Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member Marine Biologist
N 60° 10.391 E 024° 56.135
35V E 385466 N 6672488
This statue of the head of the pike is called Laulupuut (Song Trees). It is located outside the Helsinki Music Centre, a concert hall and a music center in the Töölö area of Helsinki, Finland.
Waymark Code: WMPG78
Location: Finland
Date Posted: 08/26/2015
Published By:Groundspeak Charter Member BruceS
Views: 43

"The totem-like sculpture consists of three parts. The pike at the centre has alder branches entwined around it. Next to the pike are two towers made of the lids of concert grand pianos and piles of firewood.

The 13-meter high artwork measures six metres in width and nine in length, and is made of aluminium and steel. The making of the 50,000-tonne sculpture required more skill and time than anyone would have thought.

The head of the pike and the five firewood piles were cast at the Lapinlahden Taidevalu Oy’s foundry. This stage of the project alone took two years.

The head of the pike is made of 70 separate cast pieces. Sinisalo recalls that 1,600 kg of plaster was used to make the moulds.

The head, weighing 700 kg, and the firewood piles were welded together using aluminium. Sinisalo does not dare to think of the total amount of hours spent on the welding work.

The sides of the pike were made of a 40 mm thick sheet while the tail was made of a 20 mm thick sheet.

Sculptor Reijo Hukkanen’s Laulupuut sculpture won the 2010 Helsinki Music Centre Art Competition, which received nearly 800 entries in total.

Hukkanen got the idea for his sculpture from ‘The Pike’s Song,’ a poem by Aaro Hellaakoski. It was first published in the anthology Ice Mirror in 1928, and is one of the most discussed poems in 20th-century Finnish literature. In the enigmatic stanzas, a fish is singing a hymn and biting on a red cone at the top of a fir tree.

The poem, which Hukkanen had heard on the radio as a schoolboy, came back to his mind when he was sketching entries for the competition."

--Source (visit link)
Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: Laulupuut

Figure Type: Animal

Artist Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: Reijo Hukkanen

Date created or placed or use 'Unknown' if not known: Placed in 2012

Materials used: Aluminium and steel

Location: Helsinki Music Centre

Visit Instructions:
Please upload at least one photo you have personally taken of the sculpture and tell us a little about your impressions of the piece. Additional photos are always appreciated.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest Figurative Public Sculpture
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
Date Logged Log User Rating  
TimoKoo visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 09/16/2024 TimoKoo visited it
lenkelj visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 09/27/2023 lenkelj visited it
anna.s visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 03/19/2023 anna.s visited it
meri98 visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 08/07/2022 meri98 visited it
Smurffaaja visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 12/27/2021 Smurffaaja visited it
SammenKarhu visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 11/05/2021 SammenKarhu visited it
pode53 visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 08/14/2021 pode53 visited it
TaTuMa visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 02/22/2021 TaTuMa visited it
Suusani visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 10/13/2020 Suusani visited it
AiliLe visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 09/24/2020 AiliLe visited it
Retale81 visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 07/31/2019 Retale81 visited it
suprasami visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 05/24/2019 suprasami visited it
Emput1 visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 05/21/2018 Emput1 visited it
SMacB visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 05/17/2018 SMacB visited it
vikiki1 visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 02/24/2018 vikiki1 visited it
finder313 visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 08/07/2017 finder313 visited it
nannu63 visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 07/27/2017 nannu63 visited it
paulih visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 07/27/2017 paulih visited it
Salme Maijala visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 12/19/2016 Salme Maijala visited it
zaxa visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 04/24/2016 zaxa visited it
veehoo74 visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 04/18/2016 veehoo74 visited it
copperi visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 03/20/2016 copperi visited it
Lanberg visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 01/07/2016 Lanberg visited it
perttiv visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 12/21/2015 perttiv visited it
makans visited Laulupuut - Helsinki, Finland 11/10/2015 makans visited it

View all visits/logs