it. This heathland, sloping gently to the north, dotted here and there with mature trees and with white sheep grazing on the lush grass, is the site of the garden suburb, enclosed by a straight, continuous high brick wall with intermittent garden pavilions – an architecturOne of the most stylish residential squares in the world: ally very impressive feature, Place Royale (Place des Vosges) in Paris, dating from modelled on medieval forthe time of Henry IV. Uniformly built in the French tress towns (e.g., RothenRenaissance style, in its day, it was the residence of the burg). Apart from the public highest aristocracy. and semi-public monumental buildings—the church and the sectarian chapel, the “Institute” (a meeting hall for non-church purposes), schools, etc.—and the business and shopping district with its multi-story buildings, the area is made up exclusively of single-family houses;18 no plots are allocated for industrial enterprises. The area is planned for different levels of wealth, and consequently comprises buildings of varying sizes, from small cottages for the working and lower white-collar classes to large mansion-like villas for the wealthy. As in all English undertakings of this type, the ownership of the land is non-transferable and the plots can only be leased for a period of 99 years. The construction of the buildings was largely carried out through two sister companies. One of them, based on the cooperative principle, has focused particularly on small dwellings and has built a good number of them over the years. The other one, similar to a normal commercial firm, has been responsible for building the larger houses intended for the wealthier class of buyers. In each case, only the most eminent architectural firms have been employed, and 20
the buildings constructed in Hampstead Garden Suburb are therefore of an unusually high architectural standard. More importantly, however, the cooperation between the various architects and the creators of the master plan for the entire area has resulted in a unified architectural ef- A city plan in the Baroque style in Karlsruhe, fect, which is a sharp depar- Germany. Note the streets radiating like a fan from ture from the lack of harmony the residential palace. that is generally so disturbing in suburban villa communities. In past eras, such harmony could even arise, so to say, of its own accord, thanks to the strength of the prevailing architectural style and the depth and scope of the general artistic culture. In our day, however, this is no longer possible. There is no longer any unified style of building, the available building materials are extremely varied, and the sense of beauty and harmony in the art of building for the masses has almost disappeared. This forces society to intervene in the construction industry in an organized way to force builders and their architects to subordinate themselves to certain general principles of uniformity. Hampstead Garden Suburb has brilliantly demonstrated that such a thing is indeed possible, and that the most beautiful results can be achieved. In regard to the ratio of built to unbuilt areas, the garden suburb is sparsely built, although for architectural reasons (i.e., achieving a more solid overall effect) the individual houses are generally grouped together in pairs or bigger groups or in continuous rows. (The fragmented and unattractive effect of leaving insufficient free space between detached houses is illustrated by the Finnish capital’s newest neighborhood Helsingnäs [Eira], which provides a variety of warning examples).19 Sports and playgrounds and open planted areas occupy 21
