Diagonal-Agora
17.4.2013 | News

More than 3000 city residents cast their vote – the winner is The Diagonal Agora

A total of 3,221 city residents voted for their favourite library of the future between 23 March and 7 April at the Central Library exhibition held in Meilahti Art Museum, on touch screens in central Helsinki, online and in social media. This second phase of the architectural competition had six entries and the winner of the public vote was The Diagonal Agora with 984 votes (31%), the runner-up was an entry called Käännös with 644 votes (20%) and third place went to Kasi with 462 votes (14%). The results of the vote and accompanying comments will be summarised for the competition panel of judges. Read more »

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Kaupunkinaytot-Forum-Virum-Keskustakirjasto
2.4.2013 | News

Vote for and comment on the top six entries for the Central Library

The top six entries in the Central Library architectural competition are displayed on touch screens in the city centre and online at keskustakirjasto.fi/aanesta from 23 March to 7 April. You can easily browse the entries and vote for your favourite. In addition, Helsinki residents can comment on the entries on the competition website. The public’s opinion will be presented to the panel of judges and published online. So far, we have received 726 votes. There is about one week left to participate. The competition entries and their scale models are on display in Meilahti Art Museum until 5 April (closed for Easter from 29 March to 1 April). Read more »

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s2010_Central_library
22.3.2013 | News

Six improved concepts on display at Central Library Exhibition

Six architectural concepts to have advanced to Stage Two in The Heart of the Metropolis, the architectural competition for the design of the new Helsinki Central Library, will be on display at the Art Museum Meilahti from March 23 to April 5.

The six concepts were first selected in November 2012 from over 540 works originally received. The competitors have now had three months to refine their work further, along the guidelines provided by the jury. The works will still be displayed under aliases.

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post-it-makerspace
7.3.2013 | Together!

The library’s makerspace born in a lead user workshop

Crisp morning air gusts in through the windows, with the flip charts and post-it notes fluttering in the breeze. Markers in different colours have been scattered around the room in deliberate patterns. Everything is ready. People start to arrive, a little early, nervous, expectant, excited. Soon, some of them are already at the table tapping on their laptops, one takes out a knitting project – here we already have something quick and electronic and something hand-made and slow side-by-side, just like it should be in the maker culture. The first lively conversation is already in progress, and the back row is buzzing.

Lead users in hacking, fablabbing and maker culture, people who live the future trends already years before the mainstream, have been invited into the workshop. The first impression they give is already a multi-faceted image of the different subcultures of DIY and making stuff. The people involved include experts from IT firms to festivals, freelance creators to entrepreneurs, civil activists to coders – everything from ties to fuzzy hairdos, from people wearing Woody Allen glasses to sneaker aficionados. Read more »

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s2010_Central_library
5.3.2013 | Events

Designs proposed for the library of the future on display

The proposed designs selected for the second stage of the Helsinki Central Library architectural competition will be put on public display at Helsinki Art Museum Meilahti.

Heart of the Metropolis, the architectural competition on the Helsinki Central Library, is part of the programme of World Design Capital Helsinki 2012. The six designs selected for the second stage of the competition will be on public display from 23 March to 5 April. The public is welcome to give feedback on the designs.  

The architects and teams of the second competition stage have been given an opportunity to develop their designs further on the basis of guidelines from the jury. The exhibition in Meilahti will include images of the reworked designs and architectural models of the designs. Visitors can give feedback both at the exhibition and online. Feedback can also be given on digital city screens located in various sections of Helsinki. Read more »

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1 wheel-chair-skateing
28.2.2013 | News, Together!

Clear the way and open the doors – here comes the wheelchair!

The doors to public buildings are often heavy. What if you could not open the library door by yourself? Sometimes the service desk is quite high. What if it was too high for you to see the things placed on it? Many were touched by The Punk Syndrome, the hit documentary about a disabled punk band, but could a book lending machine do the same?

The library is meant for everyone. It is a social space that enables people to actively participate in society and communication. In the library, you are welcome to come as you are and do interesting things for free.

In order to be all this for everyone, the library has to be accessible. The disabled too must be ensured smooth and effortless access to the library. This is an opportunity for the new Central Library to pave the way and set an example for other new and renovated constructions. Read more »

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1 Literaturehouse-Oslo
2.2.2013 | News

A book leads to different paths

When people gather together to discuss a book they all have read, a unique atmosphere and kind of friendship is born. The multiple inner worlds contained in a single book flow together in speech through the group’s experiences. A similar atmosphere could be experienced on 23 January in the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art where people working in the field of literature joined the Helsinki Central Library’s “Kirjallinen aamupäivä” event. They included bloggers, publishing managers, authors, poets, teachers of literary art, Finnish teachers, reporters, media folk, and representatives of literature associations, organisations and institutions. All in all, the event attracted more than 50 book and literature lovers. Together their knowledge and talent created an entire new life for the book – with new forms of collaboration, concepts and points of view. Read more »

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Helsignin-juhlaviikot-Simo-Karisalo-Leffapiknik
4.1.2013 | News, Together!

Shared library of communities

Besides being a space, the Central Library should also be a tool, platform and publication channel for the activities of individuals and various collectives. “Vacant space just for you, your association, organisation, community or group. Come and fill up the space, animate it, make it your own, interact, spend time together.” Perhaps the Central Library could advertise the opportunity provided by the public urban space to residents, users, creators and participants in these words. The metropolitan area is bustling with active people whose arrival in great numbers at the Central Library is anticipated with great enthusiasm. Read more »

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Ritva-Viljanen
19.12.2012 | Interviews

Ritva Viljanen in the house of Finnish knowledge

“Now it’s time for some culture,” declares Deputy Mayor Ritva Viljanen exuberantly when speaking of the Central Library. The voice of the new “mother” of the Central Library project rings with such enthusiasm and joy that it is easy to see the endeavour reaching new heights in these hands. “The Töölönlahti area will become a highly-valued part of the city and the number one place for a variety of demographic groups,” Mrs. Viljanen says, contemplating the visitor numbers of the Central Library and the Olympic Stadium, which is to be renovated. “After the wars, we built schools, then banks in the best locations in town and then shopping centres. Now it’s time to focus on non-commercial buildings and facilities – centres of culture and knowledge for everyone to enjoy. I would describe the Central Library as a house of Finnish knowledge. Read more »

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Centrumbiblioteket_arkitekturtavlingen_utstallning12
21.11.2012 | News

Six Proposals to Progress in Competition!

Heart of the Metropolis, the architectural competition for the design of the Helsinki Central Library, has now reached its second stage. The competition jury has selected six competition entries for further consideration. The proposals’ entry numbers and pseudonyms are:

  • 40 Liblab
  • 144 Wave/1
  • 149 Käännös
  • 160 Kasi
  • 357 The Diagonal Agora
  • 375 The Green Metropolis

Read more »

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