Kuusijärvi Smoke Saunas Win Finlandia Prize for Architecture
Kalle Kouhia
A public smoke sauna development at the Lake Kuusijärvi has been selected as this year’s winner of the Finlandia Prize for Architecture. The winner was selected by Dr. Timo Miettinen who praised the project for its aesthetic sensibility, technical flair, commitment to community building, respect for nature, and accessibility.
The 13th Finlandia Prize for Architecture has been awarded to the Kuusijärvi smoke saunas, which were designed in collaboration by Mer Architects and the architecture and design studio Talli. The winner was chosen from a shortlist of four projects by Timo Miettinen, an author and scholar specialising in European philosophy and intellectual history, who is also known as a public commentator on European politics.
“The smoke saunas at Lake Kuusijärvi represent public architecture at its finest. They stand as proof positive that beauty, sustainability and quality can, and do, belong to everyone,” Miettinen says.
In selecting this year’s winner, Timo Miettinen says he considered which of the shortlisted candidates best reflected the qualities that define Finnish people as a nation and the qualities we would like to see define us. The winning project offers us all an opportunity not only for calm and relaxation but also socialising and community.
In his comments, Miettinen highlights the sense of ritual the buildings succeed in engendering as part of the experience and the way the bathers are invited to move within the buildings and between them.
“From the changing rooms you are first brought outdoors into the fresh air, then to the sauna and, afterwards, to the lake beyond it. The scent of the forest, the cool air, the soft smoke and the dark expanses of wood all contribute to a carefully thought-out ritual. The low lighting and the intimate scale within the saunas create a protective cocoon from which you emerge into the forest and the vast expanse of lake that spreads out in front of you,” he concludes.
Tradition and local character take on a new layer
The newly added sauna buildings complement the existing recreational provision at Lake Kuusijärvi in Vantaa and are available for all to enjoy at a reasonable cost.
The recognition also reinforces the reputation of Finnish wood construction. Last year the Finlandia Prize for Architecture was awarded to Katajanokan Laituri, a massive timber-framed building designed by Anttinen Oiva Architects. The scale of the Kuusijärvi saunas is considerably more compact than that of a large hotel and office block.
Julia Hertell, architect at Mer Architects, who oversaw the building design, is delighted that in this globalised era a project which is relatively modest in scope and decidedly local – can still be in contention for, and to win, a prestigious prize like the Finlandia.
“The Finnish sauna architecture and design tradition is very much alive and well and constantly reinventing itself, and that’s definitely something to be proud of,” Hertell says.
Architect Jenni Hölttä, who oversaw the project’s principal design and building design at Talli Architects, praises the client, the City of Vantaa, for their visionary approach. The wish for a series of distinctive, high-specification buildings gave a chance for the designers to take an inventive and open-ended approach to the Finnish smoke sauna building tradition.
“I hope that the saunas we have created will bring people together and allow them opportunities to connect with the natural world. It is also our hope that we have succeeded in enhacing Lake Kuusijärvi’s unique atmosphere and perhaps brought a new dimension to it", Hölttä says.
Alongside the winner, the 2026 Finlandia Prize for Architecture shortlist comprised the Muurarimestari residential building in Helsinki, the Swedish Cultural Foundation’s SKiB campus in Pori and Lost Shtetl, the Jewish history museum in Lithuania.
This year, the jury comprised three professors of architecture from different universities – Panu Savolainen from Aalto, Anssi Lassila from Oulu and Sofie Pelsmakers from Tampere – as well as architect Miia-Liina Tommila.
Find out more about the smoke saunas of Kuusijärvi on the Finnisharchitecture.fi website via this link.
The Finlandia Prize for Architecture is the most prestigious architecture award in Finland. The award is presented by the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) since the year 2014. The aim of the prize is to increase appreciation for creative, high-quality architecture and to highlight the cultural value of architecture and its role in enhancing well-being.
The prize is awarded for the design of a building, group of buildings or renovation project completed within the last three years. The prize may be awarded for work by a Finnish architect or architectural practice, or for work designed for Finland by a foreign architect or architectural practice.
The finalists are selected by a preliminary jury appointed by the SAFA Board. Each year, the winner is chosen by a prominent figure from outside the field of architecture.
