Olympiarakennukset (Olympiadbyggnaderna)

English translation (from the Finnish)

The text above is the record as published by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), in Finnish. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto); it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

The sports buildings completed for the Helsinki Olympic Games form, even when assessed internationally, a well-preserved Olympic building ensemble, which also belongs to the selection of landmark works of Finnish modern architecture approved by the international DOCOMOMO organisation. The Olympic buildings located in various parts of Helsinki are both competition sports arenas meeting international requirements and versatile exercise and recreation venues used by ordinary Helsinki residents.

The sports buildings of the smallest Olympic city of all time share an austere architecture that is unified in principle. They feature similar concrete structural solutions, left exposed, and simplified stone surfaces, which on the façades are usually painted white. The versatile functionality of the sports buildings is revealed both in large public events and in everyday hobby activities.

The most important of the Olympic competition venues, the Olympiastadion, rises as the centre of the other sports buildings in the Eläintarha sports park in Töölö. The 72-metre slender tower of the Olympiastadion is a symbol of the Olympic Games and of Finnish sport, and one of the emblems of the capital. Apart from the white tower, the exterior of the building is characterised by a stand widening outwards, supported by footed ring beams placed at regular spans.

The Uimastadion is situated north-east of the Olympiastadion, in the middle of a rocky nature park. Finland's first open-air swimming pool, a summer swimming resort for townspeople, is a complex of three pools. An arcaded, open pillared colonnade hall spanning the full length of the façade dominates the west side of the curved reinforced-concrete stand. A wooden café building bounds the area on the northern edge. The Kumpula outdoor pool was built as a training pool for the Games.

The Kisahalli, south-west of the Olympiastadion, is a vaulted hall with large halls, originally built for fairs and exhibitions as well as large public events. The Ruskeasuo riding hall with its horse stables is located north of the Laakso riding field in Keskuspuisto. In the austere, elegant vaulted hall are both the riding arena and the sports halls.

The Soutustadion is located on a headland jutting into Taivallahti, where a covered concrete stand has been built on the finish line of the planned canoe and rowing courses. Behind the stand is a clubhouse and a boathouse of wood. The Velodromi is Finland's first banked cycling track, in the Käpylä sports park. The demanding forms of the track are executed in concrete, and on the south-west side of the track is a covered 2000-seat stand. The Tennispalatsi in Kamppi, near the bus station, has taken its name from the four tennis courts that were under its arched roof. The building houses a film theatre and museum centre.

In Käpylä, two residential areas were built to house Olympic athletes. North of Koskelantie are the 1940 Olympiakylä and the 1952 Kisakylä. The Olympiakylä is an early Finnish interpretation of a modernist residential area. The three- and four-storey light-coloured apartment buildings stand in freely undulating terrain amid natural tree cover, forming open courtyards. The natural connection and lighting conditions of the apartments have been carefully studied, as have their floor plans. The simple buildings are architecturally considered and proportionally calm. In designing the 1952 Kisakylä, solutions that had proved successful in the 1930s were respected and utilised. In Otaniemi, Espoo, nine student apartment buildings have been built as the so-called Eastern Bloc athletes' Olympic village, as well as the Otahalli, a training hall for athletics.

The Olympiaterminaali in Eteläsatama belongs to the building projects for the 1952 Olympic Games, and its terminal and harbour building are connected with the stately architectural development of the city's harbours.

In Hämeenlinna are the competition venues for modern pentathlon. In Ahvenisto, on a beautiful lakeshore area, there is an outdoor swimming pool, a changing shelter and a café building.

History

In the 1930s Helsinki prepared to host the Olympic Games and to receive athletes and spectators from all over the world. Sports arenas rose in the city, along with various services such as accommodation and transport buildings. The Olympics were used to justify the improvement of the whole city. In spring 1940 the Olympic Games were cancelled because of the wars. The 1952 Summer Olympics were held in Helsinki. At that time the sports buildings of the 1930s served the Games, their stands often somewhat enlarged.

