A stroll by the sea into Tapiola and a visit to the WeeGee Exhibition Centre which includes four museums, a cafe and museum shop. Entrance is €12 but is free each Friday between 5.00 pm and 7.00 p.m. The WeeGee building was constructed in the 1960’s for the Finnish printing company Weilin and Göös as their new print works, now owned by Espoo City Council it has been a museum and exhibition centre since late 2005.
From the above photo you can see the original logo above the door of the Weilin and Göös company. Top of our list of things to see there was a visit into the woodland garden to explore the Futuro House (feature photo above). This yellow, plastic house was originally designed as a ski lodge in 1968. The house hit the headlines both in Finland and overseas but was thought too peculiar and expensive to go into mass production. Today around 65 space age Futuro houses remain in various corners of the world.
Climbing inside there are seats and pull out beds with a central barbecue/ grill area. Off to one side is a kitchen corner and small bathroom with everything made out of plastic and there is even a smell of it in the air. Although the museum is open throughout the year, if you are interested in taking a look inside the Futuro House, this is only open between May and September.
On the ground floor of WeeGee you will find Espoo City Museum which showcases Espoo’s history with a splendid exhibition entitled ‘A trip through time’ starting from the Stone Age hunter gatherers and bringing visitors up-to-date with the city’s ultra modern technology centres. A temporary exhibition ‘A Time for Glass’ (from 15/6/2016 – 3/9/2017) introduces visitors to the history and production of the Kauklahti Glassworks in Espoo with stories of its workers and their daily routines. There’s also a display of the beautiful glassware produced there with hands on glass painting activities for children.
Also located on the ground floor is the Finnish Museum of Horology (Clock Museum) which is dedicated to timepieces and the history of measuring time. The museum’s collections have their origins in 1944 when the Finnish School of Watchmaking was founded.
Included in the exhibition are are all types of clocks and watches and we were interested to inspect the internal workings of the old clock from Helsinki’s Central Railway Station. Currently, there’s a temporary exhibition on Japan and you can stand behind a screen to be photographed on a digital watch face.
Still more to see upstairs with a visit to the Finnish Toy Museum which showcases toys through the ages. A temporary exhibition on circus life was ongoing with memorabilia, dressing up clothes and props such as juggling balls. Having visited the Children’s Museum in Edinburgh, I adored glancing at the collection of old toys here as well and reminiscing of what we played with as children. We were both enthralled by the large model railway as visitors can press buttons to operate the trains themselves – we are all still children at heart!
Last but not least here at WeeGee is EMMA – the Espoo Museum of Modern Art. This 5,000 square metre exhibition space is the largest of any museum in Finland and displays contemporary art from both Finland and overseas.
After looking in all these interesting museums it was time for a sit down and a cup of tea in the attractive museum cafe. To get to WeeGee from Helsinki take a bus from Kamppi and from next year you will be able to arrive by metro when the Lansimetro line opens.
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