Published in 1/2019 - Urbanity

Article

Ode to Everything

Essi Oikarinen

The decade-long engagement and consultation process that preceded the launch of Helsinki’s new central library Oodi meant that building came heavily laden with expectations. Two months after its opening, the library appears to have delivered on most fronts. The real impacts will take years to manifest themselves, however, and will not be visible until the library has become embedded into the community. And yet the enthusiasm with which Oodi has so far been received suggests that the new central library has the potential to engender change within the Finnish library service, architecture and wider culture.