Simo Santapukki builds Wright-designed home without a deadline

Musician Simo Santapukki has spent more than 20 years building a home in Heinola, central Finland, designed by architect Eric Lloyd Wright, Yle reports. The project is progressing according to the demands of life rather than a fixed schedule.

The main building at Santaranta is now reaching roof level. Construction began three years ago, and Santapukki expects the roof to protect the structure from the elements soon.

Wright, the grandson of renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the main house, a guesthouse and a log sauna on the property. The guesthouse was completed 15 years ago and currently serves as Santapukki’s family’s second home. The sauna was completed the same year.

The buildings represent organic architecture, a style that seeks to respect nature. Santaranta’s buildings have no 90 degree corners. Their basic geometric unit is an equilateral triangle rather than a square.

Santapukki’s insistence on detail has slowed the project compared with the construction of a conventional detached house. He does not discuss when the work will be finished. For now, reaching roof level is the important milestone.

A friendship built around architecture

Santapukki first encountered Frank Lloyd Wright’s work as a child, when he saw a picture of Fallingwater, a house in Pennsylvania, in his family’s encyclopaedia.

Eric Lloyd Wright and his father, Frank Lloyd Wright Jr, also devoted their careers to architecture. Eric Lloyd Wright continued developing the organic style and worked on restoration projects involving buildings designed by his father and grandfather.

When Santapukki contacted Wright from Finland, the architect had already retired. His reply to the first email arrived six months later. Santapukki’s dedication and knowledge of organic architecture impressed Wright, who decided to travel from California to Heinola.

Santapukki, known as the drummer of the Finnish rock band Apulanta, and Wright became friends through the design project. Santapukki says it is important to complete his friend’s work. Wright died in 2023.

When they first met, Santapukki was not yet 30 and Wright was approaching 80. Santapukki says they formed a genuine friendship despite their different ages and backgrounds.

Santapukki says he does not consider himself the owner of the land in an absolute sense. He sees himself as having paid for the right to use it, and believes that anything built there should respect the place because the land will remain after he is gone.