Spaces of Happiness
Nature, Sustainability, and Aesthetic Experience in Viikki Church, Finland
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17979/aarc.2026.13.13562Keywords:
Viikki Church, Lefebvre’s spatial theory, semiotics, sustainability, space of happinessAbstract
This paper examines Helsinki’s Viikki Church (JKMM Architects, 2000-05) as modern architecture where aesthetics, sustainability, and nature converge to create ‘spaces of happiness’. It examines materiality, light, colour, and symbolic elements through Lefebvre’s spatial triad and semiotics. The church’s minimalist style and ecological design principles provide a multisensory environment of serenity, clarity, and connectedness to nature. Viikki Church represents sustainable sacred architecture, where caring for the environment, cultural identity, and emotional wellness support each other, based on an analysis of the building and its theoretical ideas. The results demonstrate how architecture combines ecological responsibility, sensory richness, and symbolic depth to promote happiness.
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