The 120-year-old Hietalahdenranta, originally a five-story building, now also used from its attics, is an example of the building stock of its time in its district. “The facade is dominated by vertical motifs, window shafts, bay windows, cross gables and a corner tower,” describes docent Päivi Hovi-Wasastjerna in the new book.
The novelty book tells the stories of one apartment building, but at the same time reveals between the lines a larger story about the whole of Helsinki. The art nouveau castle of Laitakaupunki has in a way moved to the center of present-day Helsinki.
From the early afternoon on Sunday, the corners of Hietalahdentori are quiet. The square is empty of flea market sellers, and Tallinn tourists don't seem to populate the western end of the Kamppi district either.
As soon as Monday, it will be different, when cross-traffic starts rolling. Then we're in the middle of a frenzy.
Completed in 1904, Hietalahdenranta 15 has been allowed to stand on its pole for 120 years. In the heart of Helsinki, many stone castles of the same period were condemned for demolition in the 1960s or 70s.
Here in Hietalahti, the house has been allowed to flourish in peace, but the neighborhood has changed insidiously. Once this was an outlying town, now it's in the middle of everything.
Journalist, communications entrepreneur Suna Mountain has written a book about the history of these corners Hietalahti Art Nouveau castle (SKS Books 2024).
It doesn't just tell the thousands of stories of one house, but describes the development of Helsinki much more broadly.
The “Svensk” tram used to run between Katajanokka and Hietalahti. The picture is from around 1910. Today's Hietalahti is one of Helsinki's cross traffic hubs.
Specially in the very last decades, Helsinki has become denser and expanded. Instead of one, several centers have been built in the city.
On the other hand, for example, the former outlying area Hietalahti is more closely connected to the core of Helsinki. The activity that arose “behind” Hietalahti further west has in a way pushed the suburb of Hietalahti closer to the center.
Former industrial and logistics-filled waterfront areas and islands have been connected, filled in, and built into apartments, offices, and services. Ruoholahti, Jätkäsaari, Hernesaari, Eiranranta and Telakkaranta correspond to a medium-sized Finnish city in terms of population and employment.
When we take into account the still booming Lauttasaari and southern Espoo to the west, and think about the impact of the Länsišatama ferry traffic, the 120-year-old castle of Laitakatu is right in the middle of bustling busy Helsinki.
Just from this point of view Hietalahti Art Nouveau castle tells extensively about the development of the entire city.
In the upper part of the photo taken northwest of Sinebrychoff's tower, you can see the beach of Hietalahti and the former sawmill. In the foreground, the Sinebrychoff garden, southeast of the current Boulevard.
At the turn of the 1940s and 1950s, workers' apartments had already spread around the area. The laundry was hung out to dry on the grounds of Työväen Asunto asakehtiö Alu. In the background is the row of stone houses on Hietalahdenranta and the “Hundred markan villas” on Lapinlahdenkatu.
Ab Kone Oy's elevator number 318 was built later, probably in 1924, in the middle of the A-stair spiral staircase.
Suna Vuoren the book starts in the 19th century: “Hietalahti was still a remote area at this point and the market was just an open space dotted with sand and grass, in the middle of which the residents of the nearby area fetched water from a well dug.”
In the dining room of an apartment on the A-stairs, Ruoholahti tile factory's oven number 23 stands under a paneled coffered ceiling and above a decorative parquet mosaic. Gas stoves were a novelty in the house. Hot water rose through the wires to the kitchens and bathrooms of the floors. There were 125 wood stoves in the house for heating.
Jugend is known to be a celebration of details. Here is the decorative oven door of a kakluna made of three types of tiles.
The workers' wooden house area, which was born as a result of industry, was restless at the end of the 19th century. Due to the influence of the port, inns were born in the nearby blocks: “The Eldorado located at Hietalahdenkatu 8, as well as the equally exotically named Alhambra, Philadelphia and Mesopotamiaen in nearby streets were actually brothels. In the 1870s, there were a dozen or so of them in Helsinki, and in the evenings there were dozens of prostitutes standing in front of the brothels.”
Then we come to the 20th century and the bourgeois also get up to speed. The key landmarks of Läntinen Kampi and the neighboring district of Punavuori were born and entrepreneurship became more active: Sinebrychoff's brewery, Hietalahti shipyard, port, harbor railway, Polytechnic Institute, Hietalahti market hall. . . Yes, and Hietalahtenranta 15.
Vuori says the following about the lifestyle of the townspeople and the people on the two floors: “The residents of the large apartments on the A-stair on the sea side have mainly been professors, high-ranking officials, successful businessmen, various chiefs and consuls, doctors or business managers – -. From time to time, newspaper advertisements were used to search for housekeepers, cooks or other service staff.”
Engineer, Helsinki city councilor, senator Jalmar Castrén moved to Hietalahdenranta 15 in 1917. The family photo is from the same year.
“In the building's B and C stairs, the range of residents has been wider in the past: car drivers, post and bank clerks, cleaners, teachers, artists, janitors, seamstresses. . .”
Some distinguished residents have got their own numbers in the book: councilor of state Lorenz Lindelöfprofessors Uno Lindelöf, Ernst Lindelof and Jalmar Castrénassessor Uno Kurté and a violinist Sulo Hurstinen.
Hietalahtenranta 15 was built by Fastighets Aktiebolaget Sandviken. It was designed by young architects by Karl Gustaf Grahn, Ernst Hedman and Knut Wasastjernan office.
Architects Karl Gustaf Grahn, Ernst Hedman and Knut Wasastjerna designed Hietalahdenranta 15 and numerous other prestigious buildings in Helsinki.
It wasn't just any drawing club. The office grew into the largest of its time in Finland, and its mark is strongly visible in Helsinki's cityscape. The same gentlemen designed many others, for example the Fennia house on the edge of Rautatientor and the Argos house belonging to the Stockmann department store, of which only the facade remains.
For this reason alone, a book based on one of the architects' footprints claims its place among books about Helsinki.
There are just the right amount of historical photos and resident stories with portraits and family photos, as well as contemporary photos, so that a fascinating overall picture of the Art Nouveau castle with its surroundings and lifestyle is drawn.
Hietalahtenranta 15 with its corner towers (top right), siding of the harbor railway, stacks of logs and breaker Jääkarhu at Hietalahten pier.
Current residents have also been interviewed. Finally, let's consider the future of Hietalahti. Hietalahtenallas and Hietalahtenlaituri with water and land areas are currently the subject of controversial development plans.
The photographer must be praised separately Rauno Träskelinin and the person in charge of graphic design Timo Numminen after work: a visually beautiful, clear, stylish, engaging and well-paced package.
Entrance and vestibule with polygonal vaults, Arch and other abundant decorations.
Hietalahti Jugendlinna the story thus reflects a narrative the size of an entire city. It's great that the memory is told. Otherwise, we no longer know where we came from.
People and stories are the soul of Helsinki. Without them and them, the city would be empty, lifeless, impersonal and meaningless.
Suna Vuori: Hietalahti Jugendlinna, SKS Kirjat 2024. 120 pp. The pictures in the story are from the book.
A terrace was built in the 1970s on top of the garages from the 1950s in the yard of Hietalahdenranta 15.
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