Once we arranged our trip to Helsinki, being as my partner is a librarian, a visit to Helsinki’s fantastic Central Library, Oodi was high on the itinerary. Opened in 2018 and located in Kluuvi district near Helsinki Central Station, Oodi has become a landmark building in the city.
Designed by Finnish architects ALA Architects, it’s an absolutely stunning structure. The sleek bronze exterior looks great in the expanse of the Makasiinipuisto park, once the location of old railway goods station. Meanwhile the interior is equally impressive, with inventive use of space on its three floors, with each floor having a distinctive purpose and design.
The 1st floor is where you enter the building, through an entrance sheltered from the weather by the curved swoop of the building above. Once inside, there’s a large open entrance hall, with tables to use, plus access to library services, such as returns. On this floor, there’s also a cinema, restaurant and multi-purpose hall.
The 2nd floor is dedicated to work of various types and features studios, game rooms, meeting rooms, group work facilities and lots more. You can do everything from use a recording studio with a selection of musical instruments, do some karaoke, make use of photography and video studios, cook in the group kitchen and use the sewing machines, 3D-printers, laser cutters and much more.
The 3rd floor is where you’ll find the books, housed in an impressively expansive space, with a gently undulating roof. This a place to relax, with lots of comfy seating, a café, event space and a fantastic kids area. There’s also access to a large balcony, with amazing views of the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Eduskuntatalo parliament building, Musiikkitalo music venue and the Alvar Aalto designed Finlandia Hall.
Arriving in the morning, we were suitably impressed with what we saw at Oodi and felt incredibly jealous that we don’t live in a city with such a fantastic library. Not being residents, we can only imagine what it’s like being able to book a gaming room or recording studio with your library card, and maybe borrowing a Fender Strat while you’re there.
After touring the library, we stopped off in the café for a while and enjoyed our lunch on the balcony, which was lovely. Without getting overly political, there’s a lot to be said for higher taxes, where money is invested into facilities like this, that everyone has access to.
Töölö library
Now Oodi isn’t a one-off when it comes to impressive libraries in Helsinki. While we were there, we also had a tour of the magnificent Töölö library, which overlooks Sibelius Park. This mid-century classic was designed by Aarne Ervi, who worked with Alvar Aalto, as covered in the last post on the National Pensions Institute.
It’s stunning that such a fabulous library is located in what is a relatively quiet residential area. Especially when compared to the many crumbling municipal libraries in the UK, neglected and underfunded. And they’re the lucky ones that haven’t been closed down.
Again, makes you think.
Dom Cycling 