As early as 1810, the local government in Helsinki had set up a rebuilding committee with the task of not only repairing the damage caused by the fire but also reorganizing the town as a whole. To this end, a new plan for the town was drawn up by the fortification engineer lieutenant Anders Kocke.27 When this proposal was presented by chance to J.A. Ehrenström, a well-educated and well-travelled old Gustavian—born in Helsinki—who had recently moved back to his native Helsinki and surrounding landholdings in 1777. country,28 and was sharply criticized by him, Czar Alexander I ordered that a new plan be drawn up taking Ehrenström’s comments into account. Ehrenström was called before the committee, to whom he gave his instructions, and soon the new plan for the capital was ready, which was ratified by the Czar in 1817, and has since been largely followed. Five years earlier, Ehrenström had already been appointed, much against his wishes, chairman of the new rebuilding committee. In view of Ehrenström’s classicist conception of art, it is not surprising that strict order and regularity were the defining characteristics of the new plan. The streets—of unknown width in the old town— ran along inexorably straight lines and at right angles, despite all the natural obstacles; in the old town strictly in a N–S and E–W direction, 30
and in the planned “new city” around the Boulevard in a NW–SE and NW–SW direction. The grandest detail of the proposal was a 300 ell (aln)29 wide Esplanade, which separated the “Nyland suburbium”30 (around the area of Kaserntorget Helsinki’s old Town Hall, on the site of the current Senate Square) from the area Square, demolished in the 1830s. Watercolor painting by C.L. Engel (Helsinki City Museum). of the old town. Taken as a whole, Ehrenström’s plan, in the spirit of the Renaissance, is characterized by its monumental character and testifies to a strong belief in the future possibilities of the new capital, which is worthy of everyone’s respect and admiration. As luck would have it, the right man was on hand to give the plan the flesh and blood of reality in the form of completed buildings. That man was C.L. Engel.31 Born in Germany and educated in Berlin, Engel was appointed city architect in Reval [Tallinn] in 1809,32 from where he moved in 1815 to St. Petersburg. From St. Petersburg, he was called in 1816 to Helsinki to take up the post of architect to the city’s Helsinki’s old wooden church, approximately on the same site where the western pavilion of St. Nicholas Church now stands. rebuilding committee. Watercolor painting by C.L. Engel (Helsinki City Museum).
31
Suomen ja Ruotsin kaupunkilaisväestö prosentteina koko väkiluvusta = The urban population in Finland and Sweden as a percentage of the total population. RUOTSI = SWEDEN SUOMI = FINLAND
to determine this increase, starting from slightly different conditions, are shown in Tables I and II on page 51). THE GROWTH OF CITIES. The great “urban migration” is one of the most extraordinary phenomena in the history of civilized countries in the 19th century. In ancient times the population of Europe, except for an insignificantly small number of people, lived in the countryside. The population numbers of the towns generally remained constant; migration 44
Kuolleisuus maalla ja kaupungeissa, RUOTSISSA ja SUOMESSA. = Mortality rates in rural and urban areas of SWEDEN and FINLAND. Diagrammi osoittaa, että n. vuoteen 1885 asti kuolleisuus maaseudulla oli Suomessa jonkun verran pienempi kuin kaupungeissa, kun taas nyttemmin asianlaita on ihan päinvastoin: kaupungeissa on kuolleisuus huomattavasti alempi kuin maalla. = The graph shows that until about 1885 mortality in rural areas in Finland was somewhat lower than in urban areas, while nowadays it is quite the opposite: mortality in urban areas is considerably lower than in rural areas. RUOTSI, maaseutu = SWEDEN, rural areas RUOTSI, kaupungit = SWEDEN, cities SUOMI, maaseutu = FINLAND, rural areas SUOMI, kaupungit = FINLAND, cities
from the countryside was more than sufficient to make up for the natural decrease in the population in the towns, which was due to the frightfully high mortality in the latter. “Metropolises” in the modern sense—with a population of 100,000 or more—were few in number; in 1800 there were only 22 of them in Europe, as opposed to 158 a hundred years later. The reasons for the profound changes which the 19th century brought to all these living conditions are to be found in the sphere of economic life; the birth of global trade and industry, which were promoted by the unforeseeable improvement in the means of transport 45
