Finnish Design Blog

An exhibition of Finnish-American architect David Salmela’s hand-made models and large-scale photographs of his finished buildings is currently showing at the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center (New York Mills, MN) through October 25, 2008.

David Salmela is a creative self-trained architect practicing in Duluth, Minnesota. Since 1985, Salmela’s projects have won 14 Minnesota AIA Honor Awards and 16 national level awards including a National AIA Honor Award for Architecture. In 2005 the University of Minnesota Press published a monograph of the work of this Finnish-American Architect titled Salmela, Architect.

To learn more information about the exhibition or David Salmela, please check out the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center website.

I thought I’d post several photos of our special guests who stopped by our FinnStyle booth at FinnFest last week. It was a real honor to have three prominent figures in the Finnish community participate with us. Many thanks to Beatrice, Osmo and David for taking the time to visit and sign their works. FinnFest 2008 was a great success!

Our FinnStyle booth at FinnFest 2008 in Duluth, MN.

Beatrice Ojakangas is a well-known chef and author of over 25 Finnish/Scandinavian cookbooks.

Osmo Vänskä is an acclaimed conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra.

David Salmela is an accomplished architect whose original designs and buildings have won multiple industry awards.

FinnFest 2008 is officially underway in Duluth, MN, at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. Our retail store, FinnStyle, is in attendance so please be sure to stop by booth #70 and say hi. FinnFest (July 23-27) is packed with five solid days of great events this year. Some of the things that FinnishGifts/FinnStyle are bringing to the table is the opportunity to meet with three of the most prominent members of the Finnish-American community, Osmo Vänskä, Beatrice Ojakangas and David Salmela.

Osmo Vänskä is the revered conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra and has recently received a Grammy nomination for his classical works. He will be available to visit and sign Minnesota Orchestra CDs on Saturday morning at 10:00-10:30 AM.

Beatrice Ojakangas is a Duluth native and well-known chef and author of various Finnish and Scandinavian cookbooks. She will be signing her cookbooks on Friday from 4:00-4:30 PM and Saturday 2:00-2:30 PM.

David Salmela is an accomplished Minnesota architect whose original designs and buildings have won multiple industry awards. David will be available to sign posters, photographs and the book, Salmela Architect, on Thursday at 1:00-1:30 PM and Saturday between 10:30-11:00 AM.