Every design for Outokumpu

Outokumpu lies in the lake country of North Karelia, between Joensuu to the east and Kuopio to the west, with Highway 9 carrying traffic past the edge of town. Until the late sixties it was called Kuusjärvi, spruce lake, and the name only changed when the copper mine at its centre had become too important to ignore.

The town is built around its own geography. The spoil hill of the old mine stands right in the middle of things, with a broad view from the top, and around it spread the neighbourhoods of Partalanmäki, Mustola, Kaasila and Kyykeri. Beyond them lie more than a hundred lakes, the largest of them Juojärvi, Rikkavesi and Sysmäjärvi.

Daily life still runs on making things. When the mine was set to close, the town founded an industrial park, and engineering workshops now fill it where miners once clocked in. Vanha Kaivos has become a place for visitors, with the Kaivosmuseo telling the copper story and Outogalleria showing art nearby. And in the centre the old mine tower still rises above the rooftops, steel against the Karelian sky.