Pohjoismaiden väestönlisäyksen prosenttikäyriä = Percentage curves for population growth in the Nordic countries. Vuotuinen väestönlisäys prosentteina lausuttuna = Annual population increase expressed as a percentage. Vuotuisten väestönlisäysprosenttien keskiarvo = Average of annual population growth rates Huomaa eri maiden käyräin yhdenmukäiset nousut ja laskut! = Note the consistent rises and falls in the curves for the different countries. ANTAGANDE / OTAKSUMA = FUTURE PROJECTION FINLAND / SUOMI = FINLAND NORGE = NORWAY SVERIGE = SWEDEN DANMARK = DENMARK
54
Pohjoismaiden pääkaupunkien väestönlisäyksen prosenttikäyriä = Percentage curves for population growth in the Nordic capitals. Vuotuinen väestönlisäys prosentteina lausuttuna = Annual population increase expressed as a percentage. Viisivuotiskausien väestönlisäys prosentteina = Five-year population increase expressed as a percentage. Väestönlisäysprosenttiluvun alenemisen suuntaviivoja = Trends in the reduction of the population growth rate. II 0.5‰ vuosittain = II 0.5‰ per annum III 1‰ vuosittain = III 1‰ per annum Huomaa eri kaupunkien käyräin yhdenmukaiset nousut ja laskut. (Köpenhaminan nousu 1900-1903 johtuu alueenlaajennuksesta.) = Note the consistent rise and fall in the curves of the different cities. (The rise in Copenhagen in 1900–1903 is due to the expansion of the area of the city). ANTAGANDE / OTAKSUMA = FUTURE PROJECTION HELSINGFORS HELSINKI = HELSINKI KRISTIANIA = KRISTIANIA (OSLO) STOCKHOLM = STOCKHOLM KØBENHAVN = COPENHAGEN
55
Otaksuma III = Future projection III
POHJOISMAITTEN PÄÄKAUPUNKIEN LAAJENTUMISMAHDOLLISUURSIEN VERTAILU. = COMPARISON OF THE EXPANSION POTENTIAL OF THE NORDIC CAPITALS. Eri kaupunkien keskukset keskipisteinä ja 7 1/2 km:ä vastaava jana säteenä on piirretty ympyrät (ulommaiset). Näiden ympyräin sisältämät maa- ja vesialueet on graafillisesti havainnollistettu tummemmilla ja vaaleammilla pinnoilla (tummempi = maata, vaaleampi = vettä). Sisemmät ympyränpinnat osoittavat graafillisesti eri kaupunkien rakennettua aluetta. = The centers of the different cities are drawn as circles, with a radius of 7.5 km. The approximate areas of land and water contained within the city are graphically illustrated in darker and lighter shades (darker = land, lighter = water). The inner circle represents the built-up area of t he different cities. KÖÖPENHAMINA = COPENHAGEN Maa-alue Vesialue Rakennettu alue Rakentamaton alue
11,239 ha 6,461 ha 2,926 ha 8,313 ha
Land area Water area Built-up area Unbuilt area
11,239 ha 6,461 ha 2,926 ha 8,313 ha
Maata = Land Vettä = Water Käytettävän maa-alueen suhde vesialueeseen 228° 24’ ; 131° 36 = Ratio of usable land area to water area 228° 24’ : 131° 36 KRISTIANIA = KRISTIANIA [OSLO] Maa-alue Vesialue Rakennettu alue Rakentamaton alue
13,002 ha 4,698 ha 1,653 ha 11,349 ha
Land area Water area Built-up area Unbuilt area
13,002 ha 4,698 ha 1,653 ha 11,349 ha
Maata = Land Vettä = Water Käytettävän maa-alueensuhde vesialueeseen 264° 30’ : 95° 30 = Ratio of usable land area to water area 264° 30’ : 95° 30
88
TUKHOLMA. = STOCKHOLM Maa-alue 14392 ha Vesialue 3308 ha Rakennettu alue 3765 ha Rakentamaton alue: Todellinen alue 10627 ha Redusoitu alue. 10286 ha (Lidingö) Land area Water area Built-up area Unbuilt-up area: Actual area Reduced area (Lidingö island)
14,392 ha 3,308 ha 3,765 ha 10,627 ha 10,286 ha
Maata = Land Vettä = Water Käytettävän maa-alueen suhde vesialueeseen 291° 30’ : 68° 30’ = Ratio of usable land area to water area 291° 30’ : 68° 30’ HELSINKI = HELSINKI Maa-alue 6,879 ha Vesialue 10,821 ha Rakennettu alue 1,113 ha Rakentamaton alue: Todellinen alue 5,766 ha Redusoitu alue 4,576 ha (Kulosaari, Drumsö y. m.) Land area 6,879 ha Water area 10,821 ha Built-up area 1,113 ha Unbuilt-up area: Actual area 5,766 ha Reduced area 4,576 ha (Kulosaari, Drumsö etc.) Käytettävän maa-alueen suhde vesialueeseen 115° 42’ : 244° 18’ = Ratio of usable land area to water area 115° 42’ : 244° 18’
89
Munkkiniemi. View from Kalastajatorppa Park.
