Turku Art Museum
- Turku
- 1904
Winter Garden dates back to 1893 and was one of the first continental attractions in Helsinki.
The construction was funded by Jakob Julius af Lindfors. He donated Winter Garden to the Finnish Garden Association. The garden opened to the public in October 1893. The Winter Garden was practically the only attraction in Helsinki, so it became very popular. Lindfors stipulated that the Winter Garden must always remain free of charge to the public.
The Winter Garden was designed by Gustaf Nyström (1856–1917) and inspired by London’s Crystal Palace from 1851, which started the trend for steel construction for halls and greenhouses. Nyström was commissioned to design the Winter Garden in between construction of the greenhouses at Kaisaniemi, which were built in 1889 and 1896. The main difference between these projects is that the greenhouses in Kaisaniemi were based on existing foundations from 1830 and the neighbouring greenhouses, whereas the Winter Garden was designed from scratch.
Source: City of Helsinki