Cityscape: a new addition
‘To be human is to communicate. ’
At a time when digitalization has become an end rather than a means, the Helsinki Central Library (HCL) reaffirms Isaiah Berlin’s most heartfelt belief by establishing itself as a new home for both Literature and Helsinki’s social life.
HCL completes a larger cultural ensemble, a 'campus' in which other arts—theater, music, painting, sculpture, dance—have already found their place by relying on a simple urban principle: a sequence of free standing buildings. Our proposal reaffirms this principle, creating a building ‘mass void of mass’ that represents both a new vantage point and a backdrop for the Makasiinipuisto Park.
The same logic informs the HCL building itself, which has been created as a sequence of individual spaces linked to each other along the main longitudinal axis. From south to north, the building includes spaces for performing, for exhibiting, and for looking at images; the entry lobby (a covered square); the main reading/meeting room; the sunken courtyard; and, finally, a multi-level zone for the children’s library/workrooms/quiet reading areas.
A series of ‘ramps’ revolve around the central axis. They accommodate practical differences and provide visual excitement, establishing a three-dimensional promenade that appears to end in a large, quiet cantilevered room overlooking the park, the Parliament, and the entire cultural campus, but actually continues, extending into a romantic outdoor arrangement of open spaces activated by the roofscape of the building itself.
The sum of all of the individual components turn the HCL into a destination, a place where the enjoyment of free time is not necessarily equated with the activity of reading. The HCL becomes a fantastic gathering place in which, especially in the summer, the citizens of Helsinki can take part in a vast spectrum of social activities while maintaining the impression of being inside the green park areas.
The HCL is a new addition to the Helsinki cityscape in which the communication between the structure and its surroundings reflects the communication between the individuals who use it on a daily basis.
The sculpted iceberg
The HCL is a structure with a highly symbolic and functional role, the importance of which might be overbearing. This risk is prevented by creating a 'neutral building,’ a sort of urban backdrop with its own, unique 'depth.' A continuous opaque and translucent glass skin allows bystanders to perceive the sequence of floors and posts forming the 'score' on which a series of notes are written. The glass panels wrap the entire building making it appear (both day and night) as a sculpted iceberg—literally, a mountain of ice—in which a number of cuts have been carved. The night vision is more dramatic but that of the day is equally important because of Helsinki weather conditions and the intention of building a structure that works around the clock. In both cases the HCL will serve as a mise en scene for public and social life housed within a single structure. A city within the city or, as the program would have it, the pulsing heart of the metropolis.
Flexibility and permeability
In our proposal, the HLC is flexible structure in which each part is independent yet a member of the whole. The building is conceived as an infrastructure in which every part can easily accommodate different functions with little expense. All architectural members favor encounters as well as intimacy, as in the best of public spaces.
HLC is also a permeable structure: an extension of the Makasiinipuisto Park. This relationship is made possible, at the ground level, by the main entrance leading to a triple height lobby on the south side and a minor access on the north side and, at the upper level, by an outdoor, west bound flight of steps (solarium) that connects the park directly to an elevated and protected public walkway along the entire length of the building.
This permeability insures ease in the flow of circulation. This ease informs the indoor space by way of a series of reading rooms interspersed with other areas of the program that, together, form a continuous and sensual promenade ending on the roof overlooking the park.
The roof becomes the open air piazza sitting on top of a series of ‘covered piazzas’ providing ample room for the entire spectrum of social activities, including outdoor and indoor music and theatrical performances.
The HLC becomes a metaphor for the serene elegance of downtown Helsinki and its willingness to be perceived as a model of public space design.
Energy performance
Our proposal has a clear strategy for maximizing energy performance: consume little; require little. This strategy is implemented by wrapping the whole infrastructure with panels comprised of an outer layer of insulating glass and laminated, tempered interior glass. The 25 cm thick air cavity houses the dimming and fin tube systems.
Careful study of the joints will result in a solid and smooth façade on which snow and ice do not settle. The chemical composition of the galls will be calibrated to filter out the vivid north sunlight while the different degrees of opacity of the inner panels regulate the contribution of light. A pattern of made by the vertical strips of the thin films of photovoltaic cells unifies much the outer surface, concealing the vertical and horizontal joints by confusing the field pattern.
The skin functions as an energy buffer insulating the building and, at the same time, storing energy and controlling the glaring reflections of the Nordic Light. The façade serves as a thermal and lighting buffer. The result is a carbon free building, which produces zero CO2.