We have already outlined in the previous section the character of the future settlement of Munkkiniemi–Haaga. The coastal areas will be inhabited mainly by those belonging to the wealthy class; the northern parts, around the Huopalahti railway station and north of the railway line, will mainly be inhabited by the middle class. Further to the west, toward Sockenbacka, factory districts with workers’ housing areas have been proposed, which is justified by the ambition to make Sockenbacka an industrial and working-class center. MAIN STREETS. When drawing up the Munkkiniemi-Haaga plan, care has been taken to ensure that connections both with the existing city and between the different parts of the area are appropriately planned. It has also been particularly important to ensure that no obstacles are placed in the way of the likely sharp increase in the future for roads from Helsinki to the more westerly settlements. The highways mentioned earlier (p. 68 et seq) have been planned with this issue in mind. These roads, which have an important role among the main traffic routes of the future Greater Helsinki, must be wide enough to accommodate the greatly increased traffic load that is likely to occur in the future; in addition, provision must be made for even further expansion. In our time, the means of transport have reached an unprecedented level of perfection, and the demands on traffic speeds have increased 122
Munkkiniemi. View of the Laajalahti Bay, looking west.
to the same extent. Systems for major thoroughfares must be designed with this in mind. Above all, the different types of traffic must be carefully separated from each other by allocating them their own delineations. This applies to suburban railways and trams, but also to modes of transport that, although not requiring state-of-the-art facilities, are very different in terms of speed. In particular, automobile traffic, which can reach high speeds on open roads, must be separated as far as possible from slower horse-drawn vehicles and freight traffic.93 We have already mentioned, when discussing traffic issues in Greater Helsinki (p. 69), the routes of the main highways in the Munkkiniemi–Haaga area. One such highway running through the area is Länsi puistotie. Our traffic map of Greater Helsinki shows that Länsi-puistotie serves not only car traffic but also tram traffic and suburban traffic via the local railway. Since this street must also provide space for local traffic, which can be expected to be quite large, and considering that the street runs through a densely populated city centre, it must be built in such a way that it offers the widest possible space for these different types of traffic. Länsi-puistotie is planned to consist of three separate carriageways. Both outer carriageways are intended for local car and goods traffic. The middle carriageway is reserved exclusively for car traffic and is separated from both outer carriageways by two continuous lawn areas, along which tramways run. These lawns are interrupted 123
must be recognized that in the hands of experienced architects it is a means of producing delightful urban architectural effects, and handled in that way the system has in recent times spread rapidly. This has been due not least to the fact that it is the most economical way of constructing private dwellings in cities and suburbs. Quite similar to the terraced house typology is the type of housing that has been used in the new villa district of Helsinginniemi [Eira]. (Or more correctly, as it was intended Working-class terraced houses. to be put into practice there. The plots there Plots comprising: 1) front yard, were, as previously mentioned, intended for 2) house, 3) flower patch, single-family houses. However, owing to the 4) kitchen garden. The restrictive policy that the city has long folorientation of the terraced lowed in selling plots of land, the price of the houses is from west to east. plots rose rapTALOUSKATU = SERVICE STREET idly, and since PÄÄ KATU = MAIN STREET then tenement blocks disguised as single-family houses have been built as intensively as possible on most of the plots, taking advantage of all the loopholes in the building regulations). The plot subdivision, as well as the building by-laws, requires that the houses built on the plots should as a rule Middle-class or working-class terraced be freestanding and a minimum of four houses for three families. Plots meters apart. This extremely narrow comprising: 1) front yard, 2) house, measurement has resulted in narrow 3) yard, 4) flower patch, 5) low shed. openings between the buildings, similar TALOUSKATU = SERVICE STREET to fire escape routes (cf. the picture on PÄÄ KATU = MAIN STREET 160
page 93), which are difficult to keep in a good condition, and the buildings appear to be lined up one after the other without sufficient distance between them, while at the same time lacking coherence, as if they were furniture in a furniture warehouse. It does not help matters much that in some cases, by joining buildings together in pairs, the A middle or working class six-family terraced firebreak has been reduced to house. Plots comprise: 1) front yard, 2) building, 3) flower patch, 4) kitchen garden (each family eight meters. has their own section), 5) a garden tool shed. If the plots had a more elonKATU = SERVICE STREET gated form, so that the width was TALOUS PÄÄ KATU = MAIN STREET reduced by four meters (i.e., the width of the firebreak) and the depth correspondingly increased, the advantage would have been that the buildings would have been connected to each other (i.e., as terraced houses), thus creating a calmer silhouette and the gardens behind them would have acquired a more suitable shape. This minor change would thus have led to the terraced house layout.
