Enchanted Spaces

November 6, 2009 3:40 PM

Enchanted Spaces by Marrigje De Maar. Russia::Finland::China::Japan
posted by vronsky (9 comments total)

Makes me want a party tent.
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:58 PM on November 6, 2009

Finland: That's quite a shade of green there...

Japan: The gray armchair there at the foot of the bed is a massage chair. Machine-automated rolling wheels along the back give you a massage, of sorts. This looks like a really old one, but they're still very popular right up to this day here in Japan. The newer ones are really pretty sophisticated.

Thanks for the post, vronsky. I love seeing interesting interior living spaces from round the world.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:16 PM on November 6, 2009

You know I've read somewhere that massage chairs are hugely popular in japan, which I think is great and very smart. I would love to have a kickass massage chair, and also a steam shower. And also one of those isolation tanks from the seventies. (yes, I've had a stressful week)
posted by vronsky at 5:37 PM on November 6, 2009

I guess maybe massage chairs are catching on stateside, too?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:40 PM on November 6, 2009

oooohhh, uuuunh, aaahhh

Hey flapjax, lend me $3,495?
posted by vronsky at 5:46 PM on November 6, 2009

I only got a few shots into the Russian set before I saw some of the colors and arrangements that made me think so strongly of my maternal family's first American house that I had to close it. I hate myself for not getting photos of it before it was razed.
posted by cobaltnine at 6:08 PM on November 6, 2009

Some of these remind me of off-campus group homes (sans beer cans).
posted by stbalbach at 8:19 PM on November 6, 2009

The "Russia" label is a bit misleading, it's a shame she doesn't say what part of Russia the photos are from since it makes quite a difference: all of the villages photographed are in Karelia, on the Finnish-Russian border. It has strong ties to Finland, as well as Sweden, and is a region with a unique history. The villages she photographed are, more specifically, part of Viena Karelia, which is the birthplace of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. Paanajärvi is one of the villages photographed; most of the other villages have nice writeups on that site too. (Vuokkiniemi, Vuonninen, Uhtua, Tollonjoki, Jyksyjärvi.)

According to tradition, Paanajärvi was the oldest village in eastern Karelia and habitation spread from there to Jyskyjärvi and Suopassalmi. Paanajärvi was the site of the first Christian church built in Viena, and the village was the administrative center of East Viena for centuries.
posted by fraula at 6:11 AM on November 7, 2009 [2 favorites]

This is cool.
posted by limeonaire at 6:12 PM on November 7, 2009