Browsing by Author "Mäkelä, Mika"

This thesis explores the renovation taken place in the district of Kallio in Helsinki after the Second World War – the organised demolition and new construction of the old wooden house district. The aim of the thesis is to examine the reasons and objectives of the renovation in Kallio, the modernism ideas appearing in the renovation designs as well as study the influences of the renovation in the contemporary built environment. The objective is to examine the realisation of the designs in terms of buildings, green areas, street grid and modernism ideology. The study is focused on the area of Etu-Kallio, which was the centre point of the renovation. The research methods used are map-analysis, observation, archival material and literature review. The research material used are the renovation plans of the area, Helsinki City Council decisions and the city government reports as well as the material produced by the various committees and competitions. In addition, the detail plan changes and quarter plans of Etu-Kallio and a few draft maps related to plans are also used as a research material. The atmosphere of the era is studied through newspaper articles dealing with the topic, and with discussions with the persons involved in the city planning of Helsinki and the researchers of the field. Earlier research and literature concerning modernism, the city planning of Helsinki and the district of Kallio are used as a background information for the research. The key objective of the renovation in the study area was to replace the old wooden houses with a new modern open space urban structure, which formed a contrast to the traditional solid block construction. The old stone buildings were allowed to stay, although their stone courtyard wings and buildings were to be removed. The demolition of the wooden houses was carried out thoroughly, as all of them situated in the study area were replaced with new buildings. On the contrary, the renovation plans for the stone building parts of the yard did not realise. The events related to the renovation took place between 1930s and 1970s, but the practical implementation happened after World War II. The renovation was carried out mainly through the proposal plan of Etu-Kallio drawn up in the late 1950 by the urban planning section of the Real Estate Department of Helsinki and on the basis of the earlier drafts. Renovation was completed in the 1970s through the quarter plans. The above mentioned plans were usually realised with detail plan changes drawn up for the new buildings. The renovation of Kallio represents development in the urban planning: the rise and decline of modernism, the aspects of renovation in various stages, the rise of the building protection, and the results of modernism in the current urban structure. The renovation of Kallio was a multi-step process involving a variety of plans, discussions and reflections on the future of the wooden house district and the permitted building volume allowed by city's building code and, ultimately, the practical implementation. A number of plans were prepared for the renovation, from which part of them guided the later plans while some solutions were eliminated. The plans were drawn up at different times and therefore represent the stages of modernism in the history of Helsinki city planning.