Perched on a single column and rising amongst the trees in an area close to Finland’s Salamajärvi National Park is the Niliaitta, a black-painted prototype cabin by Studio Puisto. It is the first of 50 cabins and suites slated to be built on the site of the future Kivijärvi Resort, an ecologically-sensitive retreat where visitors can commune with the area’s natural beauty, biodiversity and spirit.
The cabin pays tribute to the architecture of the same name, niliaitta, a traditional building used by the Samí settlement in Lapland for safely storing food away from bears and other wild animals roaming the area. Raised on a single pillar, it is a retreat that completely detaches visitors from everything familiar and trivial, starting from the experience of climbing up the long linear staircase, to the discovery of the warm and cozy interiors. “It creates an experiential moment where the wild nature slowly transitions into a secure, safe place, offering an entirely different perspective which to take in the nature around you,” the studio explains.
The exteriors of the cabin are painted black to blend into the surrounding nature, while the light-coloured wood panels that clad the interior walls and ceilings act as a quiet, unobtrusive backdrop that draws one’s attention to the natural landscape framed through the large picture window.
Rustic as it may seem, the comforts of the Niliaitta Cabin rival those of a modern hotel room in the city, with high-quality materials and amenities used for the lounge areas, bedroom, shower room and kitchenette. Offering the amazing contrast of a contemporary shelter and the wildness of nature just outside one’s doorstep, this is a destination to be bookmarked for future trips.
Studio Puisto also collaborated on a modular cabin with Made by Choice and Protos Design.
Photography © Marc Goodwin of Archmospheres for Studio Puisto