The smells of detergent and pine in the huge entrance hall to the Helsinki new centrumbibliotek Ode (in Finnish Oodi).
Now remains to draw some of the wood paneling on the undulating outer walls, and fill the clear the bookshelves.
On Wednesday, to open the library to the public, just in time for the Finnish independence day on 6 december.
Along the floor of the library, moving small trolleys that looks something like gräsklipparrobotar. They cruise smoothly past the group of Italian and british journalists who are here to write about the construction. Uk’s The Guardian published already in the spring a great article about Finland’s love for the library, and now is the design magazine Wallpaper here.
the Robots must bring the books from the warehouse up to the upper floor. The staff unloads on the books but the robots themselves operate the lift. When an acquaintance of mine saw the pictures from the library and compared the she the interior of the death star in ”star wars”. There may be something in it – but the architecture is also very Finnish.
seems to flirt with Alvar Aalto’s Finlandiahus opposite. Tölöviken is one of the city’s main green areas, and especially in the summer the area will be visible from all directions inside the library.
– there are a lot of open space that is flexible and can be designed according to the needs. The first floor is a sort of open square, while the second floor contains the workshops and work desk, and the third is a meeting place that is almost like a picknickställe, ” says Antti Nousjoki, one of the architects behind the library.
a Total of 544 proposals participated in the international competition, which was launched six years ago. Six anonymous submissions were selected for the finals, but the winner was a Finnish agency is a pure coincidence, says the city of Helsinki cultural affairs Tommi Laitio.
– the Architects had understood the task so well that it is not even elected in any second, ” he says.
laserprintrar to the public, a kitchen where visitors can warm food, cinema, studioutrymmen for musicians and computers for the cutting of the film, and two games room. The actual stock consists of 100,000 books. In addition, there are sewing machines that anyone can use.
– When democratic values are under threat from all sides, it is especially important to show that there are places for everyone. Every person, whether it is a child or a newly arrived refugee, can get a library card, ” says Tommi Laitio.
According to him, is the library especially appreciated in Helsinki. The central library has met with virtually zero resistance in the public sphere.
– the Idea behind the library is the very radical and simple. All should have free access to knowledge, to culture and to a beautiful, decent environment. We love libraries in Finland. Second-after water-is the library the public services that helsinki residents appreciate the most, ” he says.
”When I got my first library card, it was like owning half the world,” says Nasima Razmyar. She is the city of Helsinki deputy mayor and came as a refugee to Finland, eight-year-old. Photo: Philip Teir
the new library is a youth democracy project.
From the library’s upper floor is seen the reichstag building on the other side of Mannerheimintie, and in front of the library grows a open squares forward, planned for future manifestations or stadsjippon.
the Town’s deputy mayor Nasima Razmyar says that it is unique to Helsinki now betting big on a library.
In many places in the world, the opposite happens. I was recently at a conference in San Francisco, where many complained that it cut down on the libraries in their hometowns. At the same time change the library’s function too. It comes new technology. Libraries are no longer places where one only obtains knowledge, they are also places where you can create yourself, ” she says.
Finland, eight-year-old, as a refugee from Afghanistan, and has a very personal relationship to the library.
There was much I did not understand when I was eight years old and came to Finland, so local libraries in the district of Kottby was extremely important for me. I had no cds, and I understood almost that it was possible that I had to borrow them home. When I got my first library card, it was like owning half the world, ” she says.
In Helsinki will be the libraries all the more important for the growing proportion of foreign-born.
– You can read newspapers in 80 languages at the libraries. There is no place in the world that is so open, with such a low threshold, for such a large part of the population, ” she says.
