October 1996

A sunny but cold day in Lahti, Finland. The old building near the waterfront attracts my attention. Like a defeated giant it is lying there, holding a glimpse of the beauty it once had. The whole neighbourhood whispers a story ‘of what once was’.

I went inside and tried to capture the remaining glory and strength of the brick building, before mankind transforms it into something new.

It was clear this was going to happen.

Inside darkness reigns, yet I encounter no hostility. Walls were mutilated by would-be graffiti Artists. Damage of all kind everywhere. At the places were windows once were, the sun follows me.
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At the turn of the millennium I visited the geographical site again. Only a few walls remind me of the building I was in years before. New times have come.

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This building is the oldest industrial building still existing in Lahti. It was originally built by August Fellman in 1907-08 to serve as a kraft pulp factory, in connection with a sawmill. The building has been extended several times and his has served as a glass factory, wood meal factory, carpentry factory and wooden element house factory.

The composition combines a brick factory building and two new glass-sheathed boxes that enclose wood space frames. The new hall is already regarded as the premier musical performance space in Finland and caps a concerted effort to revitalize the once downtrodden waterfront district.