Parks|The renovation of the Töölönlahti park has received more praise than usual from the townspeople. However, it is designed to be temporary.
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Helsinki’s Töölönlahti park opened in July and has become popular with the townspeople.
However, the park has already been known to be temporary.
Park renovation project manager, landscape architect Jere Saarikko says that the renovation of the park has been part of a long-term plan.
The best ideas and experiences will be taken from the current renovation for further planning.
In July The newly opened Töölönlahti park in Helsinki has become hugely popular with the townspeople after the renovation.
In the past, the area has received barks from many directions. Among other things, one reader in HS’s online survey described the park into a “goose-pooped desert.”
Park renewal project manager, landscape architect Jere Saarikko says that the facelift of the park has been received exceptionally warmly. However, the park has already been known to be temporary.
Shouldn’t the renovation be made permanent if the townspeople enjoy themselves there for once?
Saarikko says that the renovation of the park has been part of a long-term plan. In the future, the park will be even more clearly connected to Makasiinpuisto and the surrounding area. However, plans take time, and they did not want to keep the park empty for many years.
“The state of will is to make the park comfortable and permanently in good condition,” says Saarikko.
Eunsil Sin played with her one-and-a-half-year-old son Leonardo Rizki at the park’s water playground. Sin, who lives in Kallio, says that they often visit Oodi and play in the park at the same time. The park has also attracted his friends from the neighboring cities of Espoo and Vantaa to visit.
Children’s clothes that got wet in the water games were hung on fences to dry.
In the interim according to Saariko, the good side has also been that it has been possible to take a more experimental approach to the reform.
“It was possible to do things there more experimentally and perhaps more playfully than usual,” says Saarikko.
The park plan has been prepared by the Finnish-Danish landscape architecture office MASU Planning. Its Finnish partner and designer Malin Blomqvist says that the design of the park has been characterized by a certain relaxation.
The designers did not intentionally set out to make the park a representative space.
“You can find a lot of representative space in the area, but here it was necessary to make the area suitable for someone else’s spirit, so that people would feel welcome,” says Blomqvist.
According to Blomqvist, there was a great need for the place and also great potential.
“It’s a very central place! I believed that people would come if only we knew how to create a place where people want to come. Of course, you have to be happy that this has also happened,” he says.
Senja Peltokangas was listening to the flute music of the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau in a hammock. Peltokangas, who is studying flute at the Sibelius Academy, has cycled by the bus every day, but stopped now for the first time to enjoy himself. “Before this was just a big empty space, but now it’s beautiful here,” says Peltokangas.
The abundant summer flower plantings in the park have caused admiration. Kirsti Oksanen from the Helsinki City Garden was responsible for their plant design.
The lighting of the park is still being finalized. The event stage located in the middle will be lit up with festive lights to bring atmosphere in the darkening autumn evenings. When photographed from above, the lighting forms a gigantic heart in the park.
In the fall, trees will also be planted on the eastern edge of the park, which are meant to remain permanent, but otherwise, according to Saariko, the park is now almost ready.
As one Saarikko considers one of the park’s most successful things to be the fact that it has attracted townspeople to organize small-scale activities in the park. One of the attractions has been the event stage located in the middle of the park, which can be reserved thr
ough the City of Helsinki’s reservation service.
“There’s something going on there every night. Dance, salsa and bachata,” he says.
The flower plantings in the park have also caused admiration. According to Saariko, in addition to shrubs and perennials, annual summer flowers were planted in the park, which bloom spectacularly and throughout the summer. Saarikko reminds that the maintenance of such flowers requires an annual operating budget for maintenance.
“It depends a lot on how much you want to invest in this. Perennials usually bloom for two or three weeks, while summer flowers bloom a lot and for a long time,” says Saarikko.
According to Saariko, considering the central location of the park, it would be worth investing in it.
“Personally, I would think that we only have summer for these few months, so it’s worth investing in them.”
Sisu Sainio, 10, picked up speed on the giant swings in the middle of the park. Sainio was in the park with his family and friends. The family has already had time to visit the park for a barbecue. In Sainio’s opinion, the giant swings, the sand volleyball court next to them, the hanging swings and the large play stand are definitely things to keep.
Due to the temporary nature of the park, it has been possible to do it a little more casually than usual. The fences in the park are an example of fun details that could be built lightly, because so much attention had to be paid to their durability.
Töölönlahti the idea and concept plan for the park has been prepared since the end of last year and it is going to be approved by the city environment committee in October. After this, the park plan for the permanent park will be started. It would probably be ready in the summer of 2026.
Saarikko says that the best ideas and experiences from the current renovation will be kept for further planning and as part of the final park.
However, the townspeople will be able to enjoy the renewed park at least until next summer.
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