when i was choosing my current thesis project i thought about doing some sort of study of the kaisaniemenlahti / kaisaniemenranta area here in helsinki. i always thought it was such a lovely area but underused. the ranta (shore) is behind the (kasvitieteellinen puutarha) gardens and can seem like a very very dark and uninviting place. i was going to do some basic buildings to put them in there and just do a survey of an imaginary project for the area. in the end i chose a different project subject (coming this autumn). so reading in todays helsingin sanomat i saw there is a proposal to add 20ish floating homes to the area along with a new bridge that goes over the train tracks and a possible new ferry.

(image taken from the hs website)

1. kelluvia asuntoja 6kpl (6 x floating dwellings)
2. asuntolaivoja 16kpl (16 x apartment boats)
3. asunto-, toimisto- tai ravintoloalaivoja 5kpl (5 x living, office or restraunt boats)
4. mahdollinen kevyen liikenteen lautta (possible light traffic ferry)
5. kelluva ravintolapavilijonnki (floating restraunt pavillion)
6. suunniteltu kevyen liikenteen silta (proposed/designed light traffic bridge)

here is the article (in finnish) – hopefully there will be an english translation of the article in tomorrows english language section of their website.

update: article in english