Hämeenlinna Under Construction
Mirror of the Day to be erected at Mensa Square
In October 2026, Johanna Rope’s artwork Mirror of the Day will be erected at Mensa Square in Asemanranta. The work consists of a moving steel sculpture and abundant, multi-species vegetation planted around it.
The work’s steel ring, weighing over a thousand kilograms, rotates around its axis at its own varying pace: it starts and stops without apparent reason, almost as if it had a mind of its own. The work also responds to city events—on festive days it may accelerate its rotations.
The work makes visible the passage of the day and the changes of light in the square. It invites people to pause and look around.
The steel ring has a diameter of 7 meters and is supported by 8-meter-high pillars. It rotates with the help of an electric motor at 0.5–2 revolutions per minute.
Mirror of the Day will be kept in motion for decades, but when movement is eventually discontinued, the ring will be permanently fixed in place. The climbing plants planted around the work will then gradually cover it. Mirror of the Day will then live its second life—shaped by vegetation.
A public art competition for the artwork was held in 2018. Mirror of the Day won the competition. Rope carried out the further design of the work together with Hefmec Engineering Oy and Nomaji Landscape Architects
Oy in 2021–2022.