One among my greatest associates grew up attending weekly swim classes in a bunker in Helsinki. Whereas an attention-grabbing story to trot out at dinner events, her private enjoyable reality appeared wildly disconnected from the Helsinki I’ve come to know.
The Finnish capital has all the time prided itself on its connection to nature. Constructed on an archipelago, there’s lots to go round. Whether or not it’s the ocean, parks, or a mixture of the 2 within the Töölö district, residents are by no means quite a lot of minutes away from actually touching grass.
And whereas Nordic summers give method to intense winters, newer constructions, just like the Helsinki Central Library and surrounding buildings in Kansalaistori sq. function outsized home windows—useful whether or not letting in Nordic solar or views of snow flurries. Certain, swimming underground could be distinctive, however then once more so is the Allas Sea Pool, a recreation middle that actually overlooks the Helsinki Presidential Palace.
However what I had missed throughout a number of visits was simply how a lot of life takes place underground. Slightly below the floor, Helsinki has over 5,500 bunkers, sufficient to carry its complete inhabitants of over 1.3 million folks. The prevailing purpose? Russia.
Some fast historical past—it isn’t simply the Chilly Struggle that’s elevated tensions. From 1809 to 1917 Finland was a part of the Russian Empire till securing their freedom. When Russian troops tried to reclaim territory in 1939, they have been summarily pushed out three and a half months later. And whereas Finnish cyber safety and surveillance is robust sufficient for the nation to disregard blatant attempts at propaganda, it’s the intimate data of their neighbor to east, who shares a 833-mile border, that interprets to necessary conscription for males, ages 18-60, and for all buildings over 1,200 sq. meters to have a chosen bomb shelter area. It’s no accident that their UNESCO heritage website, the Island of Suomenlinna, is thought for its fortifications. It is a sluggish burn wrestle that they’re aware of.
Attributable to a misprint within the Atlas Obscura, there’s a rumor that Helsinki’s advanced system of bunkers is all interconnected—bringing to thoughts some retro-futuristic subterranean metropolis. (Regardless of having 300 kilometers of tunnels one can’t really mole-person from one aspect of the metro space to the opposite.) Nevertheless, the lengthy tail of how being compelled to fortify town has affected town is way extra attention-grabbing than the parable.
Historically, Finnish design has translated to purposeful, streamlined buildings, partially impressed by the nation’s Swedish and Russian neighbors. However it’s Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, and his perception in human-centered constructing design, that casts the longest shadow over Helsinki’s underground areas. Whether or not their true intent is straight away apparent, these constructions are recurrently getting used. We visited just a few and located that they collectively create fascinating views of how town has merged practicality and tradition.
The Holy
Temppeliaukio Church, which receives over a half-million guests per 12 months, stands out as a vacationer spot because of its beautiful underground chapel. The area contains a two-story tall organ and rocky partitions, lit in a heavenly glow from a collection of rooftop home windows. To step in is to be surrounded by earth. Storage areas lead into dead-end rock partitions. Home windows are washed by the annual snowpack, and the inside rock wall is cleaned by the rain water that recurrently seeps by way of. It’s, as Heli Suhtala Uvalic, a customer support supervisor, notes, probably the most unintentionally earth-friendly constructing within the metropolis.
Whereas the designers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen’s causes for designing the subterranean church have been formally misplaced to time, the brothers had beforehand labored for the Finnish protection forces, constructing protection caves. Sturdy, sturdy areas have been on their minds, a forward-thinking method that bought them the job.
“They’ve been planning for the reason that early twentieth century to construct a church on this website,” says Uvalic. “That is why they named it Temple Sq. within the metropolis plan. That they had the primary design competitors within the early ’30s. They usually had one other one within the late ’30s, earlier than the battle. However then the battle made it come to a cease. After which they waited until the early ’60s, they’d yet one more competitors, as a result of they thought the cathedral was possibly slightly old school by them. That’s when the Suomalainen brothers got here up with this concept.”
She leads us into the underground break rooms the place, regardless of the traditional look of partitions, the air stress is a continuing reminder that you’re certainly nonetheless surrounded by rock. That is the place the constructing meets its authorized necessities as a bunker, however Uvalic is ready to indicate us one thing extra attention-grabbing than the place the workers takes espresso breaks. Within the rock-lined service tunnel past, the phrase “Biafra” is sprawled in massive paint letters. It’s one among fifteen incidents of graffiti found in the course of the constructing course of, a protest left by native college students who felt sources would have been greatest given to West Africa than used for an area cathedral. A small piece of historical past, the one one left, preserved within the Helsinki underground.
The Inventive
Opened in 2018, Amos Rex was a direct hit with artwork followers. Constructed two years after town rejected a $138 provide from Guggenheim, the $58 million-dollar museum grew to become a chief instance of native investments. Its popularity was bolstered by a colourful slate of exhibits that included the crowd-pleasing Japanese tech collective teamLab, and an exhibition targeted on people’ relationship to the underground, a theme that stretched from pure sources, to the mythological, literary, and physiological facets. (Kai Kartio, Museum Director Amos Rex calls the considerably troublesome exhibition a shock hit amongst company.)
Sandwiched between Helsinki’s Central Railway Station and the close by Kamppi purchasing middle, the gallery is straightforward to entry, a neon-marked location that has attracted over a half million guests yearly because it opened. However to completely perceive Amos Rex, it’s a must to begin underground—particularly with the 5 submarine-like home windows peaking up Lasipalatsi Sq., making a Wes Anderson-worthy playground construction for each artwork followers and native youngsters. As Kartio explains, going underground to create their present area was a no brainer once they took over the leisure advanced in 2012. Referred to as Lasipalatsi (“glass palace”), the constructing was a chief instance of Nineteen Thirties Finnish modernist structure—which meant it was additionally closely protected. Increasing into an underground annex 20 toes underground was the brainchild of Asmo Jaaksi, the main architect at JKMM.
“It wasn’t potential to transform this outdated constructing with out spoiling it,” says Kartio. “It’s actually protected, and it’s good that it’s protected. What we wished was a really versatile exhibition area with as few limiting, mounted partitions as potential… what we wished of our underground exhibition area was that it will be type of architecturally attention-grabbing, that it will have a type of visible id, and that it will be very versatile and potential to transform this into an area for every kind of various exhibitions. However then we additionally wished to maintain the sensation that, ‘Okay, you go underground nevertheless it does not actually really feel like going right into a darkish basement.”
Coming into the foyer, with its curly white-paper ceilings might really feel like Finnish functionalism has been left behind. However true to Kartio’s phrase, the area is a playful tackle practicality. Excessive ceilings give the gallery an expansive high quality past its 2,200-square-meter ground area. And ceiling disks alter the room’s acoustics—though taking the room from gentle to darkish within the identify of consideration to element could be a time-consuming course of.
“The thought of the architect was that they might have type of hats on a type of white cloth, which additionally would make the acoustics slightly bit softer,” says Kartio. “So, each different exhibition, now we have the covers on and each different time we take them off, it is a large job. There are heaps and much and many these, that it modifications utterly the side of the area.”
The Leisure Set
Whereas Temppeliaukio and Amos Rex have been each created as underground areas that can be utilized as bunkers in a pinch, there’s an entire different subset of buildings in Helsinki that began as bunkers, solely to change into backwards suitable with day by day life. A byproduct of a metropolis decided to fight each city sprawl and brutal winter climate.
Itäkeskus swimming corridor, the place my buddy discovered do a creditable backstroke, is a kitschy delight. In-built 1993 there’s nonetheless a contact of nostalgia to the humid corridor, from the tropical-themed cartoons overlaying the partitions of the youngsters’s part, to the colourful flags crisscrossing the ceilings. However designed by Hkp Architects, the world was envisioned to play effectively with its supposed goal. Throughout swimming hours, it could host 1,000—however in case of emergency swimming pools could be drained inside a day, and three,800 folks can take shelter below its 15 meters of granite. One of many metropolis’s extra elaborate shelters, it additionally options blast doorways, an air filtration system, and even stress valves. Whereas elements are recurrently examined, it has by no means been used.
The identical philosophy prevails at The Method Middle. A brief stroll by way of the Jap Helsinki woods from Itäkeskus, Method Middle is Helsinki’s solely go-kart monitor, and—to their data—the one underground go-kart monitor on this planet. Racers cross a course by way of a cave, dwelling out their Mario Kart fantasies below purple and inexperienced lights. The 300-meter-long monitor has been praised for its velocity, nevertheless it’s a notably claustrophobic area—when you cross the heavy blast doorways on the entrance, there’s no mistaking the cave’s authentic intent. In-built 1970, it wasn’t till 1995 that Method Middle moved in, taking the area over from a former furnishings warehouse. It appears small, however the area that may host 30 drivers can even shield two and a half thousand folks in a worst-case state of affairs. The logistics of how that’s meant to work, is left as much as the powers that be—particularly the Helsinki Hearth Brigade which owns the shelter.
“In the event that they push the button, now we have 72 hours to take our stuff out,” explains firm proprietor Lauri Illukka. “We do not have a lot stuff. Many instances, we speak about it. And that is possibly the most secure place to be.”
With that, he shrugs and provides the chance to take a automobile out on the monitor. The message is obvious—simply because they’ve the power to retain a degree of performance in case of emergency doesn’t suggest they’re ready to let the opportunity of catastrophe intervene with day by day life. You’ve bought to reside, and designing your life with people, quite than ‘what-ifs’ the forefront is way extra satisfying. Perhaps the prevailing recommendation, “simply lookup” isn’t all the time sufficient. Generally, to really perceive a metropolis, you’ve bought to dig.