Hello, and let me once again wish you my warmest welcome to the abandoned vocational school dormitory covered in snow. This view is directly from the entrance located in the part between the old and new sides of the building. First up there was a cozy common room for the inhabitants. It featured lots ofContinue reading “Smells Like Teen Spirit Part II”
Tag Archives: Finland
Smells Like Teen Spirit Part I
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 actuallyContinue reading “Smells Like Teen Spirit Part I”
A Taste of Education
In the 1950’s a workers’ institute was founded in a small village. The main aim of it was to provide education to trade union actives and to weaken the strong pro-communist opinions in the area back then. The institute received funding from the USA. It has been rumoured, that even the CIA was involved, butContinue reading “A Taste of Education”
Bored on a Summer Evening
Almost two years had passed since my last explorations in abandoned buildings. There were two main reasons for that. The first one was that I had no time. I studied two degrees and worked three jobs. The second reason was, that there was nothing new to explore in my home town. I had already visitedContinue reading “Bored on a Summer Evening”
A City in Change
Welcome to Oulu, the city of long, cold winters, tar and technology. Located in the narrowest part of Finland at the mouth of Oulu river, it calls itself the capital of Northern Scandinavia. Not exactly located in Scandinavia, it is the indisputable capital of Northern Finland. Northern Finland is losing a lot of its population.Continue reading “A City in Change”
A Ruined Welcome
Welcome to Vaasa, the pearl of the Finnish West coast. This is the place, where the city was founded in 1606. The church was built way back in the 14th century, and it was expanded in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In 1852 the city burned down. The fire spared only two buildings,Continue reading “A Ruined Welcome”
Life Left When the Ore ran out
The place featured in this week’s post is rather unusual, as it’s not really abandoned. We are talking about the village of Otanmäki, which is located in the former municipality of Vuolijoki, a part of Kajaani since 2007. The village was founded in the early 50’s, when iron ore was found nearby. A mine wasContinue reading “Life Left When the Ore ran out”
The School for the Special Salmon Part V
The last part of my exploration begins on the second floor of the final, unexplored wing. This was something I hadn’t found in any other part of the building: a room with inner glass walls. Let’s have a closer look behind the sofa. The sign says: “Emergency exit. The route must remain unblocked”. Someone didn’tContinue reading “The School for the Special Salmon Part V”
The School for the Special Salmon Part IV
Like I said earlier, this wasn’t one of the most interesting buildings to photograph. There was just lots and lots of empty space. But every now and then something came up. The room was otherwise completely empty. And then in one corner there was a huge pile of party magazines for the True Finns, backContinue reading “The School for the Special Salmon Part IV”
The School for the Special Salmon Part III
Next I arrived in the main lobby. I took these pictures in September, but somehow they had already braced for the coming winter. In Finland we always joke about old people trying to use kicksleds in as little snow as possible. Wonder, where grandpa’s tried to go this time. Let’s have a look at theContinue reading “The School for the Special Salmon Part III”