Nordic chic

Through an airplane window, Finland is a blue-green nation of endless waterways and forests, its hills undulating rather than mountainous, beautiful but undramatic. The landscape is understated in that Nordic way and a patchwork of the pale-blue, birch-white and leaf-green colours so trendy in paint shops.

Helsinki is the same. This European capital only really got going in the early 20th century, so it has none of the Gothic gargoyles or baroque bling you expect of the continent’s old towns. Its architecture is minimalist, with lots of elegant Art Nouveau lines and white cubes enlivened by the odd bulging church dome. Attractive streets intersect at small statue-studded parks and the city rambles around an indented coastline of rocky shores and shimmering trees. You can see where the Nordic design ethos comes from, with its natural colours and crisp, pared-down aesthetic.

There’s much to like about Helsinki but its best side, even if you aren’t a shopper, might be the Design District. This downtown neighbourhood packs in more than 200 fashion, home-ware and furniture boutiques from up-and-coming and established designers, providing a great showcase of Nordic style – plus the style of a few foreign invaders such as Italian companies Kartell (furniture and lighting) and Alessi (uber-stylish kitchenware). 

While you probably won’t be buying a sofa, you’ll find plenty that fits into a suitcase and plenty simply to please the eye.

Download the tourist office’s free Design District app and you can navigate your way around its stores. Start with the great Finnish design classics in shops that grace the district’s northeast edge in the posh end of town. Marimekko (Pohjoisesplanadi 33) might be Finland’s most famous fashion brand. It achieved international renown in the 1960s with its simple, poppy-patterned dresses and its clothes and textiles still feature bold, seemingly un-Finnish colours and patterns at eye-watering prices.

Along the same street is renowned glassware designer Iittala (Pohjoisesplanadi 23), which continues to produce versions of 1930s vases by the great Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, as well as the equally renowned drinking glasses designed by his wife Aino. Alvar Aalto became especially famous for his chairs, stools and lamps and founded Artek (Keskuskatu 1B), whose Design District store feels like a museum of 20th century design and splendidly demonstrates the Nordic knack of blending beautiful simplicity with easy functionality.

In 1956, a simple leaf-shaped plywood tray by Tapio Wirkkala was declared the world’s most beautiful object. Head to the Design Museum to see that and other classics of Finnish design, from Moomin cartoon hippos to Eero Aarnio’s iconic 1960s ball chair and the Finlandia vodka bottle. 

The museum is a great way to get to grips with Finnish design and its worldwide influences from the 1870s to the present day – an impressive pedigree for a small country on the periphery of Europe.

Finnish design continues to evolve and the great thing about the Design District is that you might spot today’s wannabe who will become tomorrow’s legend. Designers and craftspeople are often seen at work in ateliers attached to their shops, which provides a great opportunity for an insightful chat. You might for one meet textile maker Johanna Gullichsen at her eponymous store (Erottajankatu 1) – she favours cotton, wool and linen in the natural palettes commonly associated with Nordic design. Equally, you could encounter Harri Syrjänen (Ratakatu 1), a very untraditional goldsmith whose jewellery uses everything from leather, enamel and metal to rusting nails and pebbles.

It isn’t only fashion that is cool in the Design District. Roobertin Herkku (Fredrikinkatu 19) is an old-fashioned sweet shop where you can dig into sherbets, fruit pastilles, liquorice and retro caramels, and yet the walls are shocking blue, the floor polka-dotted and the owner has all the vibes of a hipster barista. And at Xocolab (Abrahaminkatu 6), artisan bonbons look like chunky pieces of jewellery – chocolates turned into marvels of design.

If you have limited time, concentrate on one street, Uudenmaankatu. At Nounou Design Showroom (Uudenmaankatu 2), for example, Anu Penttinen shows off her hand-blown glassware. Although she favours black and white stripes, a stint in Australia saw her influenced by indigenous art, which has imbued some of her glass with red and orange desert colours. Across the road is Art Gallery Piirto (Uudenmaankatu 7), which produces rather ethereal paintings of women and children – in the same building, you’ll find minimalist cashmere knits at Arela Helsinki.

Once you’ve worked up an appetite you hardly need stray off Uudenmaankatu to satisfy your hunger pangs in arty surrounds. Café Bar No 9 (Uudenmaankatu 9) hangs its walls with ever-changing Finnish artworks and dishes up stir-fry and pasta dishes. Right next door, the candlelit, bistro-style Demo (Uudenmaankatu 11) has managed to retain a Michelin star since 2007 for its French-influenced New Nordic cuisine. The set menus are at the whim of the chef but might include smoked Baltic herring, grilled Arctic char, white-truffle risotto and a ridiculously good blueberry tart.

For upmarket Finnish and Lappish cuisine look no further than Lappi (Annankatu 22) and sample the scrumptious salmon soup, roast reindeer with cranberry sauce and dessert made from Lappish cheese with cloudberry jam and cinnamon cream. Like much else in the Design District, you’ll be struck by its unpretentious excellence – the very essence of the district and Helsinki in general.