OOPEAA: Office for Peripheral Architecture

by Kengo Kuma, Juulia Kauste, Michael Asgaard Andersen

The story of OOPEAA (Office for Peripheral Architecture) began in a rural field in Finland, where the now-iconic Kärsämäki Shingle Church was built by hand by hundreds of volunteers over half a decade. In the years that followed, OOPEAA has established itself as one of Finland's leading architecture firms, one that is distinguished by a sensitivity to material and craftmanship - first under the name Lassila Hirvilammi Architects and, from 2014, as OOPEAA Office for Peripheral Architecture.

"Theirs is both an inwardly-directed exploration of our cultural heritage and an outwardly-directed examination of the wider world around us," writes Museum of Finnish Architecture director Juulia Kauste. "In a very personal way, their work reflects the values that underlie Finnish modernity and the historical and contemporary conext of Finnish architecture."

In text, photographs and drawings, this book traces the office's development into one of the most innovative architectural practices in the Nordic region today.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2014