Serbian student perspectives to Kruunuvuorenranta

Laituri gallery presents the diploma work of seven Serbian architectural students, comprising their takes on the planning of the Kruunuvuorenranta district of Helsinki.

The graduate students, all from the University of Belgrade, acquainted themselves with the cultural history, natural environment and planning of Kruunuvuorenranta in March 2010 and made the district the subject of their Master’s theses.

Kruunuvuorenranta is one of the several major waterfront districts in Helsinki vacated from former industrial uses to be redeveloped for housing and jobs. A site for oil harbour operations for the past 90 years, the district will be turned into a residential area for 10,000 inhabitants by the mid-2020s.

The district is strongly characterized by the sea, its rugged natural shoreline and closeness to the region’s archipelago. The new housing areas will offer views to the Helsinki city centre and the Suomenlinna sea fortress.  

The diploma works explore the development of the waterfronts, reuse of old bulk oil storage tanks, and new services ranging from sports to culture.

“The Scandinavian city planning tradition attracts a great deal of interest in Serbia,” says architect and project liaison Stevan Peðiã, himself a graduate of the University of Belgrade and a former employee at the Helsinki City Planning Department.

“Our students have approached their challenges with view to producing plans that could be implemented,” Peðiã says.

The seven diploma works on Kruunuvuorenranta are on display at Laituri, the Helsinki City Planning Department’s gallery and meeting place through November 13, 2010.