Generosity with a Twist

The right to create and broadcast is today as elemental as the right to learn was in the past. Contemporary library is therefore about producing information as much as storing and consuming it. These are the basis for the Helsinki Central Library - “Oodi”.

Oodi is located in the heart of Helsinki. Its 17.000 square meters are effectively all public. The building presents itself as three compartmental floors. Each floor is dedicated to a different concept of information, and their architectural interpretation: The ground floor, under the bridging wooden volume, is a social urban place for real-time sharing. The first floor inside the warping volume introduces a more contained feel, serving production of new objects and media. The third floor covered by a floating white roof is a more classical storage of printed information.

An exterior balcony extends the third floor out towards the House of Parliament, creating a moment where the library and the parliament are at equal elevation. This juxtaposition is symbolic to the interdependence of power and information: their immense potential in goodness when used accurately, and in evil at a moral breakdown.

CREDITS: Ala Architects (Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Janne Teräsvirta and Samuli Woolston), PROJECT: Helsinki Central Library Oodi, SIZE: 17.000sqm, LOCATION: Helsinki, Finland, STATUS: Completed 2018