A pergola covered with Virginia creeper in Hvitträsk,98 Finland.
TERRACED HOUSES. It would be highly desirable if terraced houses became more common in our country as well. The popularity of the system de161
the city owns more than ninetenths of the shares in the tram company and since the telephone company is owned by the telephone association, which is a mutual association, they must in a way also be considered municipal. In Munkkiniemi–Haaga, where the community itself was Kirkkomäki [Church Hill] in Haaga. Photograph of founded on a private initiathe model. tive, these facilities are also being operated as private businesses, the transfer of which to the municipality will depend on the greater or lesser interest of the residents. The following is a brief account of the measures taken so far. Tramways. Traffic on the Munkkiniemi and Haaga tramways began December 22, 1914, and has since continued with 2–3 services per hour in each direction on both lines. The current track system, with only one-third built as double-track, does not allow for more frequent services, but once regular conditions are restored, the double-track section will be extended to the extent that more services are needed. The part of the tramway that is located in the area of Helsinki and the Haaga villa community, was built by the Västerås-based company General Swedish Electrical Limited (ASEA), and is owned by the M.G. Stenius company, and the service is operated by the Helsinki Tramway and Omnibus Company (HRO) using its own carriages. In practice, although not formally, the Helsinki municipality is the operator of the tram service in Munkkiniemi–Haaga. The necessary electricity is obtained by the city’s electricity utility as three-phase current with a voltage of 5,000 volts, which is converted at a current transformer station owned by the M.G. Stenius company located at Snellmankatu 4 in Meilahti. 188
Telephone. The Helsinki Telephone Company (HPY) has built a special telephone exchange in Munkkiniemi, which is connected directly to the city’s main exchange (not via rural exchange stations). The network is twowire, with a central battery. The phone charges are the same as those in Helsinki. In Haaga, the telephone exchange, which was originally established by the Helsinki Telephone Company, has now been purchased by Haagan Kirkkomäki [Haaga Church Hill]. Site plan. the Haaga villa community Surrounding the square are both public and private and is thus completely mu- buildings. nicipalized. Calls to the capital are made via rural exchange stations, and the network is for the most part single-wire. Subscription fees are somewhat lower than in Helsinki. Water supply. Munkkiniemi will be equipped with a water supply from the outset, which will free the local residents from the laborious and expensive task of obtaining water. According to the test pumping carried out, at least 10 liters per second of groundwater will be obtained from so-called Pitkäniitty in Munkkiniemi, corresponding to 864 cubic meters per day. Assuming an average consumption of 70 liters per person per day, this amount of water is sufficient for a population of approximately 12,000 people. If consumption increases beyond the aforementioned amount, an additional 4 liters per second, or approximately 350 cubic meters per day, can certainly be obtained from another water intake point, located near the road leading to the 189