“The boost won’t be created just with the help of the rails, but without them, it is very difficult for us to create such dynamics.”
Public transport services in the largest cities in Finland are undergoing a major change, along with a launch of light rail systems. Kristo Vesikansa charted the development of the city regions along the sides of the tramlines. Read the article →
1/2023Movement
What is the current transportation-related architecture like? What kind of urban environment is created around the transport systems? What is the significance of different movements and the concept of change for architecture?
Social Movements, Saviours of Built Heritage?
For almost a couple of decades, the residents of the Meri-Rastila area in Helsinki have sought to influence the development of their daily environment. They are not the first ones to act due to concerns about changes taking place in a neighbourhood.
New Adventure and Romance
The new entrance building of Helsinki Airport offers a memorable setting for departures and arrivals.
Metro Geography
With the recent completion of the final stations of the western metro extension, Länsimetro, the Helsinki metro now also runs through Espoo. When one part of a system like the metro undergoes change, the entire system simultaneously changes, muses Tommy Lindgren. He visited all the stations west of Lauttasaari.
Technology, Asphalt and Attitudes
The Finnish transport system’s development around the passenger car has caused great societal problems. Instead of broader systemic change, the visions of mobility futures still focus on emerging technologies.
Concept: Fluidity
Fluidity opens up a refreshing angle for everyone and anyone looking at a city, Tuulia Kivistö proposes.
The First Steps of the Tramway City
Public transport services in the largest cities in Finland are undergoing a major change, along with a launch of light rail systems. How will the new means of transport affect the development of the city regions, and what kind of urban environment is being created along the sides of the tramlines?
5/2022Refurbish or Demolish?
Why do we demolish buildings? How to repair old and design additions? What kind of concepts do we use and need when talking about the built heritage?
Editorial: Finland Is Demolishing, but for How Long?
Approximately 4,000 buildings are demolished in Finland every year. Would it be possible to imagine a future in which buildings would only be demolished if absolutely necessary?
Two Municipal Halls, Two Fates
Many significant buildings end up on lists for demolition if renovation seems too expensive or a suitable use cannot be found. The everyday built heritage is threatened without a timely protection status.
The Many Lives of a Commercial Palace
Renovated and remodelled many times over, Mikonkatu 7 has one of the most complex building histories in Helsinki. The latest renovation borrows heavily from the past yet interprets the themes through the means of contemporary architecture.
Learning from the Ugliest Building in Oulu
In the middle of a residential area in Oulu, a silo designed by Alvar Aalto is decaying as one last remnant of a pulp mill that operated on the site in the 1900s. In its unmaintained state, the building offers a lesson in the time of an eco-crisis.
Cuckoo in the Villa
In the hands of a new owner, an old villa in Savonlinna underwent extensive renovations and received a few extra buildings on the grounds. The old and the new are engaging in a dialogue that is both delicate and doubtful.
Would Nostalgia Provide Help for the Eco-crisis?
Emotionally charged nostalgia could be a resource for building conservation if used correctly, argue Iida Kalakoski and Riina Sirén.
Like Time Standing Still
An old stable built more than a hundred years ago in Helsinki’s Punavuori is now home to people instead of horses. What remains is the historical atmosphere.
4/2022Home
What do we mean by good quality housing? Who benefits of the housing crisis? What are the qualities of a private villa in 2022?
Housing as a Solution
In cities worldwide, people are suffering the effects of a prolonged housing crisis. Housing as a Service has been presented as a solution, but who does it really benefit?
Ecocatastrophe Requires Negative Ideas
Architects should get rid of the idealistic view that our task would be to find a solution to any problem, writes Julius Jääskeläinen.
What Makes a Sustainable Living Environment? – Researchers Compiled a Checklist
Several new trends in housing production are worrying experts, as these trends are compromising dwellers’ health and well-being as well as the longevity of the apartments. Researchers at the Tampere University School of Architecture compiled different aspects of housing design quality into a checklist.
Revisit: Lehtovuori House
Architect Olli Lehtovuori’s own house has for already half a century served as a laboratory for residential architecture. Its flexible floorplan based on a traditional two-room farmhouse would be applicable even today.
Which are the Criteria for an Ideal Home? – Housing Designers Share Their Insights
We asked four architects who work with housing design to send us an image of an ideal home or a good dwelling.
Gustaf Estlander, Romanticist and Businessman of Residential Architecture
Just over a hundred years ago, one particular architect in Helsinki had notable financial success with his exuberantly romantic apartment buildings.