Creative studio Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) has designed a striking wooden landmark for Bergö, a small island located off the coast of Vaasa in Finland's northern Kvarken archipelago. The artistic structure serves dual purposes as both a distant visual marker and a local community gathering place, standing prominently beside a bathing beach adjacent to an old fishing settlement.
The Kvarken archipelago region represents a unique cultural landscape where most residents speak Swedish as their first language, with the islands forming a geographical and cultural bridge between Finland and Sweden. The installation occupies a strategic position between land and sea, creating a natural space that encourages social interaction and community activities for both year-round residents and summer visitors.
Mejergren drew inspiration from traditional wooden sea beacons that once dotted the Baltic coast, reimagining these utilitarian structures that were historically reduced to essential forms and painted in distinctive red or white colors. The resulting design features a timber pyramid-shaped structure with surfaces perforated by fish-shaped patterns in multiple sizes, creating a visual connection to the surrounding marine landscape.
The fish motifs follow a sophisticated internal visual rhythm throughout the design. Larger fish cutouts appear to open their mouths when positioned behind smaller ones, while smaller fish remain closed when placed behind larger cutouts. This same pattern logic extends seamlessly to the doorframe and other architectural details, creating a cohesive design language that integrates the marine motif throughout the entire structure.
The construction process embraced the island's traditional "talko" system, a collective volunteer tradition where residents regularly maintain shared infrastructure such as schools and public pathways. The design team's decision to engage this community practice served both practical and conceptual purposes, ensuring local participation and embedding the project within the community fabric from its very beginning.
At night, the beacon transforms into a luminous artwork as light filters through the fish-shaped openings, turning the wooden pavilion into a glowing landmark visible across the water. The illuminated patterns cast onto the ground create the appearance of a school of fish, visually merging with the adjacent sea and enhancing the connection between the structure and its maritime environment.
Rather than functioning as a traditional navigational lighthouse, the structure serves as a social landmark that provides space for gathering, orientation, and cultural continuity within the island's landscape. Future planned additions include interior seating and a chandelier designed to reflect light within the space, extending the project's role as a living artwork that will continue evolving through ongoing community involvement and participation.
