Faking it in Helsinki (longest post yet – sorry)

I had a very lovely Helsinki day today.

I went, among other places, to Munkkivuori, home to one of the most pleasant of Helsinki’s ostaris, its suburban-shopping-centres (which isn’t to ignore that Munkkivuori is a relatively urban exemplar of the type). It’s still busy and there was seasonally appropriate indoor market activity in the non-space left by the metro-plans that never materialised.

No doubt the good people of Munkkiniemi help keep the shops alive. Here, a sunny mid-day in that august part of Helsinki, the sun just scraping it through to people in the middle of the day.

As the number 14 bus made its leisurely but direct way past Munkkiniemi to more central locations, I almost felt like this was the Helsinki I used to know, before I left – whenever that was, 15, 20, 25, 36 years ago, depending on how I count it.

Helsinki, as now elderly relatives once taught me, has much to offer, particuarly if you are attentive. There are and have long been, things to notice and cherish as events, people, natural features and seasonal variation.

Look around and chances are there’s something architecturally interesting and rewarding. For me an unexciting but wonderful starter on the route of the number 14 is the magnificent Elanto co-op residential block (number 29 on this map) on the corner of Runeberginkatu and Caloniuksenkatu. Not far there’s the serene urbanity of the so-called Sonck block with its interconnected courtyards and happy residents.

This rather rubbish phone-photo with the block in the distance shows (OK, suggests) just how happy a result those old engineer-types managed to engineer with their strict building regs. (Taken at 12.13 on December 3rd, 2011).

It also demonstrates an important fact about Helsinki life.

Light. It comes at odd angles. Sometimes it comes very rarely. Sometimes it doesn’t come at all. For weeks.

In those difficult moments some of us Helsinkians resort to carbon-hungry but Vitamin-D-rich beach holidays far, far away. Some of us (also) resort to remedies that come in bottles, of alcohol or other drugs, such as this quaintly named product so popular in Finland: Minisun.

And many of us appreciate, explicitly and openly, the sky we see through the trees and above the roof-tops and over the open spaces that adorn our beautiful home.

Recently we here at JHJ have also discovered a way of dealing with the dark. We trick our bodies into believing we are … somewhere else. That is to say, somewhere on a latitude where elsewhere on this weirdly wonderful planet people ever considered it worthwhile trying to build cities.

The point being that Oslo, Helsinki and St Petersburg are oddities. Only due to the ruggedness of their inhabitants and thanks to a little help from Mother Nature, have so many big things been built here. Over in Canada things look very different. (Having said that, entrepreneurial regional governance 1950s-style seems to have helped the Norwegians along, just as it did the Finns.)

So, Helsinki is survivable if you have the right insulation, sensible footwear, long johns, all-in-ones for small children, cars for fussy types and even under-pavement heating for wearers of nice Italian shoes etc. etc.

But nothing – as yet – has been found to make a serious impact on the lack of light. In fact, it’s more than likely that climate change is increasing the number of overcast days already.

And may the gods save us from another winter of no snow: no fun, no beauty, no winter.

Can the artificial life help? Is artificial light the answer? Well, it helps. Rather than the full-whack (not to mention the light-emitting ear-plugs!!), our household went for the bird-song-accompanied fixture that may have (temporarily) redeemed the reputation of gadgets in this household.

I mostly agree with Victor Papanek who wrote sagely in the early 1980s that people “curse the appliances and gadgets that clutter our lives and that seem to wear out at nearly the same rate as the warranty”. I make an exception when it comes to gadgets that make living through Helsinki winters a little more palatable – (fake) daylight and “natural wake-up sounds” instead of the brutal brrrrrringg of an alarm clock. Well done Philips!

Now among the other things that now-elderly relatives taught us to value and develop further were pragmatic and everyday bits of design and problem-solving. Some Finns seem to think these are unique to our race but as a nomad of sorts I know differently.

Still, I do like the making do and mending of my country folk just as much as I enjoy the quasi-craft skills one needs to enjoy a mökki holiday or to bake a really pretty joulutorttu, and I appreciate the user-friendliness of a Fiskars knife and I really love not having to choose between too-hot and too-cold taps as I did in the UK. I also love the way Finnish bars and cafes provide blankets for outdoor seating. Some also add those horrid patio heaters to them but many do not. And this is what I consider a sane adaptation to living at the same latitude as Canada’s Hudson’s Bay.

Which brings me to the news.

Last week’s City of Helsinki tall buildings report is still, unsurprisingly, mostly unread. A number of, mostly unhappy, responses have been published in The Usual (pay-to-view), including today.

