was a chair designed by the Finnish master Alvar Aalto – and here Buchardt was in Helsinki, taking in all the architectural hallmarks designed by Aalto.
“ Everything about Aalto seemed very attractive to me: the clear, timeless design and the natural materials really made an impression,” he looks back. Aalto’ s simple design style appealed to Buchardt because, under his own admission,“ so am I”.
“ Also, I look at Aalto’ s work now and I see that it embodies the Finnish way to be. Somehow it’ s honest and natural and simple to read.”
No Place Like Helsinki
As a consequence of that first 1980’ s visit, Buchardt has been coming back so frequently that you’ d think he’ s lost count of those visits a long time ago. That’ s not the case:
“ I’ ve been to Helsinki 140 times,” he says.
Nevertheless, as much as Buchardt was loving Helsinki it sure took a while before“ the Daughter of the Baltic” heard the calls of the persistent pursuer. Having established a string of hotels in Norway and Sweden, Buchardt thought the time was ripe to expand his hotel empire to Helsinki during the 00’ s. The origins of the venture were positive enough: Buchardt had talks with Mirkku Kullberg, CEO of Artek, the caretaker of Aalto’ s legacy, and Pekka Korpinen, Helsinki Deputy Mayor, around 2006.
“ I had just launched Clarion Sign Hotel in Stockholm and started talking with the City officials from Helsinki, whether it would be possible to build a hotel in Katajanokka, in the downtown area.”
Swiss, No Swish
Buchardt enlisted the aid of superstar architect agency Herzog & de Meuron to come up with a plan for the Katajanokka plot. The Swiss architects designed a hotel shaped like a cross which paid tribute to its marine surroundings. The plan attracted a lot of criticism, however, despite the fact that the architects seemed to be quite in tune with the values of the locals, declaring, for instance, that Helsinki’ s greatest natural asset is its water.
In the end, the five-star design hotel with 200 guest rooms never came to be. While the City’ s public servants were very much on board, the political will was not there and the City Council rejected the plan.
Waiting for four-and-a-half years for a flat-out‘ No’ hardly seems ideal, but Buchardt claims that the process bolstered his belief in the Finnish process: he found that the Finnish administrators were positive, constructive and very honest and open about the project.
“ They never promised something that was beyond their power. I understood all along that these types of decisions are political.”
Photo: Kuvatoimisto Kuvio Oy
14 Nordicum