On the edge of the city center in Oulu stood a large house with boarded windows.
The older part was built in the early 1950’s and was designed by the first city architect Martti Heikura.
An annex was added in 1973.
The place was the student dormitory of a vocational school located nearby.
Or actually it no longer was, it had been. Because of air quality problems it was abandoned at the end of the 2007-2008 semester.
It had stood vacant for years. The city was drawing new plans to replace it alongside with the old vocational school with new apartments, but planning took time. It was just a matter of time, when the demolition crews would move in.
I waited for years to get my chance to photograph here. Eventually I contacted the heads of the organization owning the building.
I was granted permission and given the keys to the dormitory. It was early January, and after days of heavy freezing, the temperature had suddenly gone up. The snowfall was massive, the world was soft, white, and very wet, when I embarked on my exploration.
For the next two hours I would explore the complex thoroughly and film my most extensive and largest gallery so far.
Welcome to the habitat of Finnish youth of late 2000’s.