Jätkäsaaressa kerroskorkeuden saneli norjalainen kiinteistösijoittaja Arthur Buchardt. Kun alueen asemakaava vahvistettiin pari vuotta sitten, kerroksia oli “vain” 16, nyt esitetään, että niitä olisi 34. Virkamiehet perustelevat Buchardtin sanoneen, että jos hän ei saa rakentaa korkeaa tornihotellia, hän ei rakenna ollenkaan. Yleensä tällaista perustelua käyttävät pikkulapset.

or

In Jätkäsaari the number of floors was dictated by the Norwegian investor Arthur Buchardt. When the area’s local plan (asemakaava) was adopted a couple of years ago there were “only” 16 floors, now the proposal is for 34. Council officers reason that Buchardt has said that if he should not get a tall hotel-tower he won’t build at all. Usually this kind of reasoning is used by little children.

So writes Harri Hautajärvi, former editor of Ark, signing off as an “architect who has seen enough (small) towns haphazardly splintered by skyscrapers”.

And to link this back to the point about living at these latitudes, he also notes:

Tornihankkeiden mallinnuskuvat ovat kiiltokuvamaisen kauniita. Päiväsaikaan todellisuudessa tummina näkyvät lasitalot on esitetty vaaleina. Pilvenpiirtäjien ympärilleen langettamaa varjostusta on selvitetty hyvin tarkoitushakuisesti.

as in

The tower schemes’ renderings are picture-pretty. Glass buildings that in reality appear dark in the daylight are represented in pale shades. The shadows thrown around them by the skyscrapers have been demonstrated most tendentiously.

Meanwhile Arkkivahti is also keeping watch over architecture threatened by the needs of luxury tourism, along with amenity societies and residents’ associations no doubt soon to be accused of NIMBYism around the wealthier and perhaps even less wealthy parts of our fair city.

p.s. the Kämp on Esplanadi has a rubbish reputation. Not a very good price-quality-ratio as we say.

Not still falling – being carted away

While international news reminds us here at the top of Europe that bad stuff routinely happens here too, the other news today makes us here at JHJ realise withs some surprise that thus far we have not taken up the topic of sisu, Finns’ favourite word according to the New York Times. Actually, with such illustrious wordsmiths covering it, we’ll leave discussing sisu to others.

The Deputy Mayor responsible for Public Works and Environmental Affairs Pekka Sauri, however, wants us all to show a bit of it (sisu) in these difficult times.

With record amounts of snow everywhere, Sauri has finally come out of his comfort zone where he has actually (according to taxi drivers) been quietly enjoying the misery of Helsinki’s car-driving public. Their needs (according to the same taxi driver) don’t matter to this Green politician. Whether or not one holds Sauri and the Greens responsible for record amounts of snow, for insufficient or badly managed clearing or for not allowing climate change to happen fast enough, the enormous amounts of weather we have been having once again in Helsinki are certainly a talking point.

Last week I finally heard a rumour that Sauri (or someone else, the taxi driver hesitated) was doing a reconnaissance trip into the city to find out what was going on. Everyone else knew. Buses, lorries and cars skidded around, dozens of trams got stuck behind illegally parked cars, hundreds of people parked illegally because their owners are very important and must leave their cars sticking out into the roadway and tram lines even if it means causing the whole tram network to be snarled up. A few people have been seen cycling, old ladies have screamed themselves red in the face at helpful ushers and porters who have not been able to either procure better taxi service or get the snow to stop falling, and another taxi driver (age about 21 1/2) complained to me today that folks aren’t what they used to be. In his childhood people would get off a bus and help push or at least lighten the load (I must have missed that episode of Life in Helsinki).

Finally, finally, Sauri announced special measures, operation snow fight. But this is where that old-fashioned spirit of collaboration (and the sisu) are needed. We must all work together to cope with the weather! Car drivers in particular must show solidarity!

To get a handle on all the offending snow, the staff of Stara (rebränded municipal environmental services) who are doing the clearing, have been given permission to tow parked cars without the usual warnings (but only to within somewhere close by so that owners don’t all go getting heart attacks when they can’t find their cars). Owners must nevertheless do their bit and grab those shovels!

Meanwhile, Sauri the Green reminds Helsinkians that public transport would be so much more sensible than the motor car. I doubt anyone is listening. Never seen Mannerheimintie so clogged up as tonight, and the clots in the system weren’t piles of snow, but piles of metal.

Where the snow has been cleared and where people aren‘t screaming at or blaming others, the city is as gorgeous as ever, not least in its old mini-imperial centre. Like here, at the University‘s Topelia, early 19th-century architecture flexible enough to have served as a school for poor children, a hospital (until the 1990s!) and a work-place for (poor) social scientist.

p.s. a letter in  the usual suggests that car owners be charged a levy to pay for whatever equipment is still needed to avoid the city going through such frustration and silliness.

Better slipping

The Finnair stewardesses have ended their strike leaving both business types and holidaying families, and even the odd anachronistic Finns who think you need to travel abroad to buy decent Christmas prezzies, to slip away from Helsinki with the ease to which the late 20th century accustomed them.

The staff may have returned, but flight departures may be delayed. All kinds of journeys are likely to be disrupted. The snow gods have not stopped their mischief. The white stuff continues blanketing the city in its charms but it also makes for challenging travel conditions. White mounds hide cars and many smaller evils, making life just that much more exciting for Helsinki residents.

Should you be unlucky enough to have a fall as a result of the snow and ice, HUS accident and emergency services will no doubt sort you out. Rather delightfully I also discovered that Finland’s Association of People with Disabilities, Invalidiliitto, publish a website (in Finnish and Swedish) called, more or less, “Wintry Tales of Tension: Introduction to Slipping” (Talvisia jännitysnäytelmiä) which encourages you to wear sensible footwear, know where to step and to fall softly if you must. Remember, a tense faller-over will hurt themselves more badly than a relaxed one.

Should you nevertheless need to or wish to venture out into the world, a new opportunity has arrived: a high-speed train to St. Petersburg. When those “spaces of flows” that modern technology helped create become less fluid, when they get clogged up by strikes, snow or acts of god(s) or rising fuel prices, geography will come to matter again for Finns. Maybe different conventions of moving about will have to be adopted.

It’s possible that the world will become huge again. Then again, older technologies may be adapted to newer needs. Fast trains may replace slow ones, even in Finland (and Russia, whence Finland’s wide railway gauge originally came). It used to take an overnight train to reach the truly stunning classical architecture and urbanism of St Petersburg, but as of next week the train should [sic] only take three and a half hours. Then again, you never know. Apart from the possible effects of excess snow, there are quite a few ambiguities on the website itself, including this:

Finnish Sibelius and Russian Repin trains are longer operated on Helsinki-St. Petersburg line as Allegro services start. Russian night train Tolstoi continues to run between Helsinki and Moscow.

VR’s grammar aside, St Petersburg is a site/sight to see, particularly for anyone interested in architecture. According to the website Chto Delat (“What is to be done”) its Imperial cityscape (which Helsinki mimics in miniature) will be spared a garish 21st-century skyscraper. The city is finally saying goodbye to its controversial Gazprom tower scheme.

Thinking of the prefix ‘re’ in wonderful, beautiful, snowy Helsinki

The snow fall has been spectacular. A slight accident last Sunday involving a camera lens and ice explains why we are having to rely on old photos and therefore cannot bring to you the rows of white mounds to be found along the streets of Töölö this morning. One of last night’s more amusing pastimes was prodding them to find out whether underneath the smooth whiteness might be a car or a motorbike.

And why the accident? Because we went skating in Munkkivuori where the good locals somehow all converged on a small iced rink at the same time and found the tools with which to clear the ten or twenty centimetres of fluffy precipitation (and then the camera fell). The big freeze means we could go to a free venue rather than an organised, paying version, but we also needed to get skates from somewhere. No problem: Sportti Divari in Hermanni to the rescue!

Recycling and reusing are alive and well in this town, with or without the aid of the internet(cycling). So for some folks certainly, the old has its value.

Including old buildings. Here’s another gem from near the Senate Square. In the rear is Arppeanum, built 1869 in a somewhat neo-gothic style reminiscent of many English university facilities of its time, now the home of the University Museum and some delightful interiors as well as a decent place to have lunch (particularly since the loss of our dear Engel across the square). By the architect C.A. Edelfelt, known in Häme province for railway stations and everywhere else for his surname – the far better known Edelfelt, Albert the painter, was his son.

The building on the corner is later, 1887, architect unknown. Decent job. The lights often glowing in its windows suggest office work here too. Perhaps some part of the university has spilled out here, as it has in so much of the rest of Kruunuhaka – the academic ghetto, you might say. And below, a lecture theatre in Arppeanum – a feature of university buildings that some think is bound to disappear, others feel that if it does, one of the university’s most precious assets – live interaction – will have been lost.

But then it’s what’s being lost all over the place, not least due to misplaced urban policies that prefer to serve up nicely packaged heritage instead of supporting everyone’s right to history. Fortunately, critiques of “regeneration” are now abundant even if they’re not heard enough, perhaps because critique itself fell out of fashion some years ago. Mute Magazine in the UK still does critique – we are grateful and suggest a read here. Owen Hatherley writes about the now taken-for-granted principles of urban development, known in the UK as “urban renaissance” or rebirth, renewal, what have you:

In terms of architectural artefacts, the urban renaissance has meant … ‘centres’, entertainment venues and shopping/eating complexes, clustered around disused river-fronts (…); in housing, ‘mixed use’ blocks …, the privatisation of council estates, the reuse of old mills or factories; extensive public art, … usually symbolising an area’s phoenix-like re-emergence; districts become branded ‘quarters’; and, perhaps most curiously, piazzas (or, in the incongruously grandiose planning parlance, ‘public realm’) appear, with attendant coffee concessions, promising to bring European sophistication to [anywhere].

Helsinki even. Except, oops, Finland always had a coffee and a cafe culture – just not the kind that everyone recognised.