Back in 2022 or 2023 I met a young indie artist at a folk music festival. In the spring of 2024 she posted on Instagram, that she was looking for a certain kind of apartment for the filming of a music video. I didn’t have the apartment, but I told her that I’d love to be an extra, if I could be of assistance.
The filming was done in March. Basically the setting was a party. The role of most of the people was to drink beer and talk, and I am naturally talented at both. So I spent hours talking with people I barely knew. The discussions were very similar: who are you, what do you do, how do you know the artist, etc.
It had been a long day, I was slightly tipsy and it was time for the last scenes. I started talking with a young woman and went through the usual discussion. When I told her about Deserted Finland, she told me she had been roaming around abandoned buildings in Helsinki since she was 14. We agreed to go urbexing together some day.
The video can be seen here. It turned out I was a lot older than everybody else in the party, but every party needs an odd old uncle telling strange stories, don’t they?
An around a month after the filming I went exploring with my new friend.
Our first location was the old Apollo school, which was about to be demolished. This was one of the last possibilities to photograph it.
There wasn’t a lot of wall, which hadn’t been painted over.
The daycare center next door was already finished.
And the demolition crew had already built fences around the school.
Had my friend not spotted a gap in the fence, we wouldn’t have been able to get to the other side.
And so we are in a narrow and badly bashed corridor. We heard voices as soon as we entered and almost left. Then we realized, that there were some kids inside the building. And we’re not afraid of kids.
We found the kids in the school gym. They asked if we had permission to enter. Of couse we didn’t. But neither had they. They quickly vanished.
As you can see, demolition has already started. The gym acts as a recycling station, where different materials are sorted.
That has been one large scene.
The basket has so far escaped demolition.
The use of wood and bricks is quite ordinary for 1980’s buildings. They give the place a warm appearance.
This is the main lobby of the school. Demolition of the insides of the building has advanced pretty far.
The main entrance seen from the inside.
Moving deeper inside the school. There was even less left to see here. It was completely dark and almost everything had been removed.
The floor has been made of ceramic tiles. The corridor has been very red.
A room, but the same theme continues. There is very little left.
This was as far as we went, and I believe that this is the school canteen. First of all the place was dark and not very interesting. Secondly I didn’t feel comfortable hanging around a demolition site because of my job.
So heading back towards the lobby. The main entrance is up front, the gym to the left.
That’s a lot of wood.
The main stairway of the school. However we had seen enough.
So back through the gym and out we went. The school was demolished that spring.