Artist House in Vuosaari, Helsinki

This study first asks why the Artist House was built in Vuosaari district in Helsinki, how the matter proceeded in the city administration and who were involved. Second, it discusses how the artists’ community of the house has turned out, what kind of relationship it has to its environment and what kind of artistic activities have spun off locally from the house. Third, the house is assessed from the angle of artist policy, urban development policy, and urban regeneration. The study is based on documents pertaining to the house and on interviews with background figures of the project and with residents of the house.

For the last few decades the development of Vuosaari district in Helsinki has been very much to the fore. This is no wonder, because the district is Helsinki’s largest both in terms of area and population. The area was incorporated into Helsinki in 1966. During the economic depression of the early 1990s, housing construction in Vuosaari consisted mainly of social housing, which gave the area something of a bad reputation. With the construction of the Aurinkolahti sub-district and the revamp of central Vuosaari things are taking a better course again, and when the new giant harbour of Vuosaari opens, the area will be important nationally, too.

In January 2002, when the City Council of Helsinki decided to build a block of flats for artists in Vuosaari to celebrate the city’s 450th anniversary, the location of the house was also clear: Aurinkolahti. There was a consensus that Vuosaari needed arts and culture, too, to be able to develop. Also, the artists needed affordable permanent housing. The Artist House combined these interests.

From an international perspective, the Artist House in Vuosaari is quite a peculiar project. Many cultural quarters have come about on the initiative of the artists. Although cities have later become more active as constructors of cultural quarters it is, mildly speaking, unusual to build whole new houses for artists. Usually old premises have been revamped for the artists – sometimes by the artists themselves – especially old factory buildings. Usually these kinds of premises have been ateliers and workshops rather than dwellings.

The idea of the Artist House had been born at the City Office, which had considered various ways of celebrating the city’s 450th anniversary and, especially, what the city should give the citizens as a gift for the jubilee. At that stage, before the Cultural Capital year, arts and culture were on everybody’s lips, so what could have been more natural than linking the gift to this theme, too. Another reason for giving the gift to the artists’ community was the will to keep artists from moving out to the neighbouring municipalities.

The idea was to give a home to as varied a lot of merited artists of various age, discipline and experience as possible. The artists moved in in early 2003 and immediately engaged in active cooperation. But some of them did not adapt to the collective-oriented life style and the longish distance to central Helsinki. Yet 56 of the 70 original residents still live in the house. The residents feel it is good to have a varied resident structure, and value the artists’ community of the house.

The artists of the house have carried out common projects both in Vuosaari and other parts of Helsinki. Cooperation has been smoothest with artists within the same artistic branch, but cross artistic projects have gradually come about, too. To some of the artists working in Vuosaari is a pleasure, but to others it is less inspiring, even conflicting, to work “in the periphery”. Although there would be a will for common projects, the time or the resources may not always be at hand. Another problem is that the world of arts and culture does not value this type of activities very highly.

As regeneration or city development policy, the Artist House should be judged at three levels, namely those of the Aurinkolahti neighbourhood, the Vuosaari district and the city as a whole. Thanks to the efforts of the city and the private developers, Aurinkolahti has a good reputation today. But the Artist House does not stand out very much among the other buildings. You cannot tell it is a house for artists unless you know it, and it cannot be a flagship for the whole area. Although the artists have animated the area with various kinds of projects, the house cannot be acknowledged to contribute very significantly to the reputation and life of the neighbourhood, which are already good today. The impact would probably have been stronger in some area that is doing less well. Of course, no-one knew when Aurinkolahti was planned that it would turn out a success. At that time, there was just a strong consensus that Vuosaari needed to be developed.

The Artist House can be seen as a part of the development strategy for a Vuosaari with the metro, a new shopping centre and service house, the Vuosaari House cultural centre, and the Neighbourhood Project of the late 1990s aiming at revitalising older parts of the area. But the Artist House was planned as a project of its own. Although local cultural activities is one of the focus areas of the cultural authority of Helsinki City, no-one in the planning phase suggested possible links to the local cultural centres, above all the Vuosaari House and the Stoa centre in Itäkeskus a few kilometres off. So instead of talking about urban regeneration we may join Graeme Evans (2005) and talk about a ‘model by default’, culture and regeneration. By this we mean that solutions of urban and cultural policy have been applied without a clear understanding of how these aspects can be combined. On the scale of the whole city it is hard to evaluate the Vuosaari Artist House as a single project. However, the existence of similar projects and the fact that something happens in the city tend to influence the inhabitants’ idea of their own city and its outward image in a positive manner. Yet, although the Artist House cannot be called a success in every respect, it is a well-meant effort by the city to raise its profile and show its will for arts and culture.

City of Helsinki Urban Facts
P.O. BOX 5500
FIN-00099 City of Helsinki
Finland
Ms. Satu Silvanto (Researcher), tel. +358 9 310 36517

Satu Silvanto