{"id":130545,"date":"2026-07-16T15:11:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T15:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/130545\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T15:11:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T15:11:34","slug":"helsinkis-architecture-an-open-book-for-new-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/130545\/","title":{"rendered":"Helsinki’s Architecture: An Open Book for New Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the average Finn, a public library is much more than a stuffy spot you visit to borrow a book. Libraries have long offered cosy nooks for readers to escape the harsh, long winters, as well as providing important social centres. \u201cIt\u2019s more of a village hall I suppose,\u201d says Samuli Woolston from ALA, the architecture firm behind Helsinki\u2019s new Oodi Library. This addition to the country\u2019s 700-strong network of public libraries opened in early 2019 and welcomes 8,000 daily visitors. The building has three floors and houses a cinema, communal kitchen, editing suites, music-practice rooms and workshops kitted out with 3D printers, sewing machines and laser-cutters.<\/p>\n

You won\u2019t find any books until you reach the third floor \u2013 and even this isn\u2019t the hushed environment of a typical library. A caf\u00e9 sits in the centre of this open-plan space, while one end hosts a snug, padded cave where children can sit and have stories read to them by a librarian. It\u2019s no wonder the library has been dubbed \u201cHelsinki\u2019s new living room\u201d.<\/p>\n

The library is the product of a century-long architectural tradition in Finland: the open, anonymous competition. Usually any practice can enter these competitions, no matter their level of experience, and they are judged on architectural plans alone. \u201cThe National Museum over there: that was the winner of an open competition,\u201d says Woolston, looking out of the vast top-floor window over Kansalaistori Square. \u201cBasically all of these buildings around us are: the Parliament building, the Helsinki Music Centre, Kiasma Art Museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not always the big-name firms that win. \u201cThe young architects often put more of an effort in because for them, it\u2019s more important to prove themselves than the established firms,\u201d says Anni Sinnem\u00e4ki, who as deputy mayor of Helsinki is responsible for city-planning and overseeing real-estate developments. \u201cWhen ALA won in 2013, they had just started. There were more famous studios participating \u2013 ALA were the underdogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ModernOodi Library<\/p>\n

\"InteriorAtrium in J\u00e4tk\u00e4saari School<\/p>\n

\"DeputyDeputy mayor Anni Sinnem\u00e4ki<\/p>\n

\"Cream-coloredExterior of J\u00e4tk\u00e4saari School<\/p>\n

\"TwoArto Ollila and Kuuti Halinen<\/p>\n

\"MinimalistTeaching space at the school<\/p>\n

\"ModernRoom to learn<\/p>\n

\"GeometricAtrium ceiling at J\u00e4tk\u00e4saari School<\/p>\n

\"SymmetricalCeiling of Tervaj\u00e4rvi chapel<\/p>\n

\"Yrj\u00f6Designer Yrj\u00f6 Kukkapuro\u2019s CNC-1 chair at Oodi<\/p>\n

\"ThreeFrom l-r: Leo Lindroos, Antti Soini and Tuuli Kanerva from AS LL TK<\/p>\n

\"BlackThe chapel<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s population has grown by more than 10 per cent over the past 10 years and catering to this expansion also helps to create work for Helsinki\u2019s architects. \u201cIn a city where you build a lot, you simply have more opportunities,\u201d says Sinnem\u00e4ki. \u201cAs the city grows it\u2019s not only housing that we build but new services like schools and kindergartens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest school to open in the city was designed by young architectural firm AOR. Its winning design is a compact, boxy structure lined with square windows and vast angular balconies overlooking the enormous cruise liners docking in the harbour opposite. Built to accommodate 800 children, the building is more than just a new public service for the area: it represents a whole new system of education. In 2015, the year the firm won the competition to design the school, Finland approved a complete refresh of the country\u2019s education system. \u201cYou can\u2019t compare this to all schools in Finland because it\u2019s been designed in a really different way,\u201d says Arto Ollila, founding partner of AOR.<\/p>\n

Lessons now have a more collaborative format, whereby children problem-solve in smaller groups while several teachers take large classes of mixed age groups together. AOR\u2019s design had to suit this new system. \u201cThe main idea is to have a lot of spaces where children can move around,\u201d says AOR architect Kuutti Halinen. \u201cThe spaces also needed to be flexible, with ways of adapting for larger and smaller classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The school was the first competition won by AOR, which founded its practice only after its design was selected \u2013 just a month before the architects graduated from Helsinki\u2019s Aalto University. \u201cIt may seem like a huge risk to make an open competition and have some really young architects win without even having an office or any references,\u201d says Ollila. \u201cBut it\u2019s the best thing for cities to do these kinds of architecture competitions because if they ordered such a large number of designs from some big consultant company, it would be super expensive.\u201d The system is also a good way of stopping established firms resting on their laurels. \u201cIt keeps the older generation on their toes,\u201d says Ollila. \u201cThe younger generation often win because they think about things differently and have a fresh perspective on design.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Ollila was also chosen to be on the judging panel for a competition to design a new school in the city of Lappeenranta. The winning design came from AS LL TK: a group of three recent architecture graduates, the eldest of whom only recently turned 30. The school is for 1,000 pupils, making it one of the largest in the country. \u201cFor a young architect, the size is almost overwhelming,\u201d says Leo Lindroos, a partner at the firm. \u201cBut it\u2019s amazing to be able to cut our teeth on a project like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another young practice to get its big break through the open competition system was Helsinki\u2019s Noan. \u201cBack in 2015 we won a big competition to design a new region for the city of Tampere, for 20,000 inhabitants; we got work from that for the next two years,\u201d says founding partner Lassi Viitanen. When we visit, Viitanen is adding the finishing touches to a smaller-scale project: a remote wooden chapel beside a lake two hours north of Helsinki.<\/p>\n

With a small budget, the chapel was commissioned by the local parish and has been constructed mainly by volunteers (one of whom is Viitanen\u2019s own father). The result is an elegant space with a tall, vaulted ceiling patterned by curving spruce beams. \u201cThis project was my master\u2019s thesis,\u201d says Viitanen, who since recently graduating has gone on to work on projects around the country, from a new public pool in Rauma to a church extension in Lieto. \u201cBy entering these open competitions you get better and better all the time; you keep yourself sharp and keep yourself designing. Finland\u2019s competition culture is something unique and it\u2019s really important for us to maintain it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the average Finn, a public library is much more than a stuffy spot you visit to borrow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[87],"tags":[63486,158,113,17941],"class_list":["post-130545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-helsinki","tag-architecture-competitions","tag-finland","tag-helsinki","tag-urbanism"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116930300184678866","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}