Chiara Gramaccia

Thesis in Architectural Design

The Heart of the Metropolis Helsinki Central Library

Thesis by Chiara Gramaccia
Contact Email: chiaragrama@gmail.com

University of Rome SAPIENZA - Faculty of Architecture UE
Speaker: Prof. Luca Reale
Academic Year 2012 - 2013

On the occasion of the centenary of Finnish independence, the Helsinki City Council has launched a competition for the design of a new Central Library. The initiative is part of the World Design Capital 2012, an international award given to the city of Helsinki for its ability to reinvent itself through design, improving its social, cultural and economic life.
The new library will be built in the very heart of the city, in Toolo Bay, an area that plays a very important role on an urban level (given its centrality), on a landscape level (Toolo Bay includes the Toolonlahti nature park) and on a historical-architectural level (given the proximity of the Finnish Parliament, the Finlandia Hall, the Music Center and the Sanoma House). The inauguration of the library is part of a broader project with which the Finnish government intends to promote culture as one of the strategic principles of economic and social development of the country, encouraging internationalization, multi-culturalism, bi- and multilingualism and the prevention of social exclusion. 
The central library will be the largest public library in the metropolitan area, both in terms of facilities and services. It is estimated to receive around 5000 visitors per day. It will have a functional mix, in addition to the basic library services, there will be spaces for events, leisure and learning. For these reasons, the library aims to be a creative and dynamic environment, which includes a diverse mix of culture and the arts.
The Central Library will integrate the urban fabric of the Töölönlahti area and define its central urban public space. The project, in fact, also includes the arrangement of the square, and aims to fill the urban void and at the same time enhance it from an urban-architectural point of view, creating a seam, in terms of urban landscape, between the existing and the new, between the city and nature.