Art Nouveau Helsinki

For reasons that are unclear to me, Helsinki, Finland has a remarkable array of Art Nouveau buildings, mainly contructed between 1898 and 1914. Tyler Cowen called it the best Art Nouveau city, with only Brussels as a possible rival.

The city became the capital of Finland after Russia took it from Sweden in 1812, and the Russians embarked on a major rebuilding program that was basically complete by 1862. So it wasn't politics. I suppose Helsinki was just part of the generaly economic good times of 1896 to 1910, and these buildings were the result.

Kaarlenkatu 11, 1915, from the time when even telephone exchanges could be nice buildings.

More.

Love some of these details.