Lásságámmi

Abstract

Lásságámmi was designed by the self-taught architect Eino Jokinen together with Valkeapää himself. According to the architect, the buildings design was the result of a close friendship and over a year long process. The house was intended to look like a large turf hut, and the name therefore literally translates to “the sloping rock turf hut”. Long before the construction started, Nils-Aslak Valkeapää spent a lot of time on the plot while working with the text for his book “Girddán Seivvodan” (I Fly, I Soar). In this way, the plot became his ruoktu (home) long before the building was completed, which in a way reflects his definition of space and the scope of home. The concept of ruotku is central to his art, and there are often clear parallels between the building's structure and composition of rooms, to the creative processes behind his texts. Since his passing in 2001, artists and researchers, chosen by a council, can live and work with their art of research in his house.