Uncovering the purpose of finding the soul of a space
The largest Design and Architecture festival of the Nordics, Helsinki Design Week, is kicking off again! This September, the festival that aims to present its hometown from a new and enticing perspective each year, will land on Paasivuorenkatu 3. But will it be met with the soul of the historic bank building?
The annually held Helsinki Design Week will be diving deep into creative processes to highlight the most interesting phenomena in creative fields during over a hundred events held in three venues. The main event, led by this year’s theme ‘Underneath’, will be organised on Paasivuorenkatu, making the surrounding area Hakaniemi, the festival’s central stage.
According to Johanna Sarekoski, Director of Customer Experience and Concepts of Antilooppi, the event location is “a hidden gem”––and Antilooppi, the sustainable real estate owner and developer that focuses on office properties in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, “the enabler willing to engage in conversation”.
“These are the kind of places that not too many are not granted access to,” Sarekoski explains, and Markus Viiperi, Interior Architect and CEO of Franz Design Studio concurs, “To me Paasivuorenkatu feels like a museum space located somewhere in New York. It is a very distinctly non-European space.”
Which is exactly why the location will excel as the main venue for the annual festival that aims to look at its host city from a different angle each year, allowing for adventure and admiration. “Being an old bank hall, the space is in fact quite peculiar,” Viiperi says, “a very large space that is now being reopened to the public. It comes with a sense of heritage, yet the façade gives nothing away. Looking at the space from the outside, one would never be able to guess what is hiding on the inside.”
This, according to Sarekoski, is also what Antilooppi is all about: the ability to surprise and make use of the pre-existing. The company focuses on sustainable office properties with the aim of creating happy and healthy employees––while being aware of how the environment and its services can have an impact on well-being.
For this reason alone, Antilooppi refrains from simply leasing out premises and instead, focuses on creating flexible property solutions that are in a close connection to their surroundings. This means sustainably developing existing properties by bringing them to life, while not only developing the site but the whole area around it. “Paasivuorenkatu 3 is a prime example of our actions. It is a location that is very typically Helsinkian in that it was left under-utilised. It is also quite quirkily hidden behind a somewhat busy marketplace and a corner that hides a miniature park. The locale also comes with a bundle of history––which we cannot wait to uncover and bring back to life,” says Sarekoski. “Something which Helsinki Design Week are also extremely good at as event organisers!”
Helsinki Design Week and Antilooppi, both known supporters and developers of vigorous city culture, share a similar set of values, which continues to make a strong ground for collaboration for the second time round. The common goal has this year been to get to know both the identity of the Hakaniemi area and the venue location, while developing it together with design professionals and the residents of the city.
“The Hakaniemi area has been going through massive changes and while we see strong potential in the area, it is also already interesting to many. More and more companies are themselves in Hakaniemi, thanks to great transport connections and good services,” describes Tuomas Sahi, CEO of Antilooppi. “We strive to become an influential player in the area with a long-term strategy that is committed to the development of the whole Hakaniemi neighbourhood. Something of which Paasivuorenkatu 3––and now Helsinki Design Week will become a part of.”
Sarekoski also likes to look at real estate development from a more holistic standpoint: “I believe in spaces and spatiality that allow for experientiality. To me, this is equally important in both event and work spaces. Places should be allowed to evoke emotional responses!”
“I believe in spaces and spatiality that allow for experientiality. To me, this is equally important in both event and work spaces. Places should be allowed to evoke emotional responses!” Johanna Sarekoski, Director of Customer Experience and Concepts of Antilooppi
“Like Markus said, Paasivuorenkatu is a space that is surprising. This is exactly what we, as developers, should be doing. I feel very strongly that instead of homogenising localities to reach a standard, we should be more mindful of people’s emotions while designing these spaces. This could, in work spaces for example, mean that we would more thoroughly understand what drives people, what excites them when they enter a workplace in the morning and what they find solace in while working.”
Something that Viiperi can only concur with from an architectural point: “I would also wish for designers to have the courage to make spaces that have the ability to evoke feelings in everyone else but their peers. I call for confidence in making design solutions that are not solely for your colleagues.”
“I would also wish for designers to have the courage to make spaces that have the ability to evoke feelings in everyone else but their peers. I call for confidence in making design solutions that are not solely for your colleagues.” Markus Viiperi, Interior Architect and CEO of Franz Design Studio
But these are, of course, creative processes that crave credence––and taking risks.
“Tallinn is a city that has the guts to make decisions that are not solely relying on each corner being exactly right, and in the meantime, creating spaces and city blocks that feel interesting and enticing. There is always something curious looming around the corner, something that comes with a slight sense of gamble.”
The collaboration between Antilooppi and Helsinki Design Week extends to the move-in-ready, high-quality and sustainable Always Ready spaces which are presented at the festival. It opens a door to a place where focus can be put on things that should be considered most important, even in a workplace.
“This is in fact, a new category in the premises market and it answers to many of our clients’ wishes for creating office spaces that are more sustainable and design-driven. Looking back at the way we in Finland used to particularly design large properties, this is something that is novel. Our customers are now looking into furnishing with pre-loved items and using recycled or second cycle classics in the decoration. As a natural continuation, we have also begun thinking more in terms of the story of each space. The materials and shades used in the development are building on the pre-existing rather than only creating new. This is creating that is bedded, instead of being solely effective or performative.”
According to Viiperi, if allowed, spaces are able to personality. While the history of building in Finland seems to have leaned onto efficiency and a thinking that favours the new, instead of valuing what used to be, the ways of thinking are in fact changing. “We are slowly coming round to thinking that both in design and architecture, the sense of time and a times past should be allowed to be made visible. Decisions made concerning the building solutions should be taken first, in relation to the age of the building and secondly, the original idea and purpose of the building. This way we are able to build layers that last, instead of polishing and building new on top while creating something that does not work––and worst of all, has no spirit.”
“I believe are task at hand is to cherish these old buildings and through the rebuilding process, find the soul that exists in each,” nods Sarekoski.
HDW’s main venue, Paasivuorenkatu 3, is open to the public from 11 to 14 September from 4pm. Free entry, no pre-registration. The full programme can be found here.
The Antilooppi Always Ready space is open during the festival, free of charge, from 11 to 13 September from 2 to 4 pm in Siltasaarenkatu 12, 7th floor. More details can be found here.