{"id":26185,"date":"2024-06-12T15:42:51","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T22:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/helsinki-stream-city-a-re-imagining-outside-the-system\/"},"modified":"2024-06-12T15:42:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T22:42:56","slug":"helsinki-stream-city-a-re-imagining-outside-the-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/helsinki-stream-city-a-re-imagining-outside-the-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Helsinki Stream City: A Re-imagining Outside the System"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"-\"<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

\n

Modern man lives under the illusion of being the most intelligent being
\nout there. This is the paradox of human nature; we all want to make the best
\ndecisions with the knowledge we have at any given time, but on the other hand,
\nour thinking is largely based on how our ancestors organized the world in their
\ntime.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Possibly the most tangible example of this in our everyday lives is
\ninfrastructure. While there seems to be plenty of candidates offering new
\nsolutions to the already existing urban environment, there are not that many
\nlooking to challenge the current urban order. Cities are full of talk\u2014but who
\nwalks the walk?<\/p>\n

Re-imagining Urban Environments<\/h2>\n

Olli Hakanen<\/strong>, a long-term specialist in re-imagining
\nworkspaces and urban environments, has an extensive background in both
\narchitecture and consultancy. His latest venture, Respace, aims to address how
\nurban environments are being developed to better suit the needs of their
\nresidents as well as the environment. According to the ideology behind Respace,
\ninstead of always building something new, often all that is needed is a re-thinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost
\narchitecture focuses on building some new addition to add to an already
\nexisting system; say, an apartment building added into a given city. But
\nperhaps the focus should be on non-building planning; often, you can find more
\nfeasible solutions by re-thinking the space and its use. Instead of planning a
\nbuilding because someone says they need more space, maybe we should look into
\nhow the existing space has been used so far and re-think how it could be used
\nin the future. This has been my professional guideline for a long time, and
\nthis is also at the very heart of Helsinki Stream City,\u201d Hakanen confirms.<\/p>\n

Love for Potential, Passion for Results<\/h2>\n

The central idea
\nof Helsinki Stream City is that the system needs a fix, but there are no quick
\nways to make one. People need to commute better and faster; the environment
\nneeds to be consumed less, and money should be used wiser than it was before.
\nAs is typical for innovations, Helsinki Stream City was born outside the
\ncurrent system.<\/p>\n

Helsinki Stream
\nCity has two fundamental entities: \u201cPeople Flow Master Plan\u201d and
\n\u201cFreight Flow Master Plan.\u201d The first focuses on the commuting of
\npeople and the second on the moving of goods. These two plans form the core of
\nHelsinki Stream City, which essentially models a completely new urban
\nenvironment and architecture. The plan is definitely big and bold\u2014while the
\nstatus quo might be even more so.<\/p>\n

As Olli Hakanen
\npoints out: \u201cYou cannot fix a heart problem with a plaster. I aim to
\nquestion the given facts; my work history shows this attitude has led to
\ninnovative thinking and solutions. That is also why I took on the challenge of
\nre-thinking urban environments in the first place. The values of Respace are
\n\u2018love for potential, passion for results\u2019\u2014and this acts as a guideline for everything
\nthat we do. There are a lot of politics surrounding urban environments, but I
\nam convinced that should not stop us from re-thinking and doing our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Documentary Film as a
\nCommunication Tool<\/h2>\n

The challenge was
\nto help all the stakeholders\u2014including the political forces and the private
\nsector\u2014understand the reasoning behind this radical plan. This is where
\nKIRA-digi, the Finnish national digitalization program, came in. While most
\nKIRA-digi projects are focused on developing a single solution, Helsinki Stream
\nCity Pilot was all about using the AI of today and tomorrow to develop the
\nsystem itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the
\nsupport of KIRA-digi, we were able to prepare a short documentary on Helsinki
\nStream City, which premiered on May 18, 2019, in Helsinki Central Library Oodi.
\nWhile we had to make some compromises due to changes in financing, the
\ndocumentary is a fantastic communication tool, and I am happy we had the chance
\nto complete it,\u201d Hakanen says.<\/p>\n

A documentary
\nfilm was chosen as a medium mostly because it allows effective communication in
\na relatively short time. Another\u2014obviously more costly\u2014option would have been
\nto create a game environment\u2014a format into which urban design is already
\nheading due to the fantastic possibilities it offers to simulate different
\noptions in a given environment.<\/p>\n

Taking Urban Planning to the Next
\nLevel<\/h2>\n

For now, Hakanen
\nis continuing to develop the concepts of the \u201cPeople Flow Master
\nPlan\u201d and \u201cFreight Flow Master Plan\u201d in cooperation with Aalto
\nUniversity and the City University of New York. Besides Helsinki, the City of
\nNew York has given a lot of inspiration to Olli Hakanen, which he got to see
\nup-close during his time as architect-in-residence of the Finnish Cultural
\nInstitution in New York back in 2015 and for a second time during January\u2013March
\n2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, as humankind, are at a crossroads when it comes to commuting. Private cars are too expensive for us and the environment, while public transportation is facing growing pressure in terms of handling the increasing numbers of passengers as well as meeting the needed service time and frequency. Now Helsinki has the possibility to be at the forefront of taking the first big, bold step forward into a new future,\u201d Hakanen concludes.<\/p>\n

Olli Hakanen will be presenting at WDBE 2019<\/a> in Helsinki in September. Before that, connect with him on LinkedIn<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

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