Korundi House of Culture auditorium in Rovaniemi is an acoustic gem

Lapland Chamber Orchestra and Rovaniemi Art Museum now operate in the same renovated and extended premises

Henrik Møller

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By Hannu-Ilari Lampila in Rovaniemi
     
      Corundum (korundi in Finnish) is a mineral, a crystalline form of aluminium oxide with traces of iron, titanium and chromium to be precise, from which precious gemstones are refined.
      If crimson in colour, the gems are called rubies; other colour variations - in blue, yellow, pink, purple, orange, or greenish hues - are known as sapphires.
      People in Lapland say that the best blue sapphires come from the corundum found by prospectors in Lapland.
      When Lapland corundum is polished, the "Lapland star" will appear to sparkle on its surface.
     
Korundi is also the name of the new culture centre in the Lapland capital of Rovaniemi.
      The Korundi House of Culture operates in the former Rovaniemi mail-van depot, an old redbrick building from the 1930s.
      Part of the depot has been occupied by the Rovaniemi Art Museum since 1986.
      Now next to the redbrick building a box made out of weathered, patinated steel has been erected that resonates with the warm colours of the surroundings.
      The box houses the new 340-seat concert auditorium of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra. At the same time, the Art Museum was provided with some additional space in the old building.
      The name Korundi was chosen as a result of a competition, to which more than 700 suggestions were sent.
     
The name is fitting. From the outside, Korundi looks like a weatherbeaten, rough-walled old factory building accompanied by an additional hall made out of steel. The treasures are hidden inside, in the form of excellent  acoustics and new Finnish art.
      The appearance of incompleteness is part of the aesthetic sought by architect Juhani Pallasmaa, who designed the addition. “It speaks in a tangible and silent way of bygone days”, Pallasmaa explains.
      Korundi certainly stands out in an inviting fashion from the barren functionalist architecture of the shopping malls of central Rovaniemi.
      Once all the landscaping work around Korundi has been completed, it is hoped that the site will become the new living room for the Rovaniemi residents.
     
When the famous Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry designs buildings, his key question is: what does the building say to the people passing it, how does it welcome them in?
      Let us hope that Korundi has its own body language that says: come right in and feel at home.
      The concert auditorium represents the tried and tested rectangular shoebox model.
      The light-coloured interior walls are of MDF board made out of stained European beech, the hardwood floor is of tropical merbau, and the stage is made out of 45-millimetre Oregon pine.
      Underneath the hardwood flooring there is concrete, while the space under the stage is hollow, which turns it into a resonating instrument.
     
The simple auditorium in itself does not look like a gem, but painter and graphic artist Prof. Jorma Hautala has succeeded in turning the warm highlights of the walls into “colour acoustics” that make the auditorium appear very rich in atmosphere.
      The auditorium’s acoustics were designed by Danish professor of acoustics Henrik Møller in cooperation with Pallasmaa. All the materials, and the geometric shape with its dimensions and reflecting surfaces, have been chosen carefully.
      The acoustic design has been an unqualified success. The sound in the auditorium appears natural, warm, and translucently clear.
      The balance between direct sound, short reflections, reverb-times, and the high and low registers has been adjusted meticulously.
      A listener will get the impression that the sound waves are caressing and tickling him gently from all directions.
     
It took a small mental effort to force myself to do the art exhibition round as well.
      One has to learn to combine the activities of sitting in a concert hall and walking through an art museum.
      But it is worth it.
      The history of the Lapland Art Museum dates back to 1983, when the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation donated the museum a large collection of post-war Finnish paintings. That is when the decision was made to turn the decommissioned mail depot into an art museum.
      In the spring of 2011 the Foundation donated the Art Museum of Lapland another 504 works of art, which are now on display at the Korundi House of Culture inaugural exhibition. The total number of pieces of art work in the Wihuri Collection is 2,884.
      The long art museum wing houses exhibition spaces on two levels, which enables the creation of a wide range of visual narratives and imaginary journeys.
      The multifaceted exhibition offers a play of colours and shapes. In addition to the light and abstraction of the north, blatantly expressive and bluntly corporal visions are also on display.
     
The City Council of Rovaniemi found perfect political harmony when deciding on the building of the Korundi House of Culture.
      When the surrounding municipality of Rovaniemen maalaiskunta was annexed to the city of Rovaniemi in 2006, a phase of economic growth began in the joint municipality, which in turn created a positive atmosphere for the construction of Korundi.
      The relatively tame opposition was centred on the usual “diaper debate”: which is more important, children’s day-care or a house of culture.
      Rock circles wondered why the auditorium is only meant for art music. The answer was simple: a 300-seat concert hall is far too small for electrically-amplified rock concerts.
     
The auditorium is a multi-purpose space that can be used for a variety of functions. Next autumn even opera will be performed there.
      The construction work began in the autumn of 2009. The most challenging task was to connect the new annex to the existing structure.
      Korundi came with a price tag of EUR 8.2 million. The European Regional Development Fund stumped up a EUR 3.2 million contribution.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 27.5.2011


Links:
  Korundi
  Home page of Henrik Møller (Aalborg University)
  Juhani Pallasmaa (Wikipedia)
  Jenni and Antti Wihuri Foundation

HANNU-ILARI LAMPILA / Helsingin Sanomat
hannu.lampila@hs.fi