At the end of the train line a quiet town bears daily witness to a relentless dance of destruction.
A deep growl rumbles through the afternoon air, vibrating through bodies and resonating beneath the ground
.It’s the roar of the Liebherr — laboring like a mechanical beast, relentless yet obedient, tamed under command.
The Liebherr’s iron claw lunges, tearing into the remains of walls and tangled debris, dismantling the world piece by piece.
Slabs of concrete crash to the ground, twisted rods of iron screech in protest, metal sheets fold like paper, and grimy layers of insulation tumble down in slow motion.
Through the low hum of combustion engines, punctuated by sudden clinks of breaking material and the clatter of falling debris, the Liebherrs call to one another.
Their stuttering beeps set the rhythm of the scene — each one a warning — as the hulking machines creep back and forth.
At times, the mechanical beast pauses, as if to gather its breath. It hisses — a sound like something subterranean and ancient, a serpent that rarely sees the sun.
It’s as if it has emerged from the depths of the earth, momentarily subdued, steam curling from its nostrils, savoring the scent of its next target, insatiable in its hunger for destruction.
Once, the Baltic was so clear sailors steered by reefs beneath the surface. In the shallows drifted tufts of green—Cladophora glomerata, “Ahti’s beard,” recalling the sea god and his consort Vellamo. Once a shelter for life, these strands now warn of imbalance.
The Baltic is a threshold, a shifting membrane of the North. Land rose, boundaries moved, and its present life is less than 4,000 years old. Shallow, brackish, enclosed — the sea remains unsettled.
Bearded stones remember the age of ice and water, when the earth trembled beneath retreating giants. Glaciers carved valleys, and floods tore across continents.
In their wake came shifting seas: the Baltic Ice Lake high above today’s waters; the Yoldia Sea, when the ocean broke through; the Ancylus Lake, sealed by rising land; and the brackish Littorina Sea, alive with periwinkles. Long before, the Eemian Sea had drowned Finland’s shores, teeming with life now forgotten.
Now, the sea lies clouded. Divine green beards thicken, flourishing in poisoned waters, warning of something darker. Each summer, mats of cyanobacteria spread, fed by rivers, fields, and cities—Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, Nodularia—names that unravel worlds.
Now, the sea lies clouded. Divine green beards thicken, flourishing in poisoned waters, warning of something darker. Each summer, mats of cyanobacteria spread, fed by rivers, fields, and cities—Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, Nodularia—names that unravel worlds.
The Baltic renews slowly, its waters turning only in decades. Nutrients linger, choking the sea. Blooms smother bladderwrack and deplete oxygen. Shores grow slick, meadows vanish, toxins seep outward. At times, the sea shifts through strange colors—red, green, brown.
Once a giver of life, the bloom now suffocates.
Once a giver of life, the bloom now suffocates.
Ella Kaira
ella.kaira@gmail.com
I am a Helsinki-based architect and co-founder of the community-driven architectural practice Vokal. My work moves within the existing city, where I seek out local knowledge and inherited traditions to care for modern architectural heritage. My practice makes visible the processes that shape the built environment, opening them to public dialogue.
Education
Aalto University (FI)
Architect M.Sc.
2014-2020
ENSA Paris-Belleville (FR)
Architecture
2018-2019
Vapaa Taidekoulu / Free Art School (FI)
Painting studies
2012-2013
Project Review: Echoes of the Past
The Finnish Architectural Review 4/2025
Promise of vitality
Archinfo
09/01/2024
Revisit: Vuoranta Training Centre
The Finnish Architectural Review 5/2023
The Local Community Heals
The Finnish Architectural Review
3/2023
Social Movements, Saviours of Built Heritage?
The Finnish Architectural Review
1/2023
Ella Kaira & Matti Jänkälä
Books
Architecture of Stewardship
Arvinius & Orfeus Publishing
2025
Ed. Ella Kaira & Matti Jänkälä
Muistojen Meri-Rastila
Kulttuuritila Merirasti
Helsinki, Finland
Matti Jänkälä & Ella Kaira
2025
The Pavilion - Architecture of Stewardship
Biennale Architettura di Venezia
Venice, Italy
Curators Ella Kaira & Matti Jänkälä
Commissioner Archinfo
Video artist Merle Karp
Sound designer Jussi Hertz
Exhibition Architect Antti Auvinen
Graphic designer Samuli Saarinen
2025
It’s Time to Talk about Monstrosities
Pori Biennale - Visitor
Helsinki, Finland
Matti Jänkälä, Ella Kaira & You Tell Me Collective
2022
Residencies
Finnish Cultural Institute in Rome - Villa Lante (upcoming)
Artist residency
7/2025
Intelligence of the Hand
Cité internationale des arts Paris
Artist residency
9/25-12/25
The Grand Ensemble Tour
The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York
Artist residency
11/2023
From the Ground Up