Stories

In Depth

Case Study — 1.4.2023

Dipoli, the Oxymoron

What makes the design of the Dipoli so unique? Moisés Royo provides an in-depth analysis of Reima Pietilä’s most enigmatic project.

Phenomena — 1.3.2023

Experts in Urbanism – Rap Music Echoes with the Experiences of Young Members of Minorities

Rap music echoes with the experiences of young members of minorities regarding their lives and living environments. Music linked to neighbourhoods may open up a local perspective on urban planning – provided that the planners recognize the potential to be found within the rap scene.

Essay — 1.3.2023

How to Plan Unplanned Encounters? A Formula Explains What to Take into Account When Designing Urban Blocks

In recent decades, the perimeter block has become the go-to urban typology in Finnish urban planning and a symbol of urban life. If you take a closer look at the form, however, it does not create life around it as such. The potential lies in more subtle design choices.

Phenomena — 1.3.2023

Forgotten Vision of Helsinki City

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Helsinki city centre became a utopian, American-inspired downtown. Now the buildings from that era are under threat of demolition.

Phenomena — 1.3.2023

Learning from Swedish Suburban Redevelopment

Immigrant entrepreneurs are often disregarded in the redevelopment of Finnish suburban neighbourhoods. Renewal projects in Sweden offer an example of a different approach.

Phenomena — 1.2.2023

Architecture of Care in a Welfare State

A child receives a triple vaccine in a health care clinic in Kuusamo in 1961. Photo: Finnish Heritage Agency Finns have alternately built and dismantled the welfare state, depending on political power relations.

Research — 1.2.2023

Towards a Pattern of a Healthy City

Along with the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a growing interest in the impact of the living environment on health and wellbeing. A research consortium led by the University of Oulu is trying to find out how future epidemics can be tackled by means of urban planning.

Phenomena — 1.2.2023

Dressing Care in New Clothes

The 2010s started a construction boom in the Finnish social and healthcare service sector. What kind of architecture has it produced? We collected recently completed and ongoing projects.

Phenomena — 1.2.2023

Changes and Losses of Hospital Architecture

With the new healthcare buildings, a large number of old care buildings will be demolished or modified for new use. What kind of architecture and building heritage will we lose in the process?

Phenomena — 1.1.2023

The First Steps of the Tramway City

Trial runs of Finland’s first light rail were underway in Tampere in November 2020. As part of the project, the Hämeensilta bridge over the Tammerkoski rapids was also rebuilt.

Essay — 1.1.2023

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.

Phenomena — 1.1.2023

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.

Research — 1.5.2022

Architects as Mediators of Change

Over the recent decades, the temporary use of vacant spaces has been recognised as a sustainable and inclusive approach for managing urban change. For architects, working with temporary uses can be an opportunity to challenge structures that restrict typical architectural work.

Phenomena — 1.5.2022

How Do You Convert an Office Space into Apartments?

In the Helsinki capital region alone, there are currently around 50 city blocks’ worth of empty office space. On the other hand, there seems to be a constant demand for housing. Under what preconditions are office spaces converted into apartments?

Research — 1.5.2022

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.