International sport-specific requirements dictate the planning of Olympic competition venues. Besides the tracks, pools and fields themselves, there must be facilities serving athletes, maintenance, staff, spectators and the media. In relation to each other, and to accommodation, the competition venues should be located flexibly in terms of transport. In Helsinki it was easy to place the Olympic buildings in various parts of the city, in parks reserved for sports and in Keskuspuisto. In addition to the requirements of individual sports, multi-use was studied: not only for sport but also for the fitness and recreation of city dwellers of all ages. In working and urban culture, the building of sports facilities was seen as a duty of society.

The 1932 architectural competition programme for the Olympic Stadium stated that "The stadium must be given an architectural design that matches the status of the whole country's sports centre". The stadium was intended to be both a sports arena and a venue for national celebrations. The two-stage competition was won by architects Toivo Jäntti and Yrjö Lindegren. The structural plans were drawn up by diplomi-insinööri Uuno Varjo. Earthworks began in 1934. The stadium was inaugurated for use in 1938; the east stand had not yet been built at that time. When Tokyo 1938 gave up the organisation of the 1940 Olympics, the Games were awarded to Helsinki. The east stand of the stadium and a temporary wooden stand extension were built. For the 1952 Olympics the concrete stand was extended, and this in turn was extended with a temporary wooden stand. Offices in the southern curve were completed in 1955 and a hiking lodge in the northern curve in 1961. The museum wing has been extended three times, in 1963, 1984 and 1992. From the 1980s onwards a new generation and owner, the City of Helsinki, took responsibility for the traditional building. The alteration and repair work on the stadium was completed in 1994, with Markku Aalto as chief architect. The Töölö ball field beside the stadium was built in 1940 and was completed for the 1952 Olympics.

Construction of the swimming stadium began in 1938, designed by architect Jorma Järvi; the work was interrupted for the duration of the wars and the stadium was finished in 1952. The Kumpula open-air swimming pool, designed under architect Pauli Salomaa, was completed in 1952. The velodrome and rowing stadium were built for the 1940 Games and their stands were extended in 1952; the designer was architect Hilding Ekelund. Because of the windy course, the rowing stadium was approved in 1952 only as a venue for canoeing competitions. The Kisahalli was the arena for boxing, wrestling and gymnastics at the Games; it was designed by architects Aarne Hytönen and Risto Veikko Luukkonen. The building was completed in 1935 and extended in 1952. The Tennispalatsi was built in 1940 as a car service and parking building, but at the 1952 Games the sports facilities built under the arched roof were used for basketball. The building was designed by architecture student and master builder Helge Lundström. The Ruskeasuo riding halls were completed for the 1940 Games; the architect was Martti Välikangas, chief architect of the National Board of Public Buildings. The present riding hall is about half of the original; the other half has been taken into use for other sports. The Olympic arenas were repaired, or their repair begun, during the 1990s.

The master plan and functional programme for the Käpylä Olympic Village were drawn up in 1938 by a group of architects: Alvar Aalto, Hilding Ekelund, Kaj Englund, Georg Jägerroos and Martti Välikangas. Helsinki's first housing area in cooperative form, built to a uniform plan by the housing cooperative Helsingin Asuntokeskuskunta HAKA, was completed in 1940. Moving to the outskirts of the city, into open countryside, was made possible by finished roads with tram and bus connections. For the first time in Olympic history, athletes were to be housed in apartment blocks, whose "rationalised small flats" were carefully designed for future residential use. The 600 flats of the first building phase were to accommodate about 3000 male athletes. Architects Hilding Ekelund and Martti Välikangas together made the drawings for the area, and the houses completed after 1941 were designed by Ekelund alone. The Kisakylä, designed by architect Pauli Salomaa in 1952, had room for fifteen thousand beds for male athletes. The Kisakylä was the largest single construction project of the 1952 Olympics.

Hämeenlinna was chosen as the venue for modern pentathlon. Of the disciplines, swimming, cross-country running, shooting and show jumping were held at Ahvenisto. For the Games the Ahvenisto sports centre was built in 1951 to the drawings of architects Ilmari Niemeläinen and Olavi Sahlberg.