Great Ostrobothnian Peasant Houses

Ostrobothnian houses are our common cultural heritage. They are an essential component of the Ostrobothnian cultural landscape and people’s everyday life. They still serve as people’s homes and leisure-time houses. What values does the Ostrobothnian house culture involve? What is the background of the construction of Ostrobothnian houses? Why and how were they built? What structural solutions were used? The book answers these questions and also presents the regional and stylistic diversity of Ostrobothnian houses. The text is accompanied by diverse illustrations. The book includes plenty of previously unpublished archive material, including treasures such as early photographs by Julia Widgren from the 1870s as well as aquarelles and drawings by Toivo Salervo and Alvar Aalto from the first decades of the 20th century. An Ostrobothnian house is more than just a building. It is an entire cultural sphere with rich values, which offers a lot to learn from.

The University of Helsinki Ruralia Institute launched a series of projects related to Ostrobothnian houses in 2013. Apart from producing new knowledge, they aim at the cognitive, skill-based and institutional strengthening of actors interested in rural cultural heritage. This reference book is a compact package on the values, styles, background and diversity of Ostrobothnian house culture.