In August 2022, eighteen international students and young professionals with backgrounds in architecture, planning and urban studies joined the 26th IFHP Urban Planning and Design Summer School. The intensive summer course started with two introductory days in Helsinki and continued with an intensive workshop in our collaborative city Hämeenlinna. One day was also spent in Tampere.
Working in groups of three, the students studied the waterfront site of Keinusaari, Hämeenlinna and envisioned its possible futures through the lens of this year’s theme. The theme, RETHINKING URBAN CHANGE, encouraged the students to look critically at the traditional role of a designer as well as to seek new approaches for social and spatial innovation on the site. Throughout the summer school, the students met various professionals, stakeholders, activists and local citizens that represented the large scale of different actors in the city. Some encounters were arranged, such as a youth workshop and an open house event to the workshop space, but the students also took a very active role in engaging the locals. Each group made their own reading of the assignment, but all developed projects had a very human, local approach.
One of the city’s wishes for the site’s development was to bring out its potential as a beautiful waterfront site. Instead of building new, the student groups almost unanimously decided to use the existing structures on site, focus more on public space and design smaller interventions. The premises that are about to be freed from hospital use in the near future were turned into spaces for the citizens: culture hubs, artist studios, co-working spaces, multigenerational housing, etc. The interventions were often designed to be built in phases, making it possible to test, how different options are welcomed by the citizens. The groups also developed realistic tools for better engaging the citizens in the design process, or even giving them the steering wheel. Students’ design choices showcased, that small changes can have big influence.
The local newspaper Hämeen Sanomat wrote an article (published on August, 30) about the summer school. Subscribers of the newspaper can read the article here (in Finnish).
CLINIC OF URBAN DESIRES
Anna Abl, Julian Essig, Dilnaz Zhumabayeva
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The clinic of urban desires is a place for residents and visitors to delve into a community of like-minded people. Through site analysis and interviews with high school students, seniors, entrepreneurs, and directors of cultural associations, the group identified a need for informal, non-commercial public spaces. In the project, the site is divided into areas targeted at different user groups –artists, musicians, designers, founders, and NGOs. Different age groups are considered in the design; youth have an indoor basketball court and a skatepark and seniors have different common spaces to chat, play board games, cook, and use common computers. Parents can leave their children in a playroom while going to yoga classes or attending a creative workshop. All the rooms, stages, ateliers, galleries, and a sauna are available to everyone through a booking system. The project aims to create a friendly and diverse creative community in the city centre while preserving and repurposing the historical buildings on site.
HÄMEENLINNA
Hasan Hirji, Roosmarii Kukk, Franziska Vey
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The proposal consists of a series of fields, which, instead of meaning agricultural fields, is a system of thinking about the city beyond its buildings. It focuses on the spaces in-between the buildings. There are three different fields: 1. typological field: what already exists (parks, roads, and buildings); 2. timefield: how are they used (constant or seasonal); 3. material field, of what they are made from. These three factors are tools to design a public space and, based on its success, adapting it. To set up an example of how to use the fields on the site, the group proposes transforming the hospital building into an education hub. It offers students a standardized education with a focus on skilled crafts, trades, maintenance, and involvement with urban activities. The education hub also contains a light therapy sauna called Sun house that brings people together in the dark winter, creating an activity specific to a season. The group also proposes to transform the bridge from the city centre to Keinusaari into a shared space, where all the transport modes share the space equally without sidewalks or specific lanes. This well-known method reduces the speed as well as allows people to use the street space for events.
THE SPINE – MORE THAN A CONNECTION
Henrike Hesping, Yi-Fang Kuo, Christina Luschnig
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One of the most important connections in almost all midsized cities is the route connecting the central station to the city centre. This is also the case in Hämeenlinna. However, this crucial connection is, at its current state, disconnecting people from their environment. Its mainly because of the loud and fast motorised traffic but also because there is a lack of activities that would attract people to use the spaces. Therefore, the group proposes to prioritise pedestrians and alternative light modes of mobility by banning cars from the street going through the site. In addition, interactive elements are to be implemented on the site to better connect people to their surroundings as well as to other people. The aim of the project is to create a sufficient linear connection for public transportation while increasing the spatial qualities along the spine of Hämeenlinna. Rather than just passing by people are encouraged to stay and spend time in the site area.
COMMUNITY BY & BEYOND DESIGN
Celia Beketa, Martin Raid, Ella Tammisto
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In the proposal, the community is not only put at the centre of the design, but also their involvement will continue after the design itself has been implemented. The group proposes a mix of short-term and long-term interventions as well as bottom-up and top-down initiatives. Before creating the concept, the group engaged with locals of all ages and found out that there is a lack of gathering places that are free, inviting, and winter friendly. The proposal has three key components. The first component is the alternative town square that turns the existing parking lot into a multipurpose public space. The space is divided into two: one part is an ice-skating rink in the winter and public space in the warmer months and another is changing every six months based on the community members’ ideas. The second component is the community hub. Repurposing one of the existing buildings, the hub is co-designed together with the community and free for anybody to enter. It includes a communal living room, artist studios, a communal kitchen and inner playground, a library of things, and more. The third component is the culture square that celebrates Hämeenlinna’s roots with a local indoor market, gallery, restaurant, and café. The components change alongside the community’s needs. A community council consisting of 8 residents representing the voices of fellow community members shapes the future of the site. Nothing is permanent and anything can change based on people’s feedback and experiences.
HÄMEENLINNA BOTANICAL GARDEN
Marius Birnbreier, Hanna Wisser, Zorka Zsembery
The proposal is community-driven, provides non-commercial activities and experiences for all senses, and gives better access to the surrounding nature. Its timeframe includes simple installations and temporary uses that will eventually lead to more long-term changes. The changing seasons of Finland, especially winter, serve as anchor points to the interventions, keeping the site attractive throughout the year. In addition, to intensify the experiences on the site, the concept is designed with multisensorial experiences. The principal agenda is to produce a space that brings light to the community and creates a warm heart for the city. The botanical garden gives the area a new identity and acts as an extension of the national urban park as well as the rich nature around Hämeenlinna. The winter lighting project will draw attention to the area and the lakeside from various angles as well as show people the way from the railway station to the city centre across the area. Lastly, the colourful redesign of the hospital building’s backside area is an eyecatcher during the grey winter months and offers space for urban culture, such as bottom-up initiatives and non-commercial spaces for youth. At the same time, it gives the locals an opportunity to create new synergies.
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DISTRICT OF SYNERGIES
David Pimperl, Weronika Szatkowska, Celine Zaiser
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Based on the needs of identified user groups, and the recognised potentials of the site, the group proposes a new spatial plan that is to be co-designed with the citizens of Hämeenlinna. The proposal transforms reality into an interactive game board. Different elements on the site are reflected either on the board, with tokens, or in the rules. The game board is a new Keinusaari plan made by the group. The plan includes some structural changes and a new building. The player’s task is to create new uses for the site and its buildings, including the new one, while considering different user groups’ interests and possibly creating new synergies. For example, a player places one desired planning element to the board. All players revise, if there are other any element (stakeholders or objects) nearby. If so, the players need to discuss about the synergies or conflicts between the placed elements according to the five principles of planning: complementary uses, social exchange encouragement, compulsory consumption fee, common identity and sustainable planning. If the majority of the players agree that the impact of the new element is positive, it stays. The game itself offers the city to co-design the site with the citizens while drawing the citizens’ attention to the site. The game also provides the city with qualitative and quontative data. By playing, the citizens get a better understanding of the complexity of the design process and are encouraged to take action in their own living environment.
IFHP Urban Planning and Design Summer School